![\"Kirloskar](\"http:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sandvik_leap-of-faith_DSC_7873.jpg\")
<\/a>Kirloskar Pneumatic has been in business for 120 years and has about 1,000 employees.<\/p><\/div>\nThere was only one CNC hobber<\/strong>; the others were conventional machines. With the hobs for cutting the gears either broken or worse, each shift was able to make only one gear, or two at the most. \u201cIn a month we made only 190 gears,\u201d Chakravarty recalls. The CNC hobber had a huge capability, but the hob technology it used was outdated. Then he read online about Sandvik Coromant\u2019s indexable insert tooling system and the high speeds that the gashing cutters were capable of. He says, \u201cI told my bosses, \u2018I want to change the technology to indexable milling cutters, as the new technology will tremendously reduce cutting time. I also need one more CNC hobber.\u2019\u201d The new indexable milling cutter gave perfect results from the get-go. Today Kirloskar Pneumatic uses 14 Sandvik Coromant With new indexable milling technology, Kirloskar Pneumatic Vice President Debashish Chakravarty got a higher output.<\/p><\/div>\nThe confidence in this approach<\/strong> triggered other solutions. When heat treatment became a bottleneck, Chakravarty got new fixtures, upgraded the process and increased the heat treatment capacity. Then he concentrated on bore grinding, reducing grinding allowances and increasing grinding capacity. \u201cAt every stage we found new solutions,\u201d he says. With fast cutting and additional capacity, he is now adding new business\u2013 making industrial gearboxes for steel mills and cement plants, where the Sandvik Coromant technology will be used. Chakravarty\u2019s biggest satisfaction is that his delivery rate with Indian Railways, a low 45 percent in 2010\u201311, rose steadily to 60 percent the next year and 86 percent the year after that. \u201cIn the current year it is 100 percent,\u201d he says with pride. Kirloskar Pneumatic turned around its stagnating gear manufacturing business by opting for the new indexable milling technology that resulted in a several hundred percent increase in productivity. \u201cIt was critical,\u201d Debashish Chakravarty says of the situation he found when he joined Kirloskar Pneumatic Co Ltd (KPCL) in Pune in 2010 as vice president and head<\/p>\n
\nSince a Sandvik Coromant cutter<\/strong> cost seven times as much as a conventional cutter, nobody wanted to take the risk, Chakravarty says. But he was convinced that the new technology was crucial to turning the division around and clearing the huge order backlog. The decision amounted to a huge leap of faith for KPCL. \u201cThere was doubt and scepticism all around,\u201d Chakravarty says. When the additional CNC hobber and the Sandvik indexable cutter were installed, the results were apparent immediately. Instead of the usual one gear per shift, the operation was on track to turn out two or even three gears. Satisfied, Chakravarty went home.
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cutters.<\/p><\/div>\nLate that night,<\/strong> to his horror, he got a call saying an operator had damaged the cutter. \u201cI was badly shaken up,\u201d Chakravarty says. \u201cIt was such costly equipment.\u201d Production was halted, and the next morning Sandvik Coromant representatives rushed to the scene. Luckily the cutter was only bent, not broken, and it was shipped to a Sandvik Coromant facility in Germany for repair.
\nWhile the naysayers around him looked on, Chakravarty received an immediate replacement from Sandvik Coromant free of charge. \u201cIt gave perfect results,\u201d he says. Four weeks later the cutter returned, and Chakravarty says that for a time he had two cutters. Gear production jumped from 190 a month to 450, and Sandvik Coromant established both goodwill and trust.
\nAfter the first year<\/strong>, the cutting time for a gear had been reduced from 6.5 hours to just 45 minutes. \u201cNobody could believe it,\u201d Chakravarty says.
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\nHe started using indexable cutters for other railway components, and today he uses 14 Sandvik cutters. Profitability has doubled. Sandvik Coromant representatives work jointly with his operation, modifying or changing things when necessary. \u201cThey give complete solutions and are reliable and transparent,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen something is not possible, they tell us.\u201d
\nNow Chakravarty is working on a cutting solution that will be even faster \u2013 a Sandvik Coromant indexable hob.
\nCourtesy: Sandvik Coromant\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"