industry 2.0 july 2010

TechnologyCloud-based software solutions help SMEs use advanced SCM solutions

e-commerce Procurement professionals can rapidly source from multiple locations

ProducT design Digital prototyping helps launch new and improved products faster

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2.0JULY 2010 PRICE RS 100A 99 MEDIA PUBLICATION VOLUME 09 ISSUE 11

TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT FOR DECISION-MAKERS

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editorial

Manufacturing executives often feel that they have a thank-less job. The sector is viewed by critics as a dirty and

dangerous—and uncaring about its custom-ers and the community. Industrial acci-dents, product recalls and environmental disasters only serve to accentuate negative public perception, despite the benefits that manufacturing brings to the economy and our quality of life.

In an attempt to alter this woebegone state of affairs, companies have begun to embrace new groups of stakeholders—and hear their views. These include non-govern-mental organisations (NGos), online com-munities, disgruntled customers, and other special interest groups. However, since the interactions are often handled by public relations (PR) or marketing departments, companies are failing to incorporate the feedback and insights from such interac-tions into their strategic thinking. This could be a big mistake. That is because these exchanges could be a source of new ideas, cost savings, improved customer relation-ships, better regulatory compliance and efficient recruitment.

Making friends with critics is not easy. And many companies are especially poor at interacting with online communities where customers vent their ire. senior executives will need to think carefully about how to manage the risks that are inherent in these new stakeholder relationships. since, repu-tation and brand damage is the main risk

in dealing with online communities and NGos, companies will need to learn how to tread the fine line between partner-ship and confrontation. For instance, how do you handle warranty claims or product recalls, or issues around deceptive and false advertising?

Another big challenge in interacting with critics is the need to relinquish some control over information. It is hard to participate in a debate or discussion while ensuring that confidential data or propri-etary information is not inadvertently put into the public domain. learning to manage the scale, scope and speed of information flows is critical. That is because some of the participants may have other agendas and goals, and regulatory norms may preclude the revelation of specific details to select groups.

A new trend is to co-opt critics and cus-tomers into designing new products, or fix-ing problems in old ones. some companies have even started involving customers in collaborating to design new products. Here, intellectual property protection becomes the dilemma, especially when new ideas derive directly from collaboration with out-side stakeholders. While companies would like to secure exclusive benefits from such innovations, the aim of the collaborators is to publicise them as much as possible without concern for the business impact. Can open innovation and open communica-tion thrive in the commercial world? Write in and let me know.

Co-ordinator Ad Sales, MIS, Scheduling: Deepak sharma

INTo FRiendsCRitiCsCoNVeRTING

contents

www.industry20.comjuly 2010 | industry 2.0 - technology management for decision-makers2

manufacturing technology22 Starting a New Pneumatic Conveying SystemA professional start-up technician can ensure smooth starting of a new system.

materials & processes26 RealizingtheBenefitsofTradingSteel via InternetFirms are fast adopting e-commerce for steel.

30 WatchingtheNon-ferrousScrapMetals MarketThe non-ferrous scrap material market is witnessing a slow growth.

supply chain & logistics 34 OutsourcingVehicles:TheNewCorporateMantraOutsourcing fleet management is rapidly gaining popularity among corporates.

information technology40 PeepingintotheSCMSoftwareMarketSpecialized supply chain management vendors have outperformed suite vendors.

management & strategy41 Aligning Strategy with Processes&PeopleA right strategy helps business organization to march forward.

44 ProtectingIndustrialDesignsfromTheftImplementing a proper verification procedure helps in determining whether a product design is registered by any other firm.

47 InnovatingforSuccesswith SimulationSimulation technology helps develop market winning products and bring more revenue to the bottom line.

54WatchingtheMarketofContract ManagementContract management is a strategic weapon in optimizing contract performance and improving the return on investment.

cover storyCover design:

Santosh Kushwaha

Picture courtesy: www.photos.com

16 BetterFactoryDesignNew software tools are helping engineers create—and choose from—alternative plant layouts, quickly and accurately.

departments01 Editorial

04 Industry Update

12 Technology Update

14 Research Report

15 Advertiser Index

56 Product Update

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DEVENDRA DESHMUKHDIRECTOR & FOUNDERe-ZEST SOLUTIONS

RAJIV BAJAJHEAD (MANUFACTURING)AUTODESK – INDIA & SAARC

RATAN MARDIAMANAGING DIRECTORNISSAN COPPER

28 32 38

industry update


The Indian semiconductor market grew 15.6 per cent in 2009 as compared to the

global market that witnessed a decline by 11 per cent from 2008. This was stated in a recent report,

released by the India Semiconduc-tor Association (ISA).

The report, titled, ‘ISA-Frost & Sullivan India Semiconduc-tor Market 2009 - 2011 update’, states that the total semiconduc-

tor market revenues is poised to grow from $5.39 billion in 2009 to $8.04 billion in 2011. The market is estimated to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.1 per cent.

The rapid growth of manufactur-ing index of electronic products in India is expected to be seen in seg-ments such as wireless handsets, telecommunications and IT and Office Automation (OA).

Poornima Shenoy, President, ISA said “The semiconductor industry in India is growing at a CAGR of nearly 22 per cent. It can contrib-ute substantially to the GDP in the years to come”.

“The Total Available Market (TAM) for the Indian electronics in-dustry is anticipated to rise signifi-cantly to $37.1 billion in 2011 from $25.4 billion in 2009, with a CAGR of 21.4 per cent,” said Dr Biswadip Mitra, Chairman, ISA.

The industrial output in April, according to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

estimates, has witnessed a strong rebound, surging by a 17.6 per cent growth as compared to a year earlier. The growth has been mainly due to a strong showing by the manufacturing sector, led by the

capital goods and consumer durables sector.

Manufacturing output, which holds an 80 per cent weightage in the industrial output index, rose 19.4 per cent on an annual basis in April as compared with 0.4 per cent growth a year earlier.

Capital goods saw a 73 per cent rise in production in April as compared with a 5.9 per cent increase a year

earlier, while consumer durable goods output grew 37 per cent in April. Mining output rose 11 per cent as compared with 3.4 per cent a year earlier.

The strong growth has led to op-timism that the double-digit growth trend will continue in the current fiscal through March 2011.

Date: 30 September to 3 October 2010

automation 2010The event will

showcase industrial automation, robotics, drives and controls, logistics, hydraulics and pneumatics, building automation, pumps and valves and software solutions.Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, MumbaiTel: +91-22-22079567E-mail: [email protected]: www.automation2010.in

Date: 21 September to

24 September 2010

5th Southern asia Ports, Logistics and Shipping 2010This annual container ports

and terminal operations exhibition and conference trade event will showcase latest container handling technology and services.Venue: The Leela Kempsinki hotel, MumbaiTel: +60-87-426022E-mail: [email protected]: www.transportevents.com


17 September 2010

eventupdateIntec 2010 The event will display latest tech-nologies, products, accessories and

other related services for the manufacturing industry.Venue: Codissia Trade Fair Complex, CoimbatoreTel: +91-422-2221582E-mail: [email protected]: www.intec.codissia.com


5 September 2010


11 September 2010

International Foodtec India 2010 The event will showcase the latest products and services in the food processing and packaging industry.Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai

Tel: +91-40-65594411E-mail: [email protected]: www.foodtecindia.com

International Industrial expo & Conference 2010The event will display industrial ma-chinery, raw material of engineering

and technology, machine tools, automation, fire and safety, automobiles and auto components, etc. Venue: Manesar, GurgaonTel: +91-172-2274801E-mail: [email protected]: www.industrialexpos.com

Manufacturing Boosts Industrial Output

Semiconductor Market On Growth Path

The semiconductor market is estimated to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 22.1 per cent.

The industrial output saw a rebound in April due to a strong showing by the manufacturing sector.

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industry update


Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) Thermal Power Plant Construction (TPPC) business unit has bagged two

orders totaling Rs 827 crore from GVK Power for their Gautami Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) expansion and from SEPCO-I for Talwandi Sabo power plant in Punjab.

The order from GVK Power, valued at Rs 602 crore, involves total con-struction including certain electrical and mechanical balance of plant items

(E&M BOP) for the 2 x 392 MW Gau-tami Stage-II CCPP in Andhra Pradesh. L&T has entered into a consortium with Hyundai for this project.

The other order from SEPCO-I is for the civil works for the 2 x 660 MW Talwandi Sabo power plant, being developed by Sterlite Energy Limited in Punjab. The project is valued at Rs 225 crore. Larsen & Toubro is a $9.8 billion technology, engineering and construc-tion group, with global operations.

Hindustan Dorr-Oliver (HDO) has entered into a technology tie-up with Netherlands-based Bron-

swerk Heat Transfer (BHT). The two companies recently signed a license agreement with regard to the same.

BHT supplies technology-based equipment such as air cooled heat exchangers and high pressure heat exchangers to various process plants, process license holders, plant construc-tion companies and global consultants in the areas of oil and gas, refinery, petrochemical and power plants.

The technology tie-up is expected to provide HDO with an opportunity to

enter into the high pressure heat ex-changer market and explore and expand into new sectors.

HDO is the first manufacturing partner for BHT in south east Asia and the company is planning to utilise HDO’s manufacturing strength to tap a substantial market share of the new product range both in India and the Middle-East.

The collaboration is also expected to facilitate BHT to compete in the European, USA and Middle East market by manufacturing critical equip-ment at HDO works located at Vatva, Ahmedabad.

Doosan to Set Up New Unit In India

Doosan Heavy Industries of South Korea is planning to set up a power equipment manufacturing

facility in India.The company is likely to set up a fully-

owned subsidiary in India and not enter any joint venture with any Indian compa-ny for setting up the new plant in India.

Established in 1962, Doosan supplies industrial facilities to domestic and over-seas markets. The company is currently building more than 60 power plants in Korea, USA, India, China and other coun-tries. Besides, the company also supplies casting and forging products, which are the basic materials for power and desali-nation plants.

The company has proprietary tech-nologies for all the three desalination methods—multi stage flash distillation, multiple effect evaporator distillation and reverse osmosis and water/wastewa-ter treatment.

HDO Plans Foray Into New Sectors

Nissan To Source Parts From India

Leading car and truck maker, Nissan is planning to source components worth $40 million from India by

2012. For the current year, the company is likely to source components worth $10 million and will further increase it to $20 million in 2011.

Among the products to be sourced by the company include side airbags, brake pedals and oil pumps. Plans are also underway to source 35,000 units of A-Star from Maruti Suzuki this year, which is sold under the brand name ‘Pixo’ in Europe.

The other future plans of the company for this fiscal include production of 80,000 vehicles at its Chennai plant. The vehicles are meant for both the Indian as well as overseas markets. The company plans to achieve a target of 1.1 lakh unit exports for the next fiscal which will be scaled to 1.8 lakh in the next two years.

(L-R) D V Ramana Rao, VP, L&T; Dong Wook Kim, CEO & President, Hyundai Engineering Co. and G V Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman, GVK after signing the contract in the presence of G V Krishna Reddy, Chairman & MD, GVK Power. Also present were S Rajavel, VP, L&T (third from left).

L&t Bags two New Orders For Power Plants

industry update


Sujana Energy, a part of Hyder-abad-based Sujana Group of Companies, has entered into a

strategic partnership with Japanese firm Nichia Corporation. As per the agreement, both the companies will work together to explore opportunities

in the field of light emitting diode (LED) lighting and display.

The two firms will collaborate on compatible capabilities that can be ap-plied to benefit the current and future customers in India.

Nichia will provide Sujana Energy a product head start, during which Nichia will do best to make its new products available only to Sujana for the Indian market.

Y S Chowdary, Chairman, Sujana Group of Companies, said, “Renewable energy is the focus area for Sujana Group of Companies and this partner-ship is a sign of commitment to make the latest technology products that are available, applicable and af-fordable to consumers.”

Sujana Energy is in the business of renewable power generation, advanced LED lighting and solar photovoltaic applications. Nichia Corporation is a supplier of white LEDs.

ARAI, DSM Form Alliance

Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has entered into an alliance with DSM

of the Netherlands for new develop-ments in the automotive industry in India. The two organisations have decided to work together in developing new lighter materials, which would replace metals in the automotive industry and help auto components reduce weight.

As per the agreement, DSM Engineer-ing Plastics (DSM EP) will provide the know-how on newer materials, while ARAI will provide the expertise to develop and test automotive parts developed, by using them.

The two firms are also planning to make use of bio-plastics, which will help reduce the carbon footprint. Besides, the alliance is also expected to bring in the advantages of engineering plastics in areas dominated so far by metals.

Bharat Forge has joined hands with KPIT Cummins Infosystems to set up a joint venture (JV) to

manufacture and market an indigenous-ly developed hybrid technology solution for automobiles. The new product, viz., Revolo will enable both existing and new vehicles to increase fuel efficiency and engine performance, while at the same time decreasing green house gas (GHG) emissions.

The technology for the plug-in, parallel, full-hybrid solution will be designed and engineered by KPIT Cum-mins, while the solution for automo-biles would be manufactured through the newly formed JV. As part of the agreement, KPIT Cummins will license the technology to the JV while Bharat Forge would bring in its manufacturing, assembly and integration expertise to the JV. The solution will be marketed

to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and fleet and individual vehicle owners through a network of certified and authorized dealerships.

The Automotive Research Associa-tion of India (ARAI) has tested the new hybrid solution and confirmed fuel efficiency gains of more than 40 per cent. Under city driving conditions the increase in efficiency has been above 60 per cent, while reduction in Green-house Gas Emissions (GHGs) has been more than 30 per cent.

As a parallel hybrid, the solution will enable the motor and engine to work si-multaneously. Moreover, the vehicle will operate as a conventional fuel vehicle even if the batteries are completely drained. As a plug-in, the vehicle can be charged through a standard external electricity source such as a domestic power outlet.

Bharat Forge, KPIt Cummins Plan JV

Y S Chowdary (L), Chairman, Sujana Group and Makoto Takenaka (R), Managing Direc-tor, Nichia, exchanging documents during the partnership agreement.

Sujana energy ties Up With Nichia Corp

aCe, MSM energy Join Hands

US-based solar integrator Ameri-can Capital Energy (ACE) and MSM Energy, a subsidiary of MSM

Industries, have joined hands to set up a solar energy joint venture (JV) for the Indian market.

The JV company, named ICE Solar, will provide photovoltaic technology-based solar engineering, procurement and con-struction (EPC) solutions.

