Gautam Banerjee, Managing Director, Kaiyuan Welding India, responds to the IPF Questionnaire on the company’s foray into India and its plans and strategies for the future.

What brings Kaiyuan Welding to India?

Kaiyuan group is No. 1 in China in the field of welding equipment and automation. This is the result of the huge product and process innovations made by the group, beating its rivals in the process, to be a market leader in the world’s biggest welding market, which is China. Kaiyuan’s tie-ups at different levels with the leading companies of the world have made it a one-stop-solution providing point for all welding automation needs. As a sure way of achieving organic growth the company has decided to have a global footprint and as the first step in this direction, zeroed in on India. The key thing is that in the present global scenario India is one country, which shows signs of growth, and Kaiyuan group is committed to become a part of the ‘Make in India’ growth story and play a pivotal role in this initiative in the fabrication domain.

Welding is vital process that joins the engineering world, literally and metaphorically. What is the range of products on offer?

In the domain of arc welding, the Kaiyuan range is all encompassing in automation space. As a unique global company we offer all types of narrow gap welding systems like SAW, MIG and TIG in our range, besides a full range of TIG and plasma automation in welding. Our latest innovation, DP TIG, is better than keyhole plasma in terms of productivity, weldability and cost.

We offer specialised, robotised welding and handling systems for thick plate fabrication, and a full range of cladding applications including CNC strip cladding system, hot wire TIGs, FCAW. A recent innovation, D TIG, gives the deposition rate of strip cladding with quality parameters of TIG. We have complete automation solutions for power plant equipment, process plant equipment, and complete fabrication solutions for all lines for making ships, railway wagons, cranes, earth moving machinery, construction equipment, conveyor roller manufacturing lines, etc.

The art and science of welding is constantly evolving. What are the latest trends and developments?

Huge improvement in computing technology (both hardware and software), internet revolution and rapid developments in power electronics is enabling large scale developments in the field of control and processing to improve the performance of the machine to achieve improved quality, higher productivity in a safe working environment. Individual knowledge of the welder has been augmented or even substituted by expert systems with WPS and all support rendered through internet without the need of physical movements. As most power sources and systems are digitally controlled so control of multiple arcs together to improve control over weld pool to improve productivity without sacrificing quality is a common practice. The challenge is not only to automate by deploying intelligent systems and robotics but also enhancing the degree of flexibility and facilitating lowest turnaround time from one set to another. So today’s intelligent systems are continuously delivering highest quality and productivity in a safe environment. The next big inflection point is to move forward from standalone stations to complete lines. All these are happening with a huge range of operators de-skilling which makes all output production parameters sustainable in a diverse situation.

The major focus on carbon foot print reduction is giving great boost to inverter technology to reduce kWH/kg of deposition continuously.

Automation and robotics are today the buzzwords in industry and welding/cutting operations today are highly automated. How does the Indian market fare on the global scale in this respect?

The welding automation market in India is in a very nascent stage as we see standalone stations for carrying out automatic welding and cutting; in many such cases we see deployment of robotics and other automation products. In the developed world proper automation signifies complete automatic lines including automatic handling, some machining, etc., where once raw materials are fed and the final product comes out from the line. This ensures highest levels of productivity with quality at the least running cost in a safe environment without engagement of special skilled manpower. These things are more obvious in Kaiyuan solutions for heavy fabrication industries of shipbuilding, railway wagons, conveyor systems, commercial vehicle components, cranes, etc.

Several global welding giants are present in India. What is the USP of Kaiyuan Welding, whose management team for India comprises of industry veterans?

Our domain is not mere hardware selling but to sell a complete solution and successfully establish the concept at customers’ premises. All pre and post sales solution rendering shall be done from India. Our team in India is fully capable to deliver the same. We know the pain points and issues of automation customers in India and the strategy is to justly mitigate the same. We do not see any other entity better equipped than us in India to do the same.

What is the nature of the company’s operations in India? Will the company ‘Make in India’ or just import the products?

The operation is starting with a very strong focus on rendering automation solution by providing pre and post sales support, project management, and though many systems will come from our parent company but based on the need we shall be doing manufacturing of some selected range here. This local manufacturing shall enhance progressively in coming days.

What are the facilities and specialties at the Demonstration Center at Pune?

We shall be having facility for live demonstration of machines which are very rare to see together anywhere. Some key products are: narrow gap SAW, narrow gap TIG, CNC nozzle welders, orbital welding systems, seven axis pipe intersection cutting machines and high end robot systems with unique teaching system through drawing. Our systems shall have web based live streaming with live interaction facility with target customers.

Will the company cater to the pan Indian market? How strong/effective is the sales & service network?

The company will cater to the subcontinent, and not just India – in all its industrial clusters. We shall have regional representation to offer pre and post sales and project service.

How does the cost of ownership over the life cycle compare with competition?

If we see through the eyes of our customers then they already see most justifiable return while investing on our systems. Our truly innovative, patented processes create real value for the customer in terms of enhanced quality, productivity and lowering of running costs. All these are achieved without adding any prohibitive cost. Our strong local presence makes it possible to render pre and post sales support locally. We are also coming up with automation solutions, which are for local need only and shall be produced locally. So one can get a global quality product supported by the cost base and response time of a local set up.

What are the short term and future plans of the company in India?

The short term plan is to have a set-up in India, which can facilitate supply of next gen automation lines to Indian customers thus becoming an integral part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The long term objective is to become the most established welding automation player in India bringing forward the real cutting edge welding solutions and be a true committed player in India’s manufacturing growth story.