SV Puntambekar, Vice President, Ador Fontech Ltd
Plans include installation of waterjet cutting facility, investments for component manufacturing and a new factory in Bengaluru for expansion of operations,’ says SV Puntambekar, Vice President of Mumbai-based Ador Fontech Ltd, while speaking on the future plans of the company.
As a leader in the industry you are in, what are your offerings for the cement, steel mining and power sectors?
Our goal is to enhance the life of vital machinery components in these industries. We are frontrunners in predictive, preventive and break-down maintenance solutions. Our portfolio offers a wide spectrum of products and services that include low-heat input welding alloys, FCAW wires, ceramics, wear plates, welding components, welding and cutting equipment, and thermal coating solutions. We also undertake turnkey jobs at site and in our state-of-the-art facility in Nagpur.
Ador Fontech is a pioneer in life enhancement of industrial components. What are the various sustainable methods implemented by the company in various projects?
Our focus is on saving millions to the industry by increasing the availability of equipment. In this endeavour, we strive to continuously improve the performance and life of original components by offering innovative products and solutions from around the world. Our research and development and strategy teams work closely with our customers to understand their needs and offer newer solutions to enhance performance. We conduct seminars, road shows and technical interactions with our customers.
Our archives have over 700 case studies of successful jobs executed to various industries over the past 30 years. Our engineers refer them to our customers for benchmarking and improving performance of their machinery. We also use innovative and new age materials like ceramic coatings/thermal spray/rubberised parts in place of conventional metal components in various projects to multiply the life of the components from the current situation.
Tell us about the latest technologies and trends applied for life enhancement of industrial products.
We have tied up with global leaders for Stellite products, which offer hardness retention at elevated temperatures and properties of edge retention. Swedish Steel Company for Hardox Wearplates and high strength steel components, Densit range of products that offer resistance to high velocity particle abrasion, wear resistant ceramic products and components, high definition plasma cutting systems, and with a Swiss company for thermal spray systems for boiler tubes and reformer tube coatings. We offer in-situ/on-site refurbishment of roller press rollers, table liners, automatic welding, cutting, replacement of kiln shell, etc.
How are you geared to meet the demands of the industry, especially to a sector like cement?
We have over 150 qualified and trained engineers positioned at various industrial locations to cater to the needs of our customers. Our over 100 distributors stock various types of materials adequately in these locations to offer these products within 24 hours. Our central repair facility has mobile units on standby to reach customers at a very short notice to undertake refurbishment jobs. Hence our team is just a phone call away from our customers to offer them products and services in a short lead time.
For example, we reached within 15 hours to a cement plant in Rajasthan where we carried out repair of crack in cement mill trunnion, or to a cement plant in Chhattisgarh where we reached within 10 hours and repaired three cracks in kiln tyre, or to a cement plant in Andhra Pradesh within 15 hours and repaired journal area of an ID fan shaft. We always maintain enough stock of consumables and equipment in full readiness to meet emergencies.
What are your company’s future plans – expansion, new technology, and new products?
We are focused on a sustainable future. We continuously enhance our product portfolio by adding new products and improving the existing ones. We are planning to add new technologies and products in nitride bonded silicon carbide ceramics, bi-metallic castings, rubberised ceramic components, tungsten carbide coatings, stellite cast components, Hardox wearparts, and various in-situ services. We have invested in the state-of-the-art thermal spray facility at our Nagpur works, Maharashtra. Future plans include installation of waterjet cutting facility, investments for component manufacturing and a new factory in Bengaluru for expansion of operations.