MSM Energy is a solar power develop-er and systems integrator. The company provides services including complete audit, feasibility study, concept design, rebates, incentives, qualify, funding, de-sign, sub-systems, components, installa-tion and monitoring and maintenance.

The company also specializes in the application of solar electricity, solar thermal and CPV systems.

industry update


Essen RFID has launched two new tags, viz, Acqua and Metallica in its new manufacturing unit at

Baddi industrial town in Solan district in Himachal Pradesh (HP).

The move is with an aim to develop the finest of ultra high fre-quency (UHF) tags for potential RFID customers across manufacturing and retail domains.

The manufacturing facility, spread across 3,500 sq.feet area, commenced

operations in Febru-ary 2010. The unit

includes inde-pendent

integrated units that manufacture tags of differing quantities and shapes as per customer requirements.

The Metallica tags are useful for tracking metallic objects such as ship-ping containers in logistics and metallic spare parts in an automotive shop

floor. These are capable of reading at a distance of upto 24 feet. They are heat resistant (150°C) and are available with a tag size of 102 mm x 37 mm x 7 mm and are resistant to chemicals including acids/alkalis.

The other product manufactured at the plant includes Acqua tags. These are used for tracking laundry clothes and apparel. The tags are capable of reading upto a distance of upto 30 feet. These are water-proof, water- and heat-resistant upto 150°C and are available with a tag size of 100 mm x 27 mm x 6 mm. These are also resistant to chemi-cals including acids/alkalis.

Essen has developed RFID modules for personnel and car parking manage-ment systems, asset tracking including metals and liquids and identification and stoppage of monetary leakages in the construction industry.

Invensys Operations Management has launched a new version of its Triconex Trident safety system.

The new version 2.1.1 has two new input modules that enhance worker safety and reduces downtime. It also helps deliver accurate trip analysis in power and turbomachinery applica-tions. One of the new modules enables faster response to unsafe equipment conditions, while the other optimizes trip data analysis to prevent future upsets.

The faster response time of the new Trident system offering is the result of an enhanced pulse input

module, which measures speed, rate-of-speed change and the rate of acceleration of rotating equipment in milliseconds.

The optimized trip analysis is due to a new high-resolution digital input module, which monitors changes of state and sequence of events (SOE) and provides a timestamp resolution of one millisecond.

The new safety system is based on triple modular redundant (TMR) tech-nology that helps customers protect plant personnel and production assets, as well as achieve compliance with rigorous environmental standards.

Rockwell Expands FactoryTalk Batch Capabilities

Rockwell Automation has expanded the application development capa-bilities of its FactoryTalk Batch soft-

ware to help users rapidly design and run batch applications. The software features new intelligent recipe capabilities, secure operator overrides, expanded data collec-tion and reporting and improved material management capabilities.

Tightly integrated with the scalable PlantPAx process automation system from Rockwell Automation, the FactoryTalk Batch software provides solutions ranging from small, basic sequencing to large, complex batch applications.

The Intelligent Recipe Features provides recipe authors easy reference of system-wide data such as previous ingredient feed-actuals or material properties, to simplify recipe development. The company has also improved run-time user control by giving operators with security clearance the ability to move a batch forward in the process.

essen RFID Launches two New tags

CorrigendumThe source of the article titled, “Tuning up Business Operations”, published in the June 2010 issue of Industry 2.0, on page nos 46, 47 and 49 was missed out. The source of the article is Teradata Magazine www.teradata.com/tdmo.- Ed

Invensys Launches v2.1.1 Of Safety System

The FactoryTalk Batch software provides solu-tions ranging from small, basic sequencing to large, complex batch applications.

The Metallica tags are useful for tracking metallic objects.

Acqua tags are capable of reading upto a distance of upto 30 feet.

Register Your Company

technology update


Microelectromechanical devices—tiny machines with moving parts—are

everywhere these days. They monitor air pressure in car tires, register the gestures of video game players, and reflect light onto screens in movie theatres. Researchers have now discovered a way to manufacture them by stamping them onto a plastic film.

According to the MIT research-ers, the process opens up the pos-sibility of large sheets of sensors that could, (say) cover the wings of an airplane to gauge their structural integrity. The printed devices are also flexible, so they could be used to make sensors with irregular shapes. And since the stamping process dispenses with the harsh chemicals and high temperatures ordinarily required for the fabrication of microelec-tromechanical systems (MEMSs), it could allow them to incorporate

a wider range of materials. Conventional MEMSs are built through the same process used to manufacture computer chips, which is called photolithogra-phy: different layers of material are chemically deposited on a substrate—usually a wafer of some semiconducting material—and etched away to form func-tional patterns. Photolithography requires sophisticated facilities that can cost billions of dollars, so MEMS manufacture has high initial capital costs. Since, a semi-conductor wafer is at most 12 inches across, arranging today’s MEMS into large arrays requires cutting them out and bonding them to some other surface.

Besides serving as sensors to gauge the structural integrity of aircraft and bridges, sheets of cheap MEMS could also change the physical texture of the surfaces they are applied to, altering the airflow over a plane’s wing. A sheet of thousands of tiny microphones could determine, from the difference in the time at which sound waves arrive at dif-ferent points, where a particular sound originated. Such a system could filter out extraneous sounds in a noisy room, or even perform echolocation, the way bats do. The same type of sheet could constitute a paper-thin loud-speaker; the vibrations of different MEMSs might even be designed to interfere with each other, so that transmitted sounds would be perfectly audible at some loca-tion but inaudible a few feet away. The technology could also lead to large digital displays that could be rolled up when not in use.

The MIT process begins with a grooved sheet of a rubbery plastic,

which is coated with the electri-cally conductive material indium-tin oxide. The researchers use what they call a ‘transfer pad’ to press a thin film of metal against the grooved plastic. Between the metal film and the pad is a layer of organic molecules that weaken the metal’s adhesion to the pad. If the researchers pull the pad away fast enough, the metal remains stuck to the plastic.

“It is kind of similar to if you have Scotch tape on a piece of paper,” says Corinne Packard, a postdoc in the Research Lab of Electronics at MIT who led the work, along with professors of electrical engineering Vladimir Bulović and Martin Schmidt. “If you peel it off slowly, you can delaminate the tape very easily. But, if you peel fast, you will rip the paper,” adds Packard.

Once the transfer pad has been ripped away, the metal film is left spanning the grooves in the plastic like a bridge across a series of ravines. Applying a volt-age between the indium-tin-oxide coating and the film can cause it to bend downward, into the groove in the plastic: the film becomes an ‘actuator’—the moving part in a MEMS. Varying the voltage would cause the film to vibrate, like the diaphragm of a loudspeaker; selectively bending different parts of the film would cause them to reflect light in different ways; and dramatically bending the film could turn a smooth surface into a rough one. Similarly, if pressure is applied to the metal film, it will generate an electric signal that the researchers can detect. The film is so thin that it should be able to register the pressure of sound waves.

Researchers in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to manufacture microelectromechanical devices. The new technique will not only reduce the cost of manufacturing these devices, but also open up the possibility to build safer products.

Pict

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and

Apo

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To test a new technique

for creating micromachines, MIT researchers deposited films

of gold on a sheet of plastic;

grooves in the plastic are vis-ible as a series

of horizontal lines.

Manufacturing Micromachines In A Simpler Way

research report


Apple held onto the first position for the third year in a row in the rankings of 2010 Supply Chain

Top 25 of AMR Research, a Gartner company. This is the first time a company has been ranked No. 1 for three con-secutive years in the Supply Chain Top 25 research. Analysts attribute Apple’s success to its ability to consistently bring both operational excellence and innova-tion excellence to bear in some of the most competitive markets in the world. Apple has broken new ground in trans-forming a supply chain into a value chain by starting with the consumer experience and designing its network to serve that master first and foremost.

Second-placed Procter & Gamble (P&G) is the only company to have been in AMR’s Supply Chain Top 25 for six years running, and it still commands tremendous respect among its peers,

according to AMR Research. As one of the original pioneers of demand-driven principles in supply chain, P&G remains at the forefront of areas such as special-ized production operations in emerg-ing markets and has established new beachheads of leadership in other areas, including its use of innovation networks to tap external expertise for at least 50 per cent of its new product ideas.

Cisco Systems has climbed steadily in AMR’s rankings for five straight years, moving up two slots to No. 3 this year, while five companies—Research In Mo-tion (RIM), Amazon.com, McDonald’s, Microsoft and Inditex—joined the Top 25 for the first time in 2010.The goal of the Supply Chain Top 25 research initiative is to raise aware-ness of the supply chain discipline and how it impacts the business. According to Kevin O’Marah, Group Vice President

Apple Grapples Top Rank In Supply Chain Top 25

Demand-driven principles to coordinate and integrate

the functional areas of supply, demand and product management help in better

sensing, shaping and responding to changes in

market demand. According to AMR Research, two

themes have emerged from the review of this year’s

winners—a re-examination of the benefits of vertical

integration and increasing advances in the realm of

sustainability.

The AMR Research Supply Chain Top 25 for 2010

Rank CompanyPeer Opinion (1)

(154 voters) (25%)

AMR Research Opinion (1)

(27 voters) (25%)

3-yr weighted ROA(2) (25%)

Inventory Turns (3)

(15%)

3-yr weighted Revenue Growth (4)

(10%)

Composite Score (5)

1 Apple 2787 508 11.7% 60.7 21.7% 8.212 Procter & Gamble 2416 567 9.0% 4.9 3.5% 5.913 Cisco Systems 1678 501 11.4% 11.8 4.2% 5.434 Wal-Mart Stores 2567 365 8.2% 8.7 4.3% 5.185 Dell 2049 273 7.1% 47.4 -5.4% 5.066 PepsiCo 1244 396 15.0% 7.4 5.3% 4.917 Samsung Electronics 1111 408 10.2% 17.8 17.6% 4.908 IBM 1566 300 11.3% 19.8 -0.7% 4.529 Research In Motion 299 89 23.7% 13.7 62.4% 4.49

10 Amazon.com 1369 215 7.1% 11.9 30.4% 4.1311 McDonald’s 506 90 13.7% 134.6 1.1% 3.9712 Microsoft 363 151 21.1% 12.2 6.9% 3.9213 The Coca-Cola Co. 1154 220 14.1% 4.7 5.7% 3.8914 Johnson & Johnson 1260 221 13.7% 3.4 2.8% 3.8315 HP 1438 253 7.2% 13.8 5.2% 3.7116 Nike 1141 179 12.9% 4.4 7.5% 3.6117 Colgate Palmolive 488 135 19.6% 5.2 5.9% 3.5818 Intel 872 272 9.8% 5.5 -2.2% 3.2319 Nokia 1151 133 8.1% 13.6 -5.0% 2.8820 Tesco 846 150 5.4% 19.7 9.2% 2.7821 Unilever 630 168 11.5% 5.4 -0.3% 2.7622 Lockheed Martin 250 185 9.3% 20.4 4.6% 2.7523 Inditex 84 95 16.2% 4.2 9.4% 2.7224 Best Buy 1105 73 7.7% 5.8 11.2% 2.6425 Schlumberger 427 104 13.5% 8.8 1.0% 2.63

ROA = return on assets

www.industry20.com industry 2.0 - technology management for decision-makers | july 2010 15

at AMR Research, “ By embedding product and process innovation in supply chain operations and consciously managing and shaping demand from a customer, produc-tion and fulfillment standpoint, the companies included in our Top 25 are doing a lot more than just shipping.”

“Twenty years ago, a typical product company had supply chain reporting to manufacturing, with respon-sibility mainly for inbound materials management and outbound shipping,” said Debra Hofman, Research Vice President at AMR Research. “New data shows that sup-ply chain reports to manufacturing in only six per cent of companies surveyed, while 61 per cent have the head of supply chain reporting directly to the CEO, General Man-ager or President of the business. It seems clear that supply chain has grown up and the business has taken notice,” he added.

The Supply Chain Top 25 rankings comprise two main components, namely—financial and opinion. Public financial data gives a view into how companies have performed in the past, while the opinion component provides an eye to future potential and reflects future expected leadership, a crucial characteristic. These two components are combined into a total composite score.

AMR Research analysts derive a master list of com-panies from a combination of sources, including Fortune Global 500, the Fortune 1000 and the Forbes 2000. The primary source is the Fortune Global 500, which is pared down to the manufacturing and retail sectors. Analysts then supplement this group with companies from the Fortune 1000 that fall between $10 billion in revenue and the smallest revenue on the Global 500 list, as well as select companies from the Forbes 2000.

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july 2010 | industry 2.0 - technology management for decision-makers

Experienced plant managers understand that an optimally laid out factory or a chemical plant can ensure smooth operation, better facility maintenance and enhanced productivity. Well designed plants also help cut worker fatigue and mitigate the risk of accidents. But, for a factory designer who needs to juggle numerous constraints and requirements, creating the ideal plant layout represents a significant challenge. Now, new software tools are helping engineers create—and choose from—alternative plant layouts, quickly and accurately.

by p. k. chatterjee

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industry 2.0 - technology management for decision-makers | july 2010

Importance of proper planningA systematic and thorough plant layout study helps in analyzing benefits from different physical posi-tioning of machinery in the plant, and reveals the best possible arrangement considering the man-ning, machining and material flow aspects. Typi-cally, a plant layout study helps figure out the best possible way to facilitate raw material entry and/or procurement, place machines (and instruments) or equipment according to the flow of materials in the production system, provide safe walkway for opera-tors and other plant personnel, procure space for service and maintenance, provision lighting and ven-tilation, and aid the outgoing logistics facility.

The layout design generally classified as product or line layout, process or functional layout, fixed position or location layout, and combined or group

layout. Each system has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the choice varies by the type of material produced.

In a chemical process plant, where (generally) fixed position or location layout (based on process flow sheet) pattern is followed, the layout design involves several considerations—such as piping, wiring, instrumentation, fire protection lining/equip-ment storage system, protective gear bins/facili-ties etc. Also, plant economics plays a vital role, as length of pipe lines, wiring etc., directly varies as the area increases. Another major factor in designing the layout of (especially) chemical process plants is the process hazard control planning (compliance).

Since a business is expected to grow with the pas-sage of time, it is always better to envision the plant layout with scalability. So, before finalizing the lay-

When Fichtner Consult-ing Engineers (India) was asked to design a 300 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP), the company quickly realized that it was a complex job. The CCPP

consisted of two gas turbines, a condensing steam turbine, two heat recovery steam generators, and re-lated mechanicals. Fichtner was required to produce the plot plan, plant layout, process flow diagram, vendor drawings, and perform subsystem engineer-ing and steam piping stress analysis.

