Ashok Rao - who has spent over 25 years in design and manufacturing leadership roles in large companies – started KGK Engineering in 2014 to design and market niche products and manufacturing solutions. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of welders angle clamp (WAC), which speeds up the fabrication process. In this interview, Ashok Rao, Managing Director, KGK Engineering, highlights the advantages of welders angle clamp and growth plans for the company.

Could you brief us about your company?
Key products developed by KGK Engineering include welders angle clamps, machine leveling assemblies, machine movement rollers, zero point clamping systems, and dovetail fixtures. Typical customers for these are industries like fabrication, machine tools, and general engineering. KGK Engineering has pioneered fuel security solutions for commercial vehicle (CV). These solutions are provided to all the major CV OEMs such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, etc through a separate entity – TISS-KGK Security Systems Pvt Ltd.

KGK products are manufactured at the group company, Shakambari Industries, which also has a presence in aerospace component manufacturing for HAL.

What are the advantages of KGK Engineering's welders angle clamps?
Welders angle clamp (WAC) holds steel or aluminium sections at right angles (2-axis WAC or 3-axis WAC) or any angle (adjustable angle clamp) allowing the operator to focus on the joining process (welding, gluing, and assembly). WAC speeds up the fabrication process since the operator does not have to spend time on ensuring the square-ness or required angle since it is inbuilt in the WAC. Key features of WAC, which make it a very versatile/best-in-class product, are:

1. The WAC allows sections of varying sizes to be held – example a square section (maximum 70 mm) can be held at right angles or any angle to a rectangular section (maximum 70 x 50 mm), angle (maximum 75x75 mm) or round (maximum OD 60 mm)
2. Quick release mechanism to quickly position the clamping element by sliding instead of rotating the screw
3. WAC is made of ductile iron castings – CNC machined for precision & long life
4. Screw rod is copper coated to prevent spatter adhesion
5. The WAC is designed to be interconnected to create a welding jig; for example, a batch of frames is to be produced, the 2 axis or 3 axis WAC or combination of 2 & 3 axis WAC can be interconnected to produce the frames; thus, saving time for the welder. On completion of the batch the WACs can be reused for other applications.
The investment in the WAC can be spread over a variety of one-off or batch type productions.

How has been the performance of the company so far in 2022-23? What are your expectations for 2023-24?
KGK WAC is relatively new in the market and we see a lot of enquires. Customers are doing the initial evaluation. The initial feedback and sales have been encouraging. We will see a pickup in the following financial year as more and more fabricators get familiar with the benefits of the product.

What kinds of changes you are witnessing in the welding industry?
Customer requirements are making the welding industry to provide better joints, closer tolerances and aesthetics in more complex configurations. We see movement towards more controlled welding through laser, MIG (Metal Inert Gas) and use of automation & robotics. We also see customers realising the benefits of flexible and reusable fixturing to meet their requirements. Industry is also grappling with shortage of skilled operators. Automation and fixturing can play a significant role in addressing these gaps.

What kinds of new opportunities end-user industries present to you?
WAC is typically used in one-off, low-to-medium batch production of small-to-medium fabrications. End-use industries are very wide such as automotive, furniture, general fabrication, etc. We see opportunities in helping end-user industries to make low cost fixturing using WACs.

How do you intend to increase your exports business?
At present, our focus is on the domestic market. We will shortly address the export market as well.

Automation is increasing in welding and, in general, across industries (i.e. end-user industries). How is your company tapping this trend? Our products play a key role in move towards automation. We are sensitising customers on the benefits of our low-cost, reusable fixture elements and enabling them to design their own solutions.

What are your long and short term growth plans for your company?
Our medium term growth plan is to make WAC an integral part of fabrication shops within the country before embarking on other countries. Focus is currently on ramping up. Long-term plans would be to include related fixturing elements.

What is your vision for Indian manufacturing sector for 2025? The Indian manufacturing sector will see significant growth in the years to come. Current challenges – such as traditional industries, new age industry skills, material handling, and import content in electronics & software in automation - will continue. Addressing these challenges in the growth of Indian manufacturing sector itself would be a big opportunity in our journey of increasing contribution of manufacturing to GDP to 25 per cent.