Industrial Automation Magazine India

Gears are the basis of most mechanics that drive machinery

Published on : Tuesday 30-11--0001

What are the different types of gearboxes/geared motors manufactured by Premium Transmission?

At Premium Transmission, we manufacture a variety of gearboxes like Worm, Helical, Planetary, Fluid Couplings, and Geared Motors, etc. Also, we provide solutions to industry-specific needs; like we have a complete catalog/range of gearboxes which are required for sugar industry, cement industry, mining, power, iron & steel industries, etc. Also, we make custom make application-specific gearboxes for conveyors, lift, agitators, crane duty, etc. 

What are the attributes of quality gears? With precision and accuracy being so important, what facilities you have in place to ensure quality?       

The quality attributes are gear tooth profile, surface finish, contact ratio, backlash and noise. Gears are the basis of most of the mechanics that drive machinery, ultimately determining their efficiency and durability. Selection of the parameters of gears is carried out by their quality characteristics.

Premium is focused towards building quality products through its automated machinery, robust processes and system in all plants. The company has various testing equipment like gear testers and CMM to confirm the product quality at various stages of manufacturing and a well-equipped lab with Spectrometer and Image Analyser to confirm the metallurgy of the products and materials. The company is continuously working towards building a quality culture in the organisation.

What about the raw material – gear blanks, etc? Are these manufactured in-house or out sourced?

We procure the raw materials from approved sources and keep the critical processes in-house to maintain our quality standards. Some of the non-critical processes are out-sourced to the authorised manufacturers.

Software plays a very important role in modern gear design and manufacturing. What facilities you have for this?

Yes, software/technology plays a crucial role in designing and maintaining the quality of the products during manufacturing. We have the latest CAD software for gear design and calculation, 3-D modelling and analysis. We have also deployed product management lifecycle tools (PLM). Our focus is on simulation-driven design to develop efficient product platform and architecture. Also, we have in-house 3-D printing facilities for prototyping and well-equipped testing lab for physical validation of the product.

Electronics is today embedded in most products for automation – is this also the case with Premium products?

Premium has a range of products with remote monitoring system where data is captured using different types of sensors and switches during run time to monitor the performance of gearboxes. This helps in predictive maintenance and reduce the risk of breakdown and downtime by a planned schedule of servicing.

How do these communicate with other devices in the IIoT era?

The key characteristic data like operating temperature, vibrations, noise, load, etc., collected through sensors and data acquisition systems can be transferred through the cloud network to remote monitoring control stations. Collected data is analysed for overall performance of the gearbox. This data acquisition can also be integrated with the monitoring system of the overall project/ product line.

What is the percentage of exports from the domestic production?

10% of our business comes from exports. Since there is huge market potential, we are now focusing on our presence in the International market. In the coming years, we expect to see significant growth in our Exports.

What is the range manufactured at the German plant? Any imports from there?

Few of our products are assembled and tested in German plant; whose sub-assemblies are manufactured in Indian plants. Most of the gearboxes assembled in German plant cater to the European market and the domestic requirement is fulfilled by Indian plants.

What is the role of the Technology Centre in Kolkata? Also the proposed network of service centres – the future plans?

Increased consumer demand and technological advances have opened up new possibilities for the company. The Development Centre of Premium Transmission, being the first in the Eastern region, unwraps immense potential. This innovation-led development unit, which aims to research and design new products for mechanical power transmission market is poised to surge the growth momentum ahead. Catering services to core sectors like steel, power, oil & gas, sugar, cement, construction, etc. The company strives to introduce energy-efficient products for addressing the present issue of energy-scarcity.

Premium Care Centres are a one-stop destination for Service & Repair of gearboxes of any make. Our constant endeavour has been to deliver service excellence and be a preferred partner for leading Indian and international brands. To cater to the domestic market, we have service centres in Pune, Coimbatore and Jabalpur. We are also planning to expand our service centre network to other cities. The pipeline includes locations like Bhubaneswar by the end of FY 19-20. Premium Care Centres have been proposed for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Kenya as well, to serve the international market more effectively and efficiently. With these service centres the company is geared up to serve the customers with the highest level of proficiency.

With nearly 6 decades of successful manufacturing, any thoughts on Make in India or how it can become more effective?

Make in India is very thoughtful concept deployed by the present government which will help India to become not only global manufacturing hub but also helps to generate forex and encourages local entrepreneurship and employment.

Market dynamics calls for optimisation of lead time, affordability and superior product quality. We are working on the development of agile processes to address supply and demand planning which supports lead time optimisation. Usage of technology, e.g., ERP helps in reduction in inventory and safety stock. This helps in mitigation of risk pertaining to change in market demand and improve cash flow.

Going forward we will be using Analytics to plan for demand rather than planning through sales forecast. This will help in reducing risk of slow/non-moving inventory, improve cash flow with optimisation of lead time.

Supply chain is key to success for any business. Present industrial supply chain calls for skill, quality and technology enhancement to address just in time, superior quality and higher productivity with optimum product cost. We are addressing the topics on skill and quality enhancement through systematic supplier development through strategic partnership and technology deployments. With above initiatives we are sure to offer our bit towards Make in India for upcoming projects by addressing time to market, superior quality and affordability.