The complexity increased when Fichtner was asked to prepare technical specifications, vendor data sheets, and construction drawings for civil and structural works. According to Viswanathan Shan-mugam, (then) Assistant Chief Engineer at Fichtner Consulting, “CADWorx helped us resolve our chal-lenges. ISOGEN was used to produce accurate draw-ings and BOM (Bill of Materials), saving time and reducing material costs.” This example illustrates how software tools are playing a major role in speed-ing up design of complex plant layouts—and helping save money.

Designing a good plant layoutPlant layout refers to the physical arrangement of different equipment and facilities within the bound-aries of a plant. A typical floor plan—made according to a fixed scale that shows the relative positioning and distances between different equipment, gadgets and devices of a plant—can be called a plant layout.

Designers and engineers face an enormous chal-lenge when it comes to optimizing plant layout to im-prove productivity, safety and security, and quality of the production process by minimizing man-material movement, preventing damage, maximizing co-ordi-nation and economizing the entire activity.

Also, in today’s competitive business environment, economic utilization of the available space is a vital issue, whether the space is rented or bought. Long distance movement is tiring for the workers too, and often necessitates more personnel to handle a job. Additionally, it increases (depending on the process) boundary, walkway, lighting, piping, connectivity, power and other costs. However, cramming multiple equipment within a small space can render the plant highly congested and accident-prone. This also af-fects accessibility of the servicing and maintenance personnel. So, a balanced approach yields the best result, and arriving at the most feasible solution is one of the most difficult tasks. This is one of the rea-sons why post-commissioning, many incremental at-tempts are made to optimize the plant layout.

www.industry20.com 17

Designers and engineers face an enormous challenge when it comes to optimizing plant layout to improve productivity, safety and security.

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Q: How does a good plant layout improve productivity?a: Well, a good plant layout is like organiz-ing your kitchen. You are there to find the shortest and easiest cut for the cooking process flow. If you place the plant and machinery in wrong place—and material flow, ETP planning, storage area and logis-tics flow are improper—it will be a tough puzzle to solve.

A proper plant layout saves time, mini-mizes effort, enhances productivity and reduces downtime. Moreover, at any mo-ment you can go for expansion or install retrofits for your equipment.

Q: What are the determining factors of a

good plant layout?a: There are many factors like—land dimension according to plant or process type, the proposed and future expansion capacity, shade height, working space, clearances, maximum stock (raw and fin-ished material) space, automation levels (for manpower determination), working environment (fume / effluent / noise and fresh air, water handling), location (alti-tude / maximum or minimum tempera-ture), possibilities of one way trafficking of logistics, etc.

Q: Why is the task of plant layout design becoming more complicated?a: Firstly, now it is almost a dream to have an enormous land to build a plant. Virtually every entrepreneur asks you for a space saving design (like flats or apart-ments). You can no longer afford to waste even a square foot of your costly piece of land.

Secondly, in most cases, process flows are not simple and linear. There may be so

many pre-treatments and sub-assemblies to be streamed into the main process flow. Later, there may be post treatments and sorting, and then final assemblies.

Also, you may face the problem of find-ing the right person or organization for plant design. There are so many ‘con-sultants’ for everything. This worsens the scenario.

I recommend that you opt to use a dedicated designer who is familiar with the line. One who can foresee the pains and gains of the plant. Only he can prop-erly explain why something is specially re-quired for your plant, and what he is doing to accommodate that in the design.

Q: What is the contribution of IT in creat-ing an optimized plant design?a: It has given us the choice of designs to select from, within the shortest time span. Although, ultimately the designer will choose the final solution, without soft-ware application it may be a narrow band of layouts.

GooD plant layout Improves proDuctIvIty

out of any plant, a thorough study of the processes, scrutinizing and re- scrutinizing the merits of rela-tive locations of the equipment and machinery is vi-tal for future operations. Formerly, all these mam-moth planning tasks were done manually—under the guidance of experienced plant planners. Thanks to the development of software tools, this complex work has been simplified.

software for plant layoutsThere was a time when designing a plant facility used to take months (even years in some cases), as each portion had to be re-drawn every time a minor change was made in routing or use of alternative equipment. However, the ever changing market sce-nario has made use of software in plant layout de-sign imperative. Since current socio-economic and technological environments do not allow the trial-and-error methods of production, there is no alter-native but to visualize the entire production process, before setting up the actual plant.

cover storyLuckily, today’s software are not only capable

of presenting the three-dimensional (3D) views of the proposed manufacturing plants, but also offer process simulation facility. This enables designers and engineers understand the possible drawbacks and problems during commissioning, operation and maintenance of the proposed plants—long before they are built. This enables layout designs to be con-tinuously improved until they achieve the desired levels of optimization and accuracy.

plant layout simulation aids designTraditionally, in the case of existing plants, design-ers used to physically alter the layout and evaluate the results. With proposed designs, they used to do the same thing using built-up models to understand the most feasible configuration or arrangement. Thus, to reach the final design, they had to expend a lot of time, energy and money—and many possibili-ties were not even considered. However, the advent of plant layout simulation tools has dramatically

Prosenjit guha, Managing Director, galcon group

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july 2010 | industry 2.0 - technology management for decision-makers

www.industry20.com 19

It helps In quIck anD accurate DesIGn

changed the scenario. These software can pick up data from an existing facility design, and present multiple alternative possibilities for improvement. Thereafter, the same data can be used to evaluate the merits of the different plans, and a conclusion can be drawn based on the most suitable set of conditions. The same thing can be done with virtual models of proposed plants. Thus, the best (based on the present objectives, state of knowledge and com-pliances) layout of the existing or new plant can be made (drawn or planned) without any physical con-struction or movement of the equipment.

Plant layout simulation technique is the only sys-tematic and economic way to evaluate the future scenarios based on data collected in-house, without physically altering the existing plant. However, the evaluation process may call for external expertise. This is a powerful tool to maximize the successful re-organization of an existing layout.

choices aboundThere are a fair number of high quality plant layout software available in the market, and generally they are packaged in a suite offering a complete range of tools for hassle-free plant design. Most of them work well on the Microsoft platform. However, there are programs like LinuxCAD, running on Linux OS too. But, the open source alternatives need to gain more capabilities.

Intergraph launched its new-generation software in 2004 as ‘SmartPlant 3D’ and ‘SmartMarine 3D,’ or simply ‘Smart 3D.’ According to the company, Smart 3D is the only plant design solution that al-lows rules-based design, which takes the customer beyond time- and cost-savings, and helps in building better, higher quality and safer plants and ships. So, the focus of the software is extending towards fail-safe designing practice.

Rapid advances in 3D technology are making it easier to design and understand various plant parameters. 3D layouts are much more vivid than those done on 2D CADs. In today’s scenario, it is not only the question of layout designing, but also op-timising the design is important. So, the products are focused in that direction. Dassault Systemes’ CATIA enables designers to reserve spaces, analyze area or volume allocations, and optimize the general 3D layout of plants and equipment or tooling placed in them.

Again, integration of optimized models into quick 3D layouts of entire factories or process plants is

industry 2.0 - technology management for decision-makers | july 2010

raj Kumar soni Managing partner raj Soni & co

Q: What are the basic chal-lenges in plant layout design?a: The basic challenges in plant layout design include—reduc-tion in product delivery time from conception to production, flexibility to accommodate fast changing technology, compliance to statutory and social obliga-tions, effective material handling and safety of operation.

Q: How does the layout planning vary with the nature of the manu-facturing plants?a: Chemical plants are hazardous in nature. Layout of chemical manu-facturing plant and supporting facility is designed based on evaluation of risk to safety of man, machine and environment. In case of general engineering industry, layout is decided for protection of life, property, environment and information; the governing principle is minimum move-ment of man and material.

Q: How is software easing the job of plant layout design?a: IT helps in quick and accurate design, analysis, and integration of various services. To have the feel of actual situation, it is even possible to tour a proposed plant using 3D simulation software.

Q: What are new trends in plant designs?a: Modern plants have good space management, flexible building struc-tures, efficient material handling. There is more emphasis on safety and environment.

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Bayer’s eco-friendly electrochemical chlorine production plant at its Chempark Krefeld-Uerdingen in Germany.

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Q: What savings do software packages deliver in plant layout design?a: The time- and cost-savings associated with using plant design software have typically been delivered through increased productivity. For engineering companies, this means delivering projects faster and better designed, therefore decreasing re-work and giving themselves a competitive edge. For owner operators, this means a faster time to market and faster return on capital employed.

Using new-generation 3D plant design systems, engineering companies realize significant increases in productivity. I do stress the word ‘new generation’, because many plant design software packages on the market are 25 to 30 years old. These old systems were revolutionary when they entered the market, but that was in the early 1980s.

So far, we have invested more than US$150 million in developing new technology, and we do this to accelerate the entire industry by shifting paradigms. ‘Rule-Based Design’ and ‘Design Automation’ are key elements of our new software.

The customer feedback that we receive is pretty amazing. Design time reductions of 20 to 35 per cent are common, and the plants are basically error-free because the system reduces the number of design errors significantly due to the intelligence embedded in the software.

Q: How does Intergraph’s technology help in building better and safer plants? a: While higher productivity due to time- and cost-savings is important, let me bring another aspect of the new technology – ‘Safety’. One of the strengths of our new technology is that – it allows rules-based engineering, which facilitates the automa-tion of engineering processes.

Rules-based engineering can make sure that all safety requirements are properly applied into the design. These software rules can function as ‘Safety Watchdogs.’ A plant or ship, designed ‘error-free,’ means that no modifica-tions or corrections need to be made on-site—when the plant or ship is built. Late changes on-site bear risks, because they might not be properly documented. On-site changes simply transform an ‘as-designed’ plant into an ‘as-built’ plant, where modifications potentially have not been fully tracked.

Q: How is the acceptance of new soft-ware for plant design?a: The demand for new-generation plant design solutions continues to increase. In many cases, you see engineers and designers leading the push for their companies to modernize. They see the benefits of things like automated engineering processes. It allows them to concentrate on higher value work, and it also ensures they produce a higher quality design.

Our Smart 3D software is a prime example of growth. The composite license count of Smart 3D worldwide has tripled since 2005. Major engineering companies around the world are already using it in production, and many others have started or will do so soon.

Companies who choose not to modern-ize do so at their own risk. Their competi-tors are gaining the competitive edge.

Q: Should one use a suite of products from one vendor, or different special-ized point solutions?a: There are lot of benefits from integra-tion of applications. Integrated solutions allow the sharing of data between dif-ferent disciplines. For example, to enter data into the P&ID system and be able to transfer them seamlessly into the 3D de-sign system is of huge benefit, saving cost and reducing the risk of design errors. The same applies from the integration of data derived from the 3D model forwarded to the materials management system or construction management.

Combining multiple vendors’ solutions always means working through interfaces, risk of loss of data, and need for human input. In summary, more cum-bersome, low productivity, error-rich procedures. Plant eengineering is an enterprise activity, and it requires a set of enterprise solutions.

Q: How has the pricing of the software changed with time?a: Our software price has been relatively stable over the last 15 years. Keep in mind that plant design solutions are not commodity items like word processing or spreadsheet software. It requires special-ized, high-level know-how for specialized use. In 2010, we will invest more than US$50 million for software development.

As a vendor who is offering the best technology in the market, we cannot be the cheapest by nature, but we (and our customers) feel that we offer the best price/performance ratio in our industry.

software provIDes a competItIve eDGe In plant DesIGn gerharD sallinger, preSiDent, intergraph proceSS power & Marine

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www.industry20.com 21 industry 2.0 - technology management for decision-makers | july 2010

possible with today’s available software. Pro/ENGI-NEER, Windchill and other PTC affiliated products focus on this.

Within AutoCAD Plant 3D, underlying data is di-rectly exchanged between the 3D model, piping, and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), isometrics and orthographic—to help keep information consistent and-up-to-date. One can search and query for infor-mation and then easily review and edit the data in the drawings.

In fact, CAD is now on your phone too. According to a recent communiqué from MPDS (formerly ME-DUSA Plant Design System), “CAD Schroer’s MPDS4 software, combined with the ‘On-Hand Viewer’ iPhone / iPod touch app, lightens the load by putting the latest 3D design data right on the phone in your jacket pocket.”

With a view to becoming close to users, 3D plant design software makers are modifying their products to provide user friendly and standard interfaces. Just to cite an example, a version-6 post-launch note from Cadmatic conveys, “Our current principle is to use a standard look and feel with the ordinary

interface components: windows, command buttons etc., and develop our own specialized interfaces in areas specific to 3D CAD and our applications. Ver-sion 6 combines the standard Office 2007 look and feel with the familiar Cadmatic logic.”

conclusionWith growing product complexities demanding so-phisticated processing, increasing competition in the market and the mounting pressure of social and environmental compliances, designers and engineers will continue to look for better software to ease the job of plant layout planning (design) to produce better, safer and more economic de-signs within the shortest time. Thus, the plant de-sign software market is poised to grow—and kindle the fire of technological innovation among vendors and developers.

Users will see better and more specific products to meet their requirements. While the use of special-ized software for very specific functions will contin-ue, many users will opt for complete suites to avoid the complications arising out of interfacing.

Q: What are the new challenges in plant layout design?a: The latest and the biggest challenge in plant design processes include streamlining the design process, model-ling, documentation of piping, equipment and support structures in a collaborative environment—with designers and contractors working in an environment of intense time pressure and increased global competition.

Q: How is software helping to save time and money?a: Software helps in designing, modelling and documentation of—piping, equipment and support structures that are involved in plant design. Features and functionalities in these software like specification driven design, standard part catalogs, isometric and orthographic functionality, etc. help save time and money.

Q: How accurately does simulation mimic field conditions?a: The level of accuracy that is obtained through simulation in this field is huge. Today’s software solutions enable plant design and engineering professionals to unite their contributions into a single, synchronized 3D model.

Theses software can deliver a real-time, whole-project view including 4D planning, photorealistic visualization, dynamic simulation, and accurate analy-sis. They help in anticipating potential problems in a new or upgraded facility design with clash detection.

Q: How is the demand for such software in India?a: There is an increasing demand in India for plant design software, espe-cially in manufacturing and infrastructure space. They give designers enhanced control, confident collaboration and en-able information aggregation for complex projects. Plant design software applica-tions will certainly see a boost in the coming years.

