Teknoseal Engineering solution Pvt Ltd, is one of the vacuum impregnation sealant supplying corporation worldwide. The Directors/Partners of the company, Saibal Sen and Probal Sen called Sen Brothers have been active in the field of vacuum impregnation technology for past three decades. During the 1980s having considerable expertise they decided to manufacture their own sealant, resulting in the inception of the company. In this interaction with Shashank Chaurey, they discuss the progression of impregnation technology over the years in India.

 

What were the conditions that became the basis of setting up your company in the field of vacuum impregnation technology?

The problem of porosity has always been a concern for manufacturers. Actually with the increase in production volumes and resultant decrease in process cycle times required for producing good parts, very often a fully machined casting which leaked on the pressure test, needed to be scrapped. When this kind of situation occurred, it caused a lot of wastage of resources of time and money. The entire machining cost incurred on the casting is lost and the scrapped casting is then remolded thereby giving us only the metal cost. Moreover the new casting that is made may also have leaked after machining thereby bringing uncertainty to the completion of supply. So there was a great potential to save this wastage and also bring in more control over this problem of micro porosity in castings  by using impregnation and this was a good business model keeping in mind the squeeze on costs at all fronts.

 

Having entered in the vacuum impregnation technology in the 1980s how would you describe its evolution over the years?

When the process of impregnation first emerged in the 1940s the process was adopted quickly in various industries, particularly in automotive and aerospace sectors, and it became the preferred method to prevent leakage of fluid or gases under pressure. During those early days porosity would be sealed with sodium silicate and styrene-based resins, and it was mainly used to mend metal castings which were found to have 'leakers' in leak-test operations. Shortly after the commencement, the method was used for preventing corrosion in metal castings, powdered-metal parts, and other porous metal elements. Until the mid-1980s, most automotive OEMs handled the vacuum impregnation process in-house. They used batch systems, in which workers would load multiple parts into large baskets for processing. This approach typically had a cycle time of 30-40 minutes. To increase productivity the operators would increase the size of the process equipment, but this was accompanied by a reduction in finished product quality and process safety. Now, the process of prevention of corrosion for other porous metal components such as plastic composites and wood was being practised with potting materials. But by the 1980s, more easily adaptable and flexible resins came to the market for sealing these products.

 

What is the product range offered by the company? Also what are the sectors Teknoseal mostly caters to?

Currently, Teknoseal offers entire range of vacuum impregnation solutions. This means the entire range of impregnation systems from manual to fully automatic operator free systems , the range of Teknoseal sealants, including the recycle sealants wherever required.

 

The sectors which have primary applications for vacuum impregnation are automotive, defence, firefighting, food engineering, sanitary hygiene and infrastructure projects. Precisely, aerospace components, fuel supply systems, transmission housings, filtration equipment, hydraulic pumps/valves, fire fighting equipment, air compressors, pneumatic components, automotive cylinder heads, manifolds and blocks, water pipelines and water conveying system units etc. are primarily the applications areas where our vacuum impregnation solutions are used. 

 

Catering to a niche market how important is the role of R&D department for Teknoseal? Any recent technological development made?

In any business venture, research and development is a key factor for the growth of the company. We have to remember that we are one of the only Asian companies in this field with our own products and hence we need to keep in pace with the international scenario, both in the field of impregnation as well as we need to cater solutions for microporosity for the ever-evolving foundry industry. R&D has always been an extensive practice in Teknoseal right from the beginning. As a result of our dedicated R&D programme, we developed Teknoseal TSP range of sealants which is a high-quality cost-effective alternative to industries worldwide. This vision gave the company the benefit of being self-reliant and liminated total dependency on imports. 

 

What are the challenges involved in providing high-tech impregnation technology and manufacturing related products?

The major challenge is the resultant cost of the process. In today’s scenario all areas of cost savings are a major part of the lean manufacturing techniques being implemented. Cost reduction, without any reduction in quality is of prime importance. This can be very well achieved using Indian resources and this is what the Make in India program is all about. The challenge however is that, we as Indians have to remember the concept of Proudly Indian products and evaluate all equivalent Indian products first, before we make an impression that all the imported products are better products. As mentioned above, a strong R&D process coupled with the benefits of cost reductions using indigenous technology will be the answer to match the customer demands from India as well as International customers.

 

With the competition presented by the international companies, how does Teknoseal strategise its counter-measure?

With rich experience of over five decades in Aluminium die-casting technology since 1967 and vacuum impregnation technology since 1983 we have been pioneers in the field of Vacuum Impregnation using heat cure Methacrylate sealants and have been instrumental in spreading the technology to industries worldwide. Besides, we strive on continuous improvement in our products and processes using a good development process at our end to match the requirements of the customers.

 

How would you describe the import and export of vacuum impregnation products in India? How does Teknoseal fare in the same?

With the availability of the Teknoseal products, the market in India has been greatly benefitted due to international quality and cost savings. The market has embraced the Teknoseal range of sealants. Moreover the international market also is recognising India and Indian products and hence we see a great future for all Proudly Indian products.

 

Today, Teknoseal is the largest impregnating specialists in Asia and one of the top five global vacuum impregnation companies as a preferred supplier for our customers worldwide. Teknoseal has earned an international reputation with Global approval from international bodies and auto majors.

 

In the coming years, what are the sectors expected to observe scope for the vacuum impregnation technology?

Automotive and Defence sectors will observe scope for the vacuum impregnation technology in a big way. Impregnation will be an unavoidable process for the automobile machine manufacturers. Also, in the food and water industry as well as in the oil and gas industry, there will be a surge of demand for impregnation.