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manufacturing technology

Your brand-new pneumatic conveying system has just been installed. Your company has invested

a lot of time, money, and effort in this new project, and now it is time to start up the system. But starting up a new pneumatic conveying system can be a bumpy ride, whether the system is relatively simple or will transfer multiple materials to multiple des-tinations. To protect your invest-ment, it is best to hire a profes-sional startup technician. The technician’s experience in solving the many technical problems that can develop during startup can prevent damage to the system and its components—providing the best investment protection you can get.

Startup technician working with your employees About the startup technician: Typi-cally, the startup technician for a new pneumatic conveying system is an employee of the system sup-plier. (In some cases, the supplier may provide a team of startup technicians.) The technician’s ser-vices can be contracted on a day-

by-day basis or can be included as part of a turnkey system package.

The technician’s responsibilities: The startup technician’s work begins long before your pneumatic conveying system is ready to start up. In fact, this expert should be on-site during the system’s installation in your plant. Par-ticipation during this stage not only gives the startup technician experience in the intricacies of your particular system, but gives the technician an opportunity to notice potential trouble spots and prevent them from leading to con-veying problems later on. Then the technician will return for actual

startup, which can take less than one day for a simple conveying system and up to one week for a more complex system.

Plant employee responsibilities: Responsibility for a success-ful system startup does not rest solely with the startup technician. Even when you use the techni-cian’s services, plant employees still play the most critical roles in ensuring that the system starts up successfully, and then contin-ues to run as it should. All plant employees responsible for the system’s operation and mainte-nance, particularly the system operator and maintenance worker,

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Adding VAlue To Your new Pc SYSTem Via Professional start-UP and trainingA professional startup technician can supervise the pneumatic conveying (PC) system startup, and ensure that the system runs smoothly. He or she can also train the employees of the owner company to run and troubleshoot the system with confidence.

by g barry slater & peter wypych

Pneumatic conveying system (PCS)


manufacturing technology

should be present at startup as part of becoming fully trained to run and troubleshoot the convey-ing system.

Preparing for startup Since most training for the employees, who will operate and maintain your pneumatic convey-ing system, will occur during system startup, it is important to lay some training groundwork ahead of time. Start by arranging to relieve the system operator and maintenance worker of other duties during the startup period, so they do not have to run off to handle other projects or take calls; such interruptions will disrupt the training and prevent the employees from learning valu-able information.

Also, give the employees cop-ies of the system drawings and the operations and maintenance manual provided by the supplier—so they can become familiar with these materials and the convey-ing system before the system is started up. Familiarity with the manual will make it easier for the employees to consult it when questions or problems arise after startup is over.

The final step in preparing for startup is to make sure that all conveying system components, which require lubrication, such as air movers (blowers, fans and compressors), rotary airlock valves, and valve lubricators, are filled with oil as outlined in the operations and maintenance manual. Component lubrication is always your company’s responsi-bility—and specifically that of the system operator and maintenance worker—not the supplier’s. Ensur-ing that your employees study and follow lubrication procedures described in the manual will prevent annoying system break-downs, and lengthy battles down the road over who will pay for the cooked blower or other compo-nent damaged by insufficient or improper lubrication.

Initiating the startup Before arriving at your plant, the startup technician will develop a procedure for starting up your pneumatic conveying system. This procedure will be based on specific details the technician has learned about your system during installation, as well as on the technician’s hands-on experience

with many previous conveying sys-tem startups. The procedure will cover two basic stages: running the system with air only (called a ‘dry run’), and then running it with both air and material. Plant em-ployees should fully participate in both stages—to ensure that they receive the detailed training they need to operate and troubleshoot the system.

First stage: The first stage is a chance to be sure that all convey-ing system components are func-tioning properly before material is fed into the system. The procedure for this stage will typically look something like this: • Before starting up the system, check that those system compo-nents requiring lubrication have been properly lubricated. Then thoroughly check over the entire system to be sure that all com-ponents are properly hooked up. Are the electrical wires connected properly? Is the conveying piping configured correctly and connect-ed with all bolts properly tight-ened? Also, check that the bag or cartridge filters in each bin vent dust collector or filter-receiver have been installed correctly. Now activate the system’s ‘On’ switch to start up the system with air only, with no material entering the system.• Check the orientation and rota-tion direction of all air movers, motors and rotary airlock valves. Are these components oriented and turning in the right direction to provide the required vacuum or pressure or material feed? It is not uncommon for air movers to be wired incorrectly, causing them to move air in the wrong direction. Also, check that air is flowing through the conveying line in the proper direction.• Check that all other valves, such as diverter, butterfly and knife-gate valves are working. Check that each valve is correctly positioned during each convey-

A profes-sional startup

technician can ensure that your pneumatic con-

veying system is success-

fully initiated by checking the installation and function of sys-

tem components and monitoring

the system’s performance.

Material Diverter Bin vents


ing cycle, and determine whether each valve will be correctly po-sitioned when you begin running material through the system. • Ensure that all scales or load cells in the conveying system have been properly set, zeroed out and check-weighed. • Turn the conveying system ‘off‘ and run it again with air only another two, three or more times until the system performance has good repeatability. The more destinations the system delivers to, the more runs it may take to achieve this.

Successfully completing the steps in this first stage will ensure that everything in the convey-ing system is working right—the air mover is not reversed, each valve is operating, and the airflow through the system is set prop-erly—so that the system will not plug when you start running mate-rial through it.

Second stage: After the sys-tem is turned on for the second startup stage and the mate-rial begins to feed through the rotary airlock (or other) valve, the startup technician makes several system checks and adjustments. This procedure typically includes these steps: • Check all valves for proper operation. Is each rotary air-lock, diverter, butterfly, knife-gate, or other valve feeding or directing the flow of material in the direc-tion of the conveying airflow? Is each pressure relief valve func-tioning correctly?• Check all vents, including bin vents and rotary valve leakage vents. Is each vent clear and working correctly? • Check each bin vent or filter-receiver to be sure it is working properly. This includes checking the Magnehelic gauge to deter-mine the pressure drop across the filters and checking for dust in the exhaust.• Set the timers for conveying

and cleaning cycles. Check these items: Is the material feeding smoothly to the system? Is the material feeding at the correct rate and moving at the desired rate through the system? As you check the system vacuum or pressure gauges, does the vacuum or pressure remain consistent, without varying more than one or two units? Are the conveying cycles starting and stopping at the right time? Are the filter-cleaning cycles set properly? Are the filters properly cleaned during each cy-cle—i.e., does the cleaning cycle maintain the proper pressure drop across the filters according to the Magnehelic gauge? • Check that the conveying system is delivering the correct amount of material, such as by reading weight data from the scale under a supply hopper or receiv-ing vessel or using other data.• Check that the diverter, but-terfly, knife-gate and similar valves are opening and closing as they should throughout each conveying cycle.

Make sure that the conveying system is properly set up before running any material through it.

Before the startup technician leaves Now that the startup has been completed successfully, and your pneumatic conveying system is up and running properly, the startup technician will provide one more important service: reviewing the entire operations and mainte-nance manual with the system op-erator, maintenance worker, and other plant employees to ensure that every part of the system’s operation has been covered. Now, it is a good time for employees to ask the startup technician any re-maining questions on how to run and troubleshoot the system.

As part of this final training, the startup technician will provide several important pointers:

• Make sure that the conveying system is properly set up before running any material through it. This includes checking most of the items in the procedure for the first startup stage. • If the conveying system goes down, find the root cause of the problem (or problems), fix it, and, before resuming normal opera-tion, take the time to evaluate the entire system for other problems that may have resulted from the initial problem. • Think of the conveying system’s operations and maintenance manual as your best friend: refer to it often.

At this point, you may also hire the startup technician to stay on to provide further system opera-tion and performance monitor-

ing—especially, if the system will convey multiple materials at several rates—or to provide further training.

Enlisting the services of a professional startup technician is a practical way to protect your pneumatic conveying system investment. Your biggest reward? A conveying system that runs smoothly under the supervision of employees—who have the skills to operate and troubleshoot the system.

G. Barry Slater is president of ALL-CON World Systems and Peter Wypych is the director of Key Centre for Bulk Solids & Particulate Technologies at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.

component lubrication is always your company’s responsibility—and specifically that of the system operator and maintenance worker—not the supplier’s.

materials & processes


Introduction of e-commerce has provided steel with a unique avenue—through which it can reach out to the

end consumers directly, elimi-nating third parties in the form of retailers and intermediaries. The concept of selling online or conducting business in general through the Internet was initially not received well by a consider-able number of people. So, when it came to selling steel via the same media it was regarded as just another whimsical idea.

Moreover, Indians in general are not very experimental by na-ture. Though, this behavioural trait might be changing as far as the newer generation is concerned, yet it is marginal and does not account

for a huge difference. Even though the entities who launched the idea were sure in their minds of the kind of impact it would create, for the skeptics it was nothing more than a trial and error methodology to establish something—which was not suited to the way we Indi-ans choose to conduct business.

E-businessSteel was introduced into the e-business arena sometime in the beginning of the decade and in the past five to six years all specula-tions regarding its failure have been rightfully put to rest.

There are a number of compa-nies which work as e-commerce service providers for the steel industry in India. The online

participation of buyers and sellers of steel has brought about various unique advantages to them which they could not avail of in the real or physical steel market, since these benefits are an inherent part of the e-business model.

E-business has created a plat-form where not just the big names from the steel industry, but also the fragmented, small and medium sized companies can participate and enhance their efficiencies in online transactions for spot buying or selling of steel. This integration of the entire segment comprising big, medium and small sized com-panies brings in a high degree of competitiveness resulting in better quality and hence, pricing—which is based on current market

Of Trading Steel Via Internet Realizing Benefits

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Buying steel online helps eliminating hassles of managing logistics, risks of cost escalation due to delay in delivery and product tampering.

by deep banerjee


For online sellers of steel, the margins have been escalating day by day.

situation, thus completely free from bias.

E-salesThe e-sales process provides steel consumers quality assurance for the product in the most simple, efficient and transparent manner anywhere in the country. Acces-sibility is no longer a hindrance as consumers sitting in the remotest of areas can participate in this most technologically advanced mode of transaction.

E-sales, which does away with long drawn negotiations and meet-ings with company executives, help in saving precious time for both entities, the buyers and the sellers of steel.

FinanceThe e-sales platform plays an ex-tremely vital role in providing the e-seller or e-buyer an opportunity to discover new sellers and buyers without incurring any additional cost, which would have been an inevitable step for them to run business in real market.

Some e-service providers have also introduced financial services to add value to the online trans-action of steel. They know that in order to make the sales and distribution channel more robust and to strengthen relationship with buyers as well as sellers, it is vital to make finance available to them, efficiently and at the most com-petitive interest rates.

The alliances and relationships with major Indian banks ensure that individuals dealing with the online sale and purchase of steel,

get finance 24x7. Buyers have the option of getting their purchase financed through these banks in the most hassle-free manner. The online finance facility also assists buyers in meeting their day-to-day working capital requirements.

The sellers can sell steel to their distribution network and channels on cash basis without accruing any debt. Its advantages include elimination of debts from books, 100 per cent secured receivables and timely payment for selling organizations.

LogisticsLogistics is no longer the worry of the consumer. Buyers who purchase steel online are assured of on time delivery of goods at their doorstep, without any cost escalation or tampering. Therefore, right from material inspection to listing of lots, from offer for sale to payments and from lifting to delivery, the advantages brought about through e-business in steel sales, clearly spells increased convenience with complete peace of mind for the consumer.

For online sellers of steel, the margins have been escalating with increased reach in the market, and discovery of new buyers for their products over the Internet. So, automatically this has im-pacted the realizations which have gone soaring.

The participants can also avail customized e-solutions suited to enhance their business effi-ciencies and also a host of other services, which go a long way in adding up to the value of the steel

which is ulti-mately bought.

FutureAll these added advantages have simplified the process considerably. E-business has freed the steel buyers and sellers of the rigmarole, which they went through while conducting business otherwise.

Fair priced, quality steel, better market penetration and a hassle-free procurement procedure have attracted and continue to do so, many more such buyers and sellers of steel who have identi-fied the advantages and benefits which can be reaped by going the e-business way.

And this is not where it ends. With the innovation and introduc-tion of better and newer technol-ogy getting incorporated into the e-selling process of steel the volumes sold online will only keep multiplying in the years to come.

Deep Banerjee is Head—Corporate

Marketing & Communications, mjunction

services limited.



To what extent did the recession affect the copper industry?This industry was not that badly affected by recession, mainly because our products are used in oil refineries, power plants, de-salination plants, air conditioning and refrigeration, ship building and ship repairs, railways and hospitals. The products find ap-plications in various categories, such as condensers, chillers, deep freezers, automotive radia-tors, heat exchangers, natural

gas (LPG) piping system, ducting for centralized air-conditioning system, refrigerators, cooling towers, plumbing and medical gas piping and solar heating systems. The demand and supply for all of these sectors have increased without a foremost breakdown.

Does the price fluctuation in the foreign exchange have a major impact on the growth of copper industry?Copper is the primary raw mate-rial used in our industry and its price is controlled by the London Metal Exchange (LME), an inter-national body. Since this metal is traded in foreign currency, mainly in US$; a fluctuation in foreign exchange definitely has a major impact on economics of this in-dustry. For example, if at the time of purchase the currency value of rupees is higher or lower, it will directly affect the results of the company, thereby influencing the bottom line.

What are the other challenges faced by this sector?Due to a steep increase in the raw material prices of copper over the last five years, the end users have been trying out other alternatives or substitutes for the use of cop-per, be it ferrous or non-ferrous. If the alternative is successful, the industry will lose a great deal of market. Opportunely, until now all the tryouts haven’t provided the desired results. Additionally, as far as the price is concerned, the Chinese influence on this product is a major worry for all Indian manufacturers like us.

Mumbai-based Nissan Copper is engaged in production of semi-finished

copper products. The company has recently adopted the latest Cast & Roll

technology for manufacturing copper tubes. Ratan Mardia, Managing

Director, Nissan Copper, speaks with Reshmi Menon about the advantages

of the new technology and the new application areas of copper tubes and

pipes. Excerpts...

“There will be a rise in demand for copper products in the coming years”

Ratan Mardia Managing Director

Nissan Copper


Why are copper tubes indispens-able?Copper has very high thermal and electrical conductivity along with anti-corrosion properties. It is also 100 per cent recyclable, and can be easily alloyed with any other non-ferrous metal making copper indispensable in heat transfer and electrical applications, which are the two areas where copper tubes are majorly used.

What are the new trends deployed in the manufacture of copper tubes and pipes?Our upcoming new plant will have copper tubes manufactured by using the Cast & Roll technology, which are the latest machinery to be introduced in this field.

The advantage of this technolo-gy over the conventional extrusion and drawing technology is—the high yield inspite of the minimum manpower requirement. This would help us to reduce our manufactur-ing costs considerably, and thereby aggrandize company profits. This is the first-of-its-kind to be used in India. Continuous developments are being made on this technol-ogy with reference to quality and productivity. This technology has the scope to be adopted by other manufacturers as well.

How does India fare with respect to global competition in terms of manufacture of quality products?Globally, all customers are quality conscious and would like to adhere to timely deliveries. Regrettably, in this industry Indian suppliers haven’t taken these aspects too seriously. Hence, this scepticism about Indian suppliers can only be changed through improvement of quality and adherence to delivery schedules. It will also lead to import substitution as most of the copper tubes presently are being imported. Importing copper also has its own share of problems—like high risks of the supplier

backing out due to the volatility of copper prices. Also, since the import orders have to be placed in large quan-tities, Indian suppliers have the advantage of offering smaller quanti-ties at ex stock prices.

How would you describe the growth of green technology in this industry?Copper can be recycled, and hence for the last several years, copper scrap is regularly being used as a raw material in this industry. We are making a conscious ef-fort to transition from the conven-tional method of acid pickling to bright annealing, which is used in cleaning the final product. Bright annealing is environment-friendly amongst the two as it makes use of atmospheric nitrogen.

Are there any new application areas or new markets in which this industry finds growth potential?In the process of expansion of our global footprint, we are focusing on markets in western countries and the Middle East—where copper tubes are used widely in plumbing applications and water transportation. Copper tube and fittings can be used in every part of plumbing systems and water transportation. Since copper is strong, it can be easily formed into bends and systems—and can be assembled both on and off-site. It is resistant to corrosion and high water pressure.

In addition, copper piping gives excellent protection against con-taminants to the domestic water supply. No fluids, germs, oxygen or ultra-violet rays can get through it. Copper adds to the total system integration even when subjected to adverse conditions.

In comparison, however the use of galvanised iron pipes and fit-tings is far more common than the use of copper tubes and fittings in India, due to misconceptions re-lated to the higher price of copper in relation to the galvanised iron pipe. However, even though a price difference does exist it is balanced out because of the weight; where copper is quarter the weight of the galvanised iron pipe.

This is the application area where the industry can foresee tremendous growth prospects. However, it can only be achieved with the collective effort to expose this product amongst plumbers and construction companies.

How do you foresee the growth of this sector in the near future? I said earlier, our products go into several end uses in various industries such as oil refineries, power plants, desalination plants and air conditioning & refrigera-tion, among others. Since, these industries are ever growing and will have the need to use copper and its alloys in their ap-plications, there will be a rise in demand for copper products in the coming years.

Flow chart representing Cast & Roll technology



While speaking in the convention of Bu-reau of International Recycling (BIR)

Non-Ferrous Metals Division in Is-tanbul (held from May 31 to June 2, 2010), its President Robert Stein of Alter Trading in the USA said, “Markets are continuing to react dramatically to an eco-nomic atmosphere which is still not overly clear. Intra-day price ranges often exceed the margins realised by processing facilities during normal times—and there is no reason to believe that this situation will be remedied any time soon.”

Having described volatility as—somewhat more pronounced,

he added, “Concerns about sovereign debt in Europe, the pace of the economic recovery in the United States and elsewhere, the economic impact of natural disasters ranging from the heights of a mountain in Iceland to the depths of an under-sea drilling disaster in the United States provide a backdrop for commer-cial anxieties so evident in our daily lives.”

One of the latest anxieties to occupy non-ferrous scrap export-ers relates specifically to Turkey, which had implemented difficult rules on May 21 this year—which appeared likely to complicate the country’s exports of copper and brass scrap.

Even newer and potentially worrying rules were outlined by David Chiao of the Uni-All Group. Notice 21 came into force in China on June 1, designed to eliminate under-declaration of consignment values, this regula-tion calls for the individual packaging of each item in a mixed load.

Although it was too early to comment on enforcement prac-tices, said Chiao, it seemed that Zorba was to be identified as a single item while a detailed analy-sis of all components appeared to be required for irony aluminium and other mixed metals.

The world market overview provided by Carmelo Paolucci of Italy’s Trentavizi Srl (now S.p.A) accentuated the positive—when suggesting that fundamentals remain healthy as China’s demand for non-ferrous metals continues to grow; for example, the coun-try’s copper demand is expected to surge 12 per cent this year to almost 9m tonnes. The US economy “is giving plenty of posi-tive signs” while the government in India is confident of achieving its medium-term target of 10 per cent annual GDP growth, helped by a 39 per cent year-on-year upturn in the domestic automo-tive sector.

Although the global aluminium market surplus will be “easily over 1m tonnes” in 2010, the light metal’s average cash price should rebound from US$ 1650 per tonne in 2009 to US$ 2300 this year, according to Robin Bhar, Senior Metals Analyst at Crédit Agricole in the UK. An improvement in demand would lead to an average of nearer US$ 2500 per tonne for 2011, he added.

Watching The Non-ferrous Scrap Metals MarketMillions of tonnes of nonferrous scrap (aluminium, copper, lead, zinc, tin etc.) are recovered annually and used by smelters, refiners, ingot makers, foundries and other manufacturers. Due to the limited availability of these metals, the unrestricted flow of non-ferrous scrap from country to country is crucial. However, this year’s World Recycling Convention—organized by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) in Istanbul, could not explore a satisfactory progress in this direction.

World Metal Demand

We see the world metal demand is driven by Chi-na and India. In these countries, especially in

automotive and buildings, we can see huge demand of metal products—especially aluminium and copper alloys. Last year in India, we had an improvement of 23 per cent of production of new cars.

In EU, the outlook up to December (2010) is not so encouraging. It will face, in the near term, a reduction of demand caused by the seasonal slow-ing of demand. The main problem is metal price on LME (London Metal Exchange). It was boosted up by speculation, and now we are really close to a signifi-cant correction.”

Carmelo PaoluCCiTrenTavizi S.p.a

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Media Partners:

facilities & operations


“Our mantra is to democratize technology”Autodesk, Inc. is a wellknown name among the designers, engineers and other CAD users worldwide. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software wayback in 1982, the company has been helping design professionals transform design challenges into opportunities. Keeping abreast of time, today it offers manufacturers tools for 3D modeling, and ways for smoothly switching over to 3D from 2D CAD. In an exclusive interview, Rajiv Bajaj, Head (Manufacturing), Autodesk India and SAARC, is explaining several advantages of Digital Prototyping, to P. K. Chatterjee. Excerpts...

What are the advantages of digi-tal prototyping (DP) apart from cost saving?Digital Prototyping gives concep-tual design, the ability to virtually explore a complete product before it becomes real. With DP, manu-facturers can create, validate, optimize and manage designs from the conceptual design phase to the manufacturing process. Using a single digital model throughout the design process helps product development teams boost the level of communication with different stakeholders, while getting more innovative prod-ucts to market faster. By using a digital prototype, manufacturers can visualize and simulate the

real-world performance of the design with less reliance on costly physical prototypes.

According to an independent study by the Aberdeen Group, best-in-class manufacturers use digital prototyping to build half the number of physical prototypes as the average manufacturer, get to market 58 days faster than average, experience 48 per cent lower prototyping costs, and ulti-mately drive greater innovation in their products.

What are the salient features of a comprehensive DP solution that users should check before buying a solution?Attainable, cost effective and

scalable—these are the salient features of a comprehensive DP solution, and users should check these before buying.

DP solutions bring together design data from all phases of the product development process to create a single digital model. This single digital model simulates the complete product and gives engineers the ability to better visualize, optimize and manage their design before producing a physical prototype. Thus, the development process turns out to be more cost-effective. Interoper-able tools are available to create a complete digital prototype from the conceptual phase of a project through manufacturing.


What is your suggestion to the companies who are still working with 2D solutions? The move from 2D to 3D has been happening for some years. It is in full swing. What is inter-esting is that most companies and consequently software ven-dors have come to learn that the move to 3D does not mean that 2D will no longer have a role. We believe that 2D continues to be relevant and can actually do some tasks better than a 3D modeler. However, we suggest that customers should move from 2D to 3D at their own pace as per their requirement.

How does bi-directional inter-operability between 2D and 3D help designers?Designers can generate engi-neering drawings from digital prototypes that helps reduce errors and increase productivity. Apart from support for all major industry drawing standards, it allows designers to create engi-neering drawings in true DWG format for superior data sharing. Bi-directional associativity not only updates 2D drawings when the model changes, it also up-dates the component, if designer changes the drawing.

What are the specific application areas where DP’s utility truly counts?DP solutions are used extensively in the manufacturing environ-ment. Engineers use design soft-ware solutions to explore ideas with simple, functional represen-tations that help generate a digi-tal prototype. Integrated stress analysis and motion simulation help engineers optimize and validate complete designs digi-tally, and confirm that customer requirements are met even before the product is built.

Manufacturing teams benefit from accessing the most cur-

rent and accurate data (say—to release drawings, models and BOMs) avoiding mistakes caused by using outdated documents. And, they can provide expertise earlier in the engineer-ing process by using the digital prototype delivered using DWF ( Design Web Format) technol-ogy to communicate, mark up and measure designs—moving one step closer to true paperless manufacturing processes.

In collaborative designing environment, how can designers avoid risks of overwriting of good designs?Often it is seen that different departments in the manufactur-ing process operate as islands. They are not able to collaborate with each other. For example, an industrial designer may prepare a concept of a wheel. However, when it goes to engineering, they use tools that are not able to uti-lize the data which the industrial designer has prepared. In short, they have to reinvent the wheel, thereby wasting time and money. This is a typical scenario when designers overwrite good designs. There are similar horror stories about collaboration between (say) electrical and mechanical depart-ments, each is working on its own tools and outputting data which is incompatible to other. Even basic 2D to 3D conversion, which all manufacturers have to carry out, results in data loss.

Autodesk enables manufac-turers to work with a single model right from concept design, through engineering and then onto the shop floor. It also has lightweight and scalable data management solutions, which bind the entire process together. We believe that this gives our customers a unique advantage to collaborate internally and even outside their firewalls with their vendors and customers.

Are DP solutions really affordable for Indian SMEs?We believe that the returns which SMEs enjoy from investing in digital prototyping solutions; far outweigh the costs. Ironically, we often find SMBs more open to adopting DP solutions than the giants of industry. They are more nimble, and sometimes more hun-gry for success. Today, there is powerful 3D modeling tools avail-able in the market at extremely affordable prices that most SMBs can easily afford.

So, it is a better technology for everyone. We do not believe in selling very expensive software, which requires huge amounts customization or consulting. Our software is scalable. This means that one can move from 2D to 3D

at their own pace. Our solutions are attainable and cost-effective. Anyone with a basic knowledge of AutoCAD can learn how to use our higher-end applications.

It is critical that SMEs evalu-ate not just the initial cost of pur-chase, but things like availability of talent, the scalability of the solution and the ease of use of what they purchase. All these will contribute to the total cost of ownership (ToC) of a 3D tool. At Autodesk, we feel that we are on a winning wicket with SMEs given that our mantra is to democratize technology. With the Autodesk solution for DP, it is easier for SMEs to stay com-petitive in an increasingly intense global marketplace.

Often it is seen that different

departments in the manufacturing process operate as islands. They are not able to collaborate with each other.”


supply chain & logistics

The ambit of outsourcing has transcended many functional boundaries within organizations—as

they strive to become competitive by focusing on their core busi-nesses rather expending time, resources and money in manag-ing non-core functions. However, the challenge lies in identifying which non-core functions can be outsourced, and even more chal-lenging is to identify a reliable and competent outsourcing partner who can optimally take care of the functions that you wish to outsource.

While information technol-ogy and certain administrative business processes have become synonymous to outsourcing, there are other key functional areas, primarily of large and medium enterprises, where enterprises are feeling the need for engaging

outsourcing partners. However, as mentioned before, the first challenge would be to identify, which function do we need to outsource?

Like all outsourcing function evaluations, the decisions should be based on reducing and control-ling operating costs, improving company core focus, freeing-up internal resources for other purposes, making capital funds available for investing into core business and sharing & mitigating risks to whatever extent pos-sible. Not surprisingly the top few functions that come to the mind are information technology, ad-ministration (such as printing & reprographics, mailroom, records management, etc), customer ser-vices (such as field services, tele-marketing, etc), finance (payroll processing, transaction process-ing, general accounting), etc.

However, interestingly, one area that is emerging as a huge market is that of outsourcing the vehicle/ fleet management function of enterprises. The fleet management outsourcing market, more commonly known as operational leasing market, will continue to grow at 28 per cent annually up to 2013, to reach a total fleet size of around 100,000 units, according to a latest report by Datamonitor.

While the concept of opera-tional leasing or outsourcing of company fleets to leasing com-panies has been around for some time, there is a real need for en-terprises to really appreciate the benefits that they could accrue through leasing of vehicles. One of the reasons for the slow uptake of this concept is—the Indian market is typically characterized by most enterprises preferring

Outsourcing fleet management is rapidly gaining popularity among corporates as they realize the cost benefits and business advantages.

by sanjeev prasad

The New Corporate Mantra

Outsourcing Vehicles:


supply chain & logistics

ownership of vehicles as opposed to leasing, which is presumably driven by the assumption that ve-hicles should be perceived as an asset owned by the company and not by anybody else. It is under-standable, considering that the typical Indian psyche has been to own vehicles rather than opting for leasing rental, as a vehicle is generally perceived as a status symbol and this is a rub-off effect which the Indian corporate com-munity has largely displayed.

However, having said that, the perception and mindset is slowly but surely changing and the growth this segment is witnessing is a testimony of this

fact. Interestingly, this change is driven by extreme competitive environments, which is forcing companies to become more cost effective, run employee retention programmes and advent of MNCs in India. The reason, why this is a little surprising is—the primary driver should have been the nu-merous tangible and intangible benefits that operational leasing brings to the table for corpora-tions having to maintain a large fleet of vehicles, rather than the reasons mentioned earlier.

Vehicles are mostly non-core assets of companies and by owning a large fleet of vehicles companies lock in a lot of capital on cars or vehicles. Operational leasing of vehicles require a smaller upfront investment, as the leasing agreement reduces fleet costs to a monthly operat-ing expense as opposed to the expense appearing as an asset in the balance sheet. This frees up a lot of capital, which can be re-invested into the core business as opposed to buying and maintain-ing a fleet of vehicles.

Further, opting for an opera-tional lease reduces a lot of risk for corporations as it can offset a huge unforeseen fleet mainte-nance cost. A good operational leasing partner can actually help companies to determine the most optimal fleet mix, primarily due to their experience and knowledge that they would have accumulated over a period of time. Besides, an operational leasing company can fix the market residual value of a car upfront, which eventu-ally reduces the overall cost of ac-quisition of the car and provides immunity from fluctuating car resale value.

Moreover, operational leas-ing helps in calculating fleet expenses, which leads to predic-tive budgeting, which offsets any unbudgeted maintenance risks. Companies could adopt a

maintenance plan in discus-sion with their leasing partner, which could take care of routine maintenance of vehicles, provid-ing roadside assistance, provision of replacement car in case of breakdowns, pickup and drop of vehicles to and from workshops, etc. Besides this companies can get bigger and better cars within the same budget, which could be a great value add to their em-ployee retention policies.

While these are some highly tangible benefits that companies can benefit upfront, there are a lot of other intangible ben-efits that come with operational leasing of cars. For instance, a lot of administrative costs as-sociated with fleet maintenance is taken care of by the leasing companies. Quite often, compa-nies that operate a large fleet of vehicles have entire departments setup to maintain the fleet. This department has to deal with a host of activities such as taxes, insurance, regulatory compli-ance checks, record keeping, fuel invoicing, etc. Engaging an opera-tional leasing partner could free up manpower resources involved in such administrative tasks so that they could start contributing to the business rather than oper-ate a cost centre.

While the Indian corporate houses are warming up to the concept of operational leasing, the concept has founded great acceptance in more matured mar-kets such as Netherlands and UK. Almost half of the company cars in these markets are leased as opposed to less than 10 per cent in India. Hence, it is about time that companies start con-sidering operational leasing as a must have differentiator that enables them to focus on their core businesses.

Sanjeev Prasad is Managing Director,

LeasePlan India.

Companies could adopt a maintenance

plan in discussion with their leasing partner,

which could take care of routine maintenance

of vehicles.


information technology

“One of the major demand areas is integrated SCM solutions”Although technology absorption rate among Indian supply chain managing companies is quite slow even today, the need for customised solutions is growing with ever increasing complexities of supply chain management (SCM). In an exclusive interview, Devendra Deshmukh, Director & Founder, e-Zest Solutions, a customised enterprise application development firm, talks on the emerging trends in the SCM software market, to P. K. Chatterjee. Excerpts...

What are the most pronounced SCM issues today that manufac-turers are looking out to resolve through software applications? Some of the typical supply chain management (SCM) issues for which manufacturers are looking for customized solutions include—e-procurement, vendor integration solutions, supply chain execution, demand forecasting and integrated supply chain manage-ment solutions.

What are the latest global trends in SCM solutions? Some of the key global supply chain trends include Green SCM, Cloud-based SCM solution delivery and use of RFID, GIS, GPRS technologies.

To what extent, have the Indian manufacturers adopted the global trends? India is a slow adopter of SCM solutions. Currently, there are some large enterprises that are us-ing specialized SCM solutions, but penetration in small and medium enterprises is very low. The high cost of licensed software, and lower returns from SCM solutions

due to implementation failures have affected SCM adoption in In-dia. SaaS/Cloud-based delivery and performance linked business mod-els will hopefully help in improving SCM solutions adoption in India.

How is the demand scenario changing from the customers’ end?We mainly work with SME custom-ers, and one of the major demand areas is integrated SCM solutions, which can address demand for group of companies in specific industrial areas. In addition, previ-ously customers used to be happy with limited SCM capabilities provided within ERP solutions, but now they are looking for special-ized software that can address their SCM needs.

How is technology helping in cre-ating more visibility and flexibility in supply chains? Technology helps customers in extending supply chain in real time by connecting suppliers and customers with company business processes. It provides integrated spend management for all catego-ries of goods and services, and

delivers business intelligence for monitoring supply chain perfor-mance. Also, it facilitates to adjust as conditions and business goals shift.

What is the contribution of cloud computing in this field? Cloud-based solutions have reduced entry barriers for SCM solutions. Now, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can implement specialized SCM tools using sub-scription models. Also, cloud-based deployment significantly reduces IT infrastructure management cost for small and medium size businesses.

What are the areas to be meticu-lously verified before selecting an SCM software?While choosing supply chain management solution, areas such as features provided by software and ability to link those with busi-ness goals of an organization are very essential. Apart from that, technology platform of the product, reporting capabilities provided by solution, licensing model of the software provider along with main-tenance and support cost of the solution—need to be evaluated.




Worldwide supply chain management (SCM) software revenue totaled $6.2

billion in 2009, a 0.7 per cent de-cline from 2008 revenue, informs Gartner. New license revenue was down 7.4 per cent in 2009, while recurring revenue associated with subscriptions and maintenance were the ‘life vest’ of the market, growing 10.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

According to Chad Eschinger, Research Director at Gartner, “ Despite the slight dip in overall revenue, the market for supply chain applications seems to have largely weathered the recent fi-nancial storms. Although the first nine months of 2009 contracted, the fourth quarter sustained 6 per cent annual growth, driven by some pent-up demand, but more so from growth in subscrip-

tions and the many maintenance renewals that were due in the fourth quarter.”

New software sales were dif-ficult to obtain in 2009, and ven-dors that have succeeded—have transitioned part or all of their business toward subscription delivery of their solutions. This was evident within the top six vendors, where Ariba generated positive growth, but also where Oracle, with more of a best-of-breed approach, also generated slight growth. The remaining four market share leaders all experi-enced a decline in SCM software revenue in 2009.

“The economic climate of the past few years and the maturity and saturation of implemented business applications has proven difficult. This stressed environ-ment has forced many vendors to increase maintenance rates

and explore various channel, delivery and pricing options,” says Eschinger. He finds, “Com-petition between enterprise suite and specialist, best-of-breed vendors has heightened. Although suite vendors are typically well-positioned within organizations to stall emerging-application purchases, there are significant opportunities for specialized vendors that offer differentiating domain and vertical solutions that are ‘blind spots’ in a suite provider’s offering.”

The specialized segment of SCM software revenue totaled $3.5 billion in 2009, a 1.6 per cent increase from 2008. The suites segment of SCM software revenue totaled $2.7 billion in 2009, a 3.7 per cent decline from 2008 revenue.

Specialized vendors’ sole or primary business is to market supply chain applications within defined markets. These ven-dors may offer a suite of supply chain solutions—but typically do not provide solutions in other markets. Suite vendors compete with specialized vendors, but they market products in several markets, and revenue from supply chain applications is not their pri-mary focus. Some suite vendors have acquired best-of-breed or specialized vendors, but because these are part of a larger applica-tion portfolio, they are included in this category.

“Given the market’s vendor fragmentation and the continued expansion of suite vendors, we expect market consolidation and share in the SCM market to even-tually mimic that of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market. However, unlike the ERP market, we expect the process to take longer, with less ‘lock-out’ and more activity with new entrants, given the breadth of needs across supply chains and functional do-mains,” opines the researcher.

Supply chain software contracted 0.7 per cent in 2009. Despite a drop in annual growth, specialized vendors, primarily through subscription models, collectively outperformed suite vendors by a four to one ratio, indicating strong opportunities.

Peeping Into The SCM Software Market

Worldwide SCM vendor software revenue (Millions of Dollars)

Vendor 2009 Revenue

2009 Market

Share (%)

2008 Revenue

2008 Market

Share (%)

2008-2009 Growth (%)

SAP 1,223.3 19.8 1,341.3 21.5 -8.8Oracle 1,038.6 16.8 1,036.4 16.6 0.2JDA Software 258.1 4.2 264.7 4.2 -2.5Ariba 228.7 3.7 210.3 3.4 8.8i2 Technologies 114.0 1.8 116.4 1.9 -2.0Manhattan Associates 111.8 1.8 142.3 2.3 -21.4Other Vendors 3,215.4 51.9 3,123.3 50.1 3.0Total 6,190.0 100.0 6,234.7 100.0 -0.7Note: Gartner defines total software revenue as revenue that is generated from appliances, new licenses, updates, subscriptions and hosting, technical support, and maintenance. Professional services revenue and hardware revenue are not included in total software revenue.


In this competitive global business scenario, every business organization needs to have right strategy to march forward, as it helps in achieving the vision. However, the set strategy needs to be adaptable with the processes, and rightly understood, accepted and implemented by the people in the organization.

by n c narayanan

With Processes And PeoPle

Aligning StrAtegy

management & strategy



Among the various English words grossly misunderstood, ‘strat-egy’ is one. The Oxford

Dictionary meaning for ‘strategy’ is a “plan designed to achieve a particular long-term aim.” ‘Strat-egy’ and ‘tactics’ are generally used interchangeably to mean the same thing. Another meaning for ‘strategy’ is “the art of plan-ning and directing the military forces in a war or a battle.” Here, ‘strategy’ refers to a long-range action plan to win over the enemy or to secure peace. Rob-ert Kaplan, the founder of bal-anced scorecard, defines strategy as “making choices”—choice of product—market—process and so on.

From the above definition, strategy planning is more of an art than science. Strategy is not the activity of logical brain, as it involves conceptual thinking. All our educations are sharpening the logical brain, and we often find most of us are very weak in conceptual thinking.

Among common men, there is a wrong notion that strategy or tactics are manipulative tech-niques to beat the competition. This misunderstanding has to be erased from our minds, and one has to understand that strategy is actually a positive way of improv-ing upon or changing the existing practices or processes of looking at things to achieve our vision. Now, let us look at where does strategy fit in among the scheme of management of an enterprise.

India had witnessed tenure of protected economy since inde-pendence, during which period there was no urge for industries to strive for excellence in their products and services, since the consumers had no choice. Glo-balization has opened the flood gate for world class products and services. There are many Indian industries, which earlier survived with very poor quality of prod-ucts and services and still made enough profits. One of the Indian automobile companies had 10 years order book at one time, however, that company vanished after globalization.

Globally, many companies had an inorganic growth by acquir-ing companies, thus offering more products and increasing their customer base. This need not be necessarily construed as progression. This gave them a notional feeling that they are growing till they checked up their organic growth—which comes from their current customer loy-alty—which was pathetic. But, many companies had an organic growth by efficient man-agement of strategy planning and implementation.

One great thinker says, “Strat-egy is nothing but looking at the gaps in your company and in the competitors with an aim to fill it up.” Organizations rather than looking at their competitors to see what they do—should start looking for what they do not do, so it can fill the gap and make a difference. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart used to visit all retail stores to find out what the other competi-tors were not doing, in order to implement those things to make a differentiation.

Need for strategic planningThe leader of the organization often has a dream or a vision, which is the driver for the orga-

nization to make choices through strategy planning. If an organiza-tion does not have a vision and is happy with its status quo, then there is absolutely no need for a strategic planning. Like a human being is born in this planet, lives and goes off to the grave one day without having added any value to life or the planet, an organi-zation can also be established and run as long as there is a demand for its product. Such organizations, which did not have any vision, disappeared one day when their products and services became obsolete, or their com-petitors offered better products. Hence, strategy is a means of achieving the vision. If there is no vision, then there is no need for strategy.

Initiating strategic thinkingFirst and foremost an organiza-tion has to raise its strategic alti-tude. People can be trained to do a particular operation day in and day out—as it is the easiest of all to train someone operationally. As strategy planning is concep-tual and improvement oriented, it is a big shift in paradigm of any organization to think strategi-cally. Most of the organizations have performance appraisal system for rewarding operational outputs and they hardly have any weightage for the strategic in-terventions. In short, there is no management system for strategy planning and implementation in vast majority of the organiza-tions. What gets focused gets done, and the strategies are often discussed in the beginning of the financial year in the offsite meet-ing and forgotten. It is reviewed in the next year offsite to blame who failed and why?

There is no point in having a strategic plan in place without taking any action to implement it successfully. An American re-search firm says “approximately

A good Strategy is required

for any organization that has a vision, as

strategy is the means of achieving the vision.


only one-third of the organiza-tions have a strategic plan in place, and out of this only one per cent of the organi-zations implement these plans through a well defined manage-ment system.”

“In order to institutionalize a strategy planning and imple-mentation system, we need to raise the strategic altitude of the senior managers—who are used to operational thinking to chase numbers. Having done that, we need to create a strategy imple-mentation vehicle—that makes all line managers accountable for their implementation and demon-strate through key performance indicators—KPIs.”

What is strategy implementation?In order to answer this question, we need to appreciate the steps involved in strategy planning. The first step in strategy planning is to bring clarity in the vision of the company. Vision is noth-ing but the “word picture of the future” as stated by Dr. Kaplan. If the organization has no desire to reach its vision, strategy is not relevant for them.

A vision becomes a shared vision only when every individual person in the organization is inspired to reach there. This needs a strong communication system across the organization, so that all stakeholders are in-spired to chase the vision of the company.

The next step in the strategy management system is to identify the strategic themes—which are broad level focus areas of the organization, such as ‘customer experience,’ ‘operational ef-ficiency’ etc. These strategic themes spell out the end in mind in the form of strategic results. To sight an example ‘highest market share’ may be a result of ‘customer experience’ theme,

which means that the organiza-tion is keen to achieve highest loyalty through best products and courteous services.

The next step in the strategy planning is to identify the weak-nesses and opportunities in each strategic theme chosen. This needs to be done by collecting data and analyzing them in de-tail. For example, for creating an excellent customer experience, we need to know the current customer complaints and critical to customer (CTC) attributes. Having understood the critical needs of the customer, we need to identify the process deficien-cies within the organization to meet the customer needs first time right and every time.

Next is to identify the ‘strate-gic objectives’ in each strategic theme. The strategic objectives are nothing but improvement opportunities to fill the gaps identified in the company. For example, ‘reducing customer rejections’ may be a strategic objective in customer experience theme to achieve market share as the result.

The strategic objectives are written as ‘an active verb fol-lowed by a noun.’ Please note that the strategic objectives are not projects—which is the next step in the strategic planning.

Having identified the strate-gic objectives, the next and last step is to drill down to strategic initiatives. Merely identifying the strategic objectives will not yield results, unless they are drilled down further as specific improve-ments in the people’s attitude and the processes that deliver the customer CTCs. This step in strategy planning is called ‘stra-tegic initiatives’ identification.

The strategic initiatives are the projects, which can be as-signed to a person or a team in the organization, which will improve a process or a product

thereby improving the customer goodwill. The outcome of a proj-ect challenges the process, and brings in more robust processes and people competency.

A good example of an organi-zation’s strategy getting aligned with the process and the people could be King Fisher Airlines. Vijay Mallaya, during the launch of the airlines announced that every passenger would be treated like his guest. The CEO’s wish or vision cannot become a reality unless the people and pro-cesses are aligned with it. The ground staff and the air-hostess need to believe that the pas-sengers are their guests too! For this alignment, there must be a recruitment and training process supporting it.

ConclusionAny forward looking organization need to have clarity of where it is going and how it will achieve the vision. Change in the sur-rounding environment is outside the control of any organization, which will make their products and services obsolete. But change within the organization to suit the environment is the objective of strategy planning and implementation. Finally, you cannot alter the direction of the wind; but you can alter your sails—that is what is strategy planning all about.

N C Narayanan is the Founder & Managing

Director of Six Sigma Alchemy.

in order to institutionalize a strategy planning and implementation system, we need to raise the strategic altitude of the senior managers.


Protecting Precious

Nowadays, there is a significant increase in trend for getting protec-tion for Intellectual

Property (IP) rights in India. The need for protection has manifolded thrice the number since late 1990s. Various new enactments and amendments to present legislation relating to IP rights—have been tabled and passed by the legislators keep-ing in view the recent trends and international norms.

With the advent of globaliza-tion and increase in innovations, customers have become con-scious and selective as to the product and its quality while pur-chasing. The competition and the number of competitors have also increased in similar fields. The products have to not only be good quality wise but also appealing to the eye of the consumer for it to gain distinctiveness. There-fore, there is a need to protect the novel features relating to the design of the product to maintain its distinctiveness from other similar products.

The U.S. Supreme Court in Gorhan Mfg .Co .v. White, em-phasized the need for protection of designs created by the design-ers through application of mind and hard work, and also thereby

increasing the value of the prod-uct and its competitiveness in the market. One such legislation relating to protection of designs created by original creators through application of mind has

Industrial Designs From TheftProper protection of industrial designs is a matter of great concern in today’s competitive scenario. Before introducing any new design to the market, manufacturers are supposed to register their own original creations. A proper verification (search) procedure helps in ascertaining whether already such a design is registered by any other firm. This helps in avoiding troubles of falling into legal complications.

by namratha jain



been enacted in India under the Designs Act, 2000 by repealing the previous enactment of the Design Act, 1911.

‘Design’ is defined in Section 2 (d) of the Designs Act 2000 in the following way. Design means only the features of shape, con-figuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to any article—whether in two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or means, whether manual, mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which in the finished article ap-peal to and are judged solely by the eye; but do not include any trade mark as defined in clause (v) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958, or the property mark as defined in section 479 of the Indian Penal Code, or any artistic work as defined in clause (c) of section 2 of the Copyright Act, 1957.

A design, which is created to meet a functional purpose, shall not be registered under the Act. For example, if a toothbrush is designed in such a way that it is appealing to the eye and is dif-ferent from already existing tooth brushes, then one can get design registration only for its design and not for its functional purpose. If the product functionality is new and useful, the same can be protected under the Patent Act. A drawing in patent specification is not subject to protection under the Designs Act, 2000. Only that design,which is applied to an arti-cle, have an aesthetic appeal and has novel features, or is original and also has not been previously published can be registered.

In case of a design, which is capable of being registered under the Designs Act, but if not so registered, then copyright will subsist under the Copyright Act, but this will cease to exists

as soon as any article to which the design has been applied is reproduced more than 50 times by an industrial process, or by the owner of the Copyright, or with his license by any other person.

As per Section 5 of Design Act, 2000, any person who claims to be the owner or creator of any new or original design—can apply for the registration of the design. A foreigner can also apply for the registration of the design. In In-dia, a design registration is valid for a period of ten years, and renewable for a further period of five years.

The application under Sec-tion 5 should be accompanied by four copies of representation of the design, and the application should state the class in which the design is to be registered. In India, Locarno Classification (a classification for industrial designs based on a multilateral treaty administered by WIPO) for registration of design comprising 32 classes, numbered 1 to 31 and an additional Class 99 to include articles not falling under the aforesaid 31 classes, is followed.

If two or more applications re-lating to an identical or a similar design are filed on different dates, first to file rule is applicable for registrability of design. Therefore, the application should be filed as soon as the design is ready, and also determine whether the design is new or not. An applicant has to take the responsibility of ensuring that he/she has done an extensive search and satisfied himself/herself of the novelty of his/her design. An application to the Registrar can also be sent to conduct the search of any similarly existing designs being protected. After publication in the official gazette, the designs are open for public inspection. With no opposition the design shall be registered. The applica-tion for registration of design can

be filed by the applicant himself or through a professional person (i.e. patent agent, legal prac-titioner etc.). An Indian agent has to be appointed by a foreign applicant to get registration of the design.

Internationally, the Paris Convention also provides certain privileges to member countries for design protection. A party who files design application in a member state of the Paris Con-vention, such as India, can within six months of that filing date file applications in other member countries claiming the priority of the first application.

The Hague System (a mecha-nism for registering an industrial design in several countries) of international registrations of industrial designs is applicable among the countries—party to the Hague Agreement. It is administered by the International Bureau of WIPO (World Intel-lectual Property Organization). This system gives the owner of an industrial design the possibility to have his design protected in member countries of the Hague Agreement, by simply filing one application, in one language, with one set of fees in one currency. Since India is not a signatory of this agreement, Indian companies or individuals do not have access to this system.

Today, design theft is not only limited to copying of designs as they are in similar class of goods, but also there is ‘virtual theft’ of designs occurring—which is the unauthorized creation, sale or use of a digital model of a real-life de-sign. Virtual design theft not only happens in video games; instanc-es occur in many other digital applications as well. Examples include movies and virtual worlds, such as Second Life. By making miniature toy versions of already existing designs such as that of sports car is also a design theft.

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In the eyewear industry, design theft and the law governing it is a problem, especially for well-known designers, because a de-sign can be considered as both—an artistic creation and therefore subject to copyright protection, —and an industrial design, thus being eligible for protection under industrial design laws.

In Microfibres Inc. vs. Gird-har & Co., & Anr. (Decided on January 13, 2006), the judgment does differentiate ‘artistic work’ coming under the purview of Copyright Act and Designs Act, other than artistic works under the Copyright Act which are neither pure artistic works nor designs registerable. There are certain subject matters such as industrial drawings—which are neither a proper subject matter under Copyright Act nor under the Designs Act.

Therefore, there is a need for a much better classification of goods than the one already in existence, which should cover wider subject matters under the design protection, and dif-ferentiate the ones coming under the copyright.

Today, competition has become so stiff in the market due to coun-terfeiting of goods that design theft has become a concern and debatable issue among manu-factures and entrepreneurs. By adopting similar looking design in similar class of goods, there may be likelihood of confusion among consumers regarding the source of goods. According to Paddy Kamen’s article ‘Counterfeit Goods and Design Theft’ in Vision magazine, “First there are black market products that clearly imitate the original in their design and by use of trademarks (or imitations of trademarks); then there are goods that do not use the trademark but are so similar that they are clearly intended to capitalize on the popularity of the original; and finally there are grey market products. These are au-thorized by the trademark or pat-ent owner but are not authorized for sale in that particular market. These might be the goods brought into a market illegally—because currency fluctuations make them more valuable, or goods that are prohibited in certain markets due to regulatory issues or simply

because the manufacturer has decided not to sell there.”

In India today, the black mar-ket of counterfeit goods has risen exponentially. The Indian black market values more than13.45 billion dollars, the world average being 18.25 billion dollars.

Therefore, there is a need for a thorough search before filing for registration under the Designs Act, whether the particular sub-ject matter is registrable under the Designs Act or not. Hence, it is always advisable to consult a person skilled in the field and get relevant legal advice for the same.

The manufactures and entrepreneurs need to have better searching tools in hand to conduct a design search in the Design registration office, to check whether the designs they are adopting are already in exis-tence or not. It could also create associations formed to meet this requirement by keeping a tab on the current market. They should also make themselves aware of the present laws and norms pres-ent and governing their designs for better protection both nation-ally and internationally.

When any new design is creat-ed, the creator should immediate-ly apply for registration before it being displayed in front of public. The manufacturers should make their products have an aesthetic appeal—so that the chances of infringement and being copied are less. Technical devices such as security holograms, optical devices, chip cards, magnetic systems, biometric codes, special inks, microscopic labels etc., can be used to keep a check on counterfeiting of goods. To quote Bill Gates, “Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana,” therefore, it is essential to protect it with even more due diligence.

Namratha Jain is the IP Attorney at Intepat

IP Services, www.intepat.com.

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Innovate or evaporate. That’s the new business impera-tive. Until recently, getting a product to market faster,

cheaper and better than those of the competitors usually was good enough. Not any more. In addition to cost and quality, manufacturers must focus on innovation—designs with leading-edge development pro-cesses that transform conceptual ideas into saleable, reliable and cost-effective products.

Engineering simulationNot so surprisingly, engineering simulation is at the foundation of many of these efforts in achiev-

ing repeatable and efficient design innovation. The ability to quickly perform ‘what-if’ studies and read-ily evaluate alternative designs provides engineers valuable insight into product behaviour, lets them make intelligent trade off deci-sions, and provides the freedom to not only imagine way-out ideas but also to easily test feasibility. Design optimization, sensitivity studies augment engineering creativity and serve as guides to creative solutions. And all this can be done well before the first hardware pro-totype is tested.

This process of systematically testing ideas—early on—in new

product development is referred to as an enlightened experimenta-tion by Stefan Thomke, Professor of Technology and Operations Management at Harvard Business School. According to Thomke, technologies such as simulation increase the number of break-throughs by trying out a greater number of diverse ideas. Computer simulation doesn’t simply replace physical prototypes as a cost-saving measure; but it introduces an entirely different way of experi-menting that invites innovation.

The rapid feedback and the abil-ity to see and manipulate high-qual-ity computer images spur greater

Simulation technology facilitates innovation for manufacturers to develop winning products and also to bring more revenue to the bottom line.

by gautam dutta

Multiple physics simulation technology plays a key role in efforts around the world to make industrial equip-ment more productive. A technological research centre performed a coupled thermo–structural analysis with multiphysics simulation technology in developing a new design for a steel-making ladle.


InnovatIng For W

Ith

SucceSSSimulation



Simulation platform is

being used in developing a bus from the

very beginning, allowing the

manufacturer to foresee failures

and take pre-ventive action as

needed.

innovation. Many design possibili-ties can be explored in real time yet virtually, in rapid iterations. Using wide-ranging capabilities, virtual prototyping can simulate an entire system or subsystem in its operating environments to study and refine real-world prod-uct performance, thus enabling engineers to develop workable innovative designs or products; or else it might turn out to be mar-ket flops because of performance, warranty or reliability issues.

In this manner, simulation can leverage the creativity of engineers and the intellectual capital of the enterprise. This el-evates the approach to a strategic role as an innovation enabler, allowing manufacturers that make smart use of the technology to establish their brand value, strengthen their market position and boost top-line revenue growth by developing steady streams of winning products.

Integrating analysis into design processIn most companies, simulation is performed as a separate func-tion from design, and typically in this process, the final phases

of product development requires design changes and consider-able time and money to perform. Moving simulation up front in the conceptual stages of product development can shorten time to market and lower product devel-opment costs.

A major next step being imple-mented at a growing number of companies involves solutions that allow simulation to be done more seamlessly and continually within the product development process to guide the design. Simula-tion performed as an integral part of this process, rather than done separately off to the side, continuously verifies the design and guides the configuration of the product. In this way, Simula-tion Driven Product Develop-ment (SDPD) elevates the role of analysis from a stand-alone troubleshooting tool for individual problems to that of an integrated design approach for creating and refining innovative designs.

Advances in technology and processes notwithstanding, the single most important factor in bringing simulation into the main-stream of product development is a radical shift in attitude. In engi-neering departments, simulation tools are now more commonly being regarded as an integral part of design instead as an outside service used only on a limited basis. And at the ex-ecutive level, simulation today is being taken into account as part of corporate strategy in bring-ing more innovative products to market and more revenue to the company’s bottom line.

Simulation technologiesTechnologies from simulation software providers are critical in implementing SDPD, especially in facilitating upfront simulation, efficient evaluation of alternative designs, iterative modification of designs based on simulation and

collaboration between different groups throughout the process. In such an approach, simulation is used to guide the direction of the design to optimally satisfy re-quirements such as performance, reliability and cost.

For an example, bus and coach manufacturers can use SDPD methodology from the very begin-ning of its product development activities. In evaluating and veri-fying the strength of structural designs for a trailer vehicle, engi-neers are required to meet certain government norms concerning strength of a frame, load-bearing parts of the bodywork and the chassis structure. Implementa-tion of SDPD acts as a solution resulting in shorter turn-around, high customer satisfaction and improved quality for a product that meets safety standards with-out being over-designed.

In a second example, an en-gineer needs to design a tractor mower with an all-wheel steering capability. Here, one of the pri-mary goals is to minimize steer-ing forces so the mower could be turned easily without hydraulic power-assist systems, which add complexity and cost to the design. The manufacturer also wanted the mower to have a tight turning radius and at the same time high reliability. Staying on schedule was the paramount for the mower to be introduced before the peak selling season. In this case, use of mechanical simulation software is the solution in the early stage of conceptual design.

Multiple physicsMost commercial Finite Ele-ment Analysis (FEA) programs traditionally have been aimed at predicting the effects of a single physical phenomenon such as structural deformation or heat transfer. In the development of many of today’s innovative designs, however, engineers must



account for the effects of two or more coupled physics. In fluid structure interaction (FSI), for ex-ample, fluid flow exerts pressure on a solid structure, causing it to deform such that it perturbs the initial fluid flow. With thermal–mechanical coupling, structures change shape along with their material properties according to temperature. In electric–thermal interaction, current flowing in conductors generates resistive/Joule heating.

Previously, solving such coupled applications with conven-tional analysis programs meant going through numerous manual file transfers, data exchanges and problem set ups for per-forming each physics analysis. Such cycles were cumbersome, error-prone and time-consuming, with the analysis often taking days or weeks to perform. Moreover, users were required to learn and maintain several different soft-ware codes.

These issues are being ad-dressed by multiphysics FEA solutions that automatically combine the effects of two or more interrelated physics within one unified environment. Solutions from simulation software auto-matically manage data exchange between the different physics to perform coupled analysis without requiring users to spend time manually performing these tasks. As a result, coupled analyses can be performed in a fraction of the time otherwise required, provid-ing for greater solution accuracy and allowing users to explore a much broader range of engineer-ing parameters in a given time to facilitate innovation in multiphys-ics designs.

Mechanical simulation soft-ware provides coupled-field ele-ments and multiphysics solution tools that enable all regimes of this problem to be solved simul-taneously in a single multiphysics solution.

Some of the most sophisticated multiphysics applications can be found in the development of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) devices with micron-size parts that are usually prohibitively expensive to prototype. Multiphys-ics analysis allows engineers to optimize device performance by changing the diameter and num-ber of several fluid damping holes in the beam.

Optimizing complex designsA major challenge in developing innovative designs often is the number and complexity of compet-ing engineering requirements. For example, automotive compo-nents must be lightweight for the highest possible fuel economy yet strong enough for maximum crashworthiness. And engine as-semblies must be compact while maintaining adequate airflow for proper cooling. Many of today’s products involve a dozen or more

such competing requirements. All are important and neglecting just one can result in a missed oppor-tunity in the market.

Most simulation tools gener-ally are intended to handle only a limited number of variables simultaneously. So a user faces the tedious and time-consuming task of painstakingly running multiple simulations to iteratively zero in on an often-elusive good solution satisfying most of the requirements. More often than not, engineers develop a design based on only one of the most critical variables and neglect the rest, hoping any conflicts can be corrected later in the cycle. The result is usually not an overall optimal nor an innovative design but rather one that simply works and barely meets performance and market requirements.

There is an advent of new tech-nologies in providing a new class of simulation tools that automati-cally optimizes designs based on boundary conditions and ranges of variables entered by the user. Design Of Experiments (DOE) technology performs numerous iterative simulations using various sampling and statistical methods, including probabilistic design and Monte Carlo simulation.

Instead of performing multiple simulations, another approach called Variational Technology (VT) uses series expansion to make all necessary calculations much more efficiently using a single finite element solution. Depending on the problem, VT can arrive at a solution which is several thousand times faster than conventional DOE approaches.

Some of the more advanced design optimization tools combine these technologies with Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) simu-lation methods and parametric Computer Aided Design (CAD) to form an integrated solution. Such tools define the optimal dimen-

Using the fluid structure

interaction capability, a

thermal–stress simulation can be performed.

Mechanical software helps in determining

the heat transfer between the fluid and the

solid body. From this information,

the user deter-mined stresses and ultimately

performed a fatigue analysis.

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sions of a part so that stress or weight is minimized.

Virtual prototypesAt the foundation of SDPD is the concept of virtual prototyping, in which real-world product perfor-mance is predicted and studied with simulation models instead of hardware prototypes. By shortening or even eliminating the cycle needed for physical testing near the end of design, virtual prototyping gives engi-neers added time earlier in devel-opment to explore and investigate innovative concepts.

Moreover, identifying and cor-recting problems through virtual prototyping, before designs are committed to hardware, en-sures that design innovations are carried through in the final product configuration. Otherwise, companies would tend to stick with familiar approaches rather than risk encountering unfore-seen problems with new and untried product configurations and manufacturing processes. Virtual prototyping overcomes the historic ‘build–test–redesign’ problem by evaluating designs through computer simulation and analysis earlier in the product de-velopment process and reducing

reliance on validation testing late in the cycle. Often, performance problems encountered late in the product development cycle neces-sitate repetitive redesign cycles until satisfactory performance is achieved, usually requiring sev-eral testing iterations. This adds considerable time and cost to the development cycle. For example, automobile mock-ups can cost $300,000 to $500,000 each and require months to build.

Studies have shown that the cost of change increases expo-nentially with each stage of devel-opment. Also, original designs are often less than optimal, requiring quick-fix changes to meet sched-uling demands solving isolated problems that usually detract from the overall design. Compo-nents may be grossly over-de-signed with needless weight and bulk, for example, to strengthen failed assemblies.

Once changes are incorporated and the product is launched, the window of market opportu-nity may have closed, or perfor-mance may not satisfy customer demands and expectations. With SDPD, using virtual prototyping in the early stages of development, when concepts are just starting to take shape, avoids such difficul-ties later in the cycle by exploring a variety of product configura-tions, evaluating different part geometries and materials and examining all the many trade offs inherent to product development.

The aim in virtual prototyping is not to entirely eliminate physical testing but, rather, to reduce the dependency on physi-cal testing for trouble-shooting problems late in development. This simulation-based ap-proach leads to fewer, but better, hardware

prototypes that serve to verify a refined design at greater levels of sophistication. The bottom line can be significant time reductions, cost savings, quality improvement and product design innovation.

Collaborative toolWhen groups and departments must work together on proj-ects, differences in processes, procedures, terminology and convention can cause significant problems that hamper effective collaboration, productivity and accuracy. By implementing SDPD on a global scale, companies are gaining a competitive edge with innovative products and process-es by tapping into their global intellectual capital \ the collective knowledge, expertise and insight of workers in multiple disciplines around the world.

Through the ability to quickly perform ‘what-if’ studies and evaluate alternative configura-tions, simulation provides insight into product behaviour and gives free reign to the imagination of product team members. They can see the way a proposed product would function if it existed in hardware and have the freedom to investigate alternative ideas. In these implementations, the Internet becomes the conduit for rapidly exchanging critical data, while simulation guides the

Use of multiple physics soft-

ware in deter-mining heat flux

distribution as part of a study on this turbine

blade.

Multiphysics software enables to create more efficient MEMS electromagnetic actuator with a 100-fold performance enhancement.


design process and serves as the knowledge driver that channels everyone’s ideas and insights into the problem. In this sense, simulation is a tremendous col-laborative tool, allowing engineer-ing to demonstrate to others \ no matter where they are located or in what discipline they work \ how various designs perform, enabling cross-functional team members at dispersed facilities to provide valuable input into product design.

Through these capabilities, SDPD enables multiple disci-plines to work together in product development and facilitates the creativity that comes from such synergy. SDPD does not disappear at the end of product design. Man-aging simulation processes and data is a specialized subset of the larger Product Lifecycle Manage-ment (PLM) vision. But it is often overlooked or poorly addressed, since managing simulation pro-cesses and data is more demand-ing than the file/document-centric approach of PLM and related Product Data Management (PDM) systems. Simulation data is both richer and typically many orders

of magnitude larger than other types of product data. It can be many gigabytes in size, requir-ing sophisticated data reduction techniques. In addition, to extract the true value and knowledge represented by simulation data, a user must capture both the con-tent and context associated with the product being simulated.

The complexity of the task not-withstanding, the need to manage simulation data and processes is now more important than ever. Robust data management systems have the potential to provide significant benefits to companies by enabling users to access and reuse historical design informa-tion and expertise for speeding creation of new designs, providing ways to capture and leverage ex-isting engineering knowledge, and addressing the problems of loss of engineering expertise and protec-tion of intellectual property.

Simulation-based approachesBecause of differences in product strategies and corporate priori-ties, the simulation technologies

best suited for a company’s ap-plications and the way these tools are utilized in the enterprise’s product development process are unique for each organization.

Companies seeking to imple-ment simulation—or to more closely integrate simulation into design processes—almost always undergo a self-assessment of how products currently are developed, where improvements are possible and what role simulation should play in new ways of operating. In some cases, companies already have experience in simulation and find it necessary to expand the use of these tools or shift the manner in which they are utilized.

Other firms not currently using simulation initiate pro-grams to investigate the ways they might benefit from the tech-nology. Most often, the cost of implementing simulation software is justified based on return-on-investment from savings in ex-pense reduction and operational efficiency. Such time and cost benefits are most easily quanti-fied and extremely important for a company to determine. From a broader perspective, however, the greatest value of simulation for manufacturing companies is in facilitating innovation.

Gautam Dutta is Country Manager,

Ansys India.

SDPD enabled researchers to reduce the level of physical prototyping needed to improve the design and efficiency of a small scale hydroelectric generator for use in remote areas of developing countries. The display shows visualization of the turbine velocity vectors at the blade mid-span location.

In the develop-ment of the innovative iGen toner-based digital print-ing system, manufacturers can use simula-tion software to reduce the number of pro-totype testing iterations.



Watching The Market Of Contract Management

Business world has evolved at a frenzied pace. From spot buy-ing to contracts of the

bygone days, increased complexity in managing today’s contracts and emphasis on optimizing savings have resulted companies to focus

on contract management. In pres-ent scenario, global companies are finding it increasingly difficult to visualize expected savings through efficient compliance and management of negotiated contracts. Until recently, the contracts were mostly managed through elaborate labour intensive manual processes and some home grown solutions such as e-rule and ACT.

Although, such processes are efficient in managing small number of contracts, they fail to provide an analytic approach and desired visibility to negoti-ated contracts. In today’s busi-ness environment, contracts are the mainstay of future as well as present business strategy. Global companies enter into worldwide contracts involving different cur-rencies and requiring adherence to different legal regulations. Additionally, such complexity and scale result in increased contract

life cycle, which also has a direct impact on company’s bottom line.

Today’s need is of a solution, which can dramatically reduce contract life cycle, provide enhanced visibility and ensure compliance by providing means to slice and dice contract data. The best in breed contract manage-ment solutions are thus tuned to address these needs of global organizations. Let us now have a look at the main benefits of best in breed contract manage-ment solutions, which score over traditional contract manage-ment systems.

Enhanced visibility of negotiated contracts—Modern contract man-agement systems offer a central repository for all historical and current contracts of an organiza-tion, thereby increasing visibility and access to contract. The fea-ture also provides in-depth search capability, which allows document search in a variety of ways—such as through metadata and full text search. Additionally, SAAS based solutions allow on demand access to an organization’s contracts anywhere round the clock.

Efficient work flow—Majority of organizations today rely on manual work flow for creation of contracts, wherein the contract goes through a chain of hierar-chy for authoring and approval. Thereafter, the contract is sent to respective vendor for negotiations and red lining. The best in breed contract management solutions can be configured to design not only a rule-based process for cre-ation and approval of contracts—but also enable managing audit trails and version control. This, besides standardizing the work

Contract management plays a vital role to a company’s financial health, and is viewed as a strategic weapon in optimizing contract performance and improving the return on investment (RoI). For many companies, over half their revenues are spent on goods and services and contracts. And this spend is negotiated hard with a great deal of effort and money. But when the returns are reviewed it is difficult to find or is negligible when compared to the efforts.

by niren chaudhary


Contract Management market dominated by specialists.

flow, helps in speeding up the process of contract creation. Ad-ditionally, compatibility with MS Word and online negotiation and red-lining help reduce contract life cycle, and help collaborate among all stake holders for efficient con-tract creation. Thus, the contract life cycle—normally 20 to 30 days—reduce substantially.

Compliance and contract utiliza-tion—For deriving expected sav-ings, it is essential that organiza-tions ensure effective compliances of contracts both in internal as well as in external environment. As per Aberdeen report ‘Ineffec-tive management of contracts cost business $158 billion per year in missed opportunities of savings. Also, absence of effective contract compliance results in 20 to 30 per cent of organization’s purchases outside the negotiated contracts. This maverick spend has direct implications on organization’s bottom line—as companies pay 17.5 per cent more for such pur-chases compared to those made through contracts.

These solutions are specifically focused at driving maximum sav-ings by ensuring compliance. The improved visibility of contracts to internal stakeholders ensures optimum contract utilization and prevent maverick spend—whereas ability to monitor supplier adher-ence to laid down terms allows more visibility to contract per-formance. The organization also can realize substantial savings by having required visibility to perfor-mance penalties and overcharg-ing. The ability of these solutions to slice and dice contract data, so as to draw analysis and generate customized reports further helps in decision making, and provides opportunities for additional sav-ings. It is thus prudent to say that in times to come—contract man-agement solutions would prove to be an important strategic enabler and would help global companies

derive maximum savings through negotiated contracts.

Standardized library of clauses and templates—With increased focus on adherence to various legal and regulatory compliances, today’s contracts need to encom-pass all clauses related to region and contract specific regulations, for example—SOX compliance. This requirement adds complexity to contract creation, and therefore the need to have a library of stan-dard and pre-approved contract clauses and templates becomes obvious. Such requirements are efficiently addressed by contract management solutions, which enable the organization’s various stake holders to create a library of clauses and templates—and help contract authors to add all related and necessary clauses particular to different types of contract. The standardized clauses and con-tracts also ensure uniformity and standardization across all con-tracts, while in process speed up the process of contract creation.

Market growth and trendsThe contract management market is largely a fragmented market with a few best in breed ven-dors. The market, though still in nascent stage, has experienced an unusually high compound an-

nual growth rate of 27 per cent (2003-2008, Forester Research). Currently, the demand for contract management is highest in the US market—with European companies slowly catching up to address the need for efficient contract management.

As per the Forester Research, few specialists dominated the market with top 10 vendors having 24 per cent market share in 2006. As with most of the technology markets, the contract management market too shows a time lag between the US, Europe and Asian market with the last at best be described as dormant. Nonetheless, 40 per cent respon-dents in Aberdeen survey feel that recent economic devel-opments at world level have significantly increased emphasis on procurement contract man-agement. Such awareness may soon result in speedy adoption of contract management solutions in Asian market. Surely enough, the future looks promising and times to come would see contract management taking its rightful place as an important enabler in improving the overall ROI of global organizations.

Niren Chaudhary is the Global Product

Marketing Manager of Zycus Infotech.

product update


Renishaw has launched lean-design XL-80 laser calibration

system, which enables manufac-turing machinery process valida-tion. The new product measures at 4 m/s, raises environmentally-corrected accuracy to ±0.5 ppm, warms up faster and provides a resolution of 1 nm.

The unit brings nanome-ter-level motion analysis to calibration, error-mapping from laboratory equipment, semi-con-ductor processing machinery and radiosurgery tools to co-ordinate measuring machines, lithography equipment, advanced machine tools, robots and assembly sys-tems. The device takes readings

at 50 kHZ and includes a 10X increase in bandwidth, which facilitates capture of detailed data about small high frequency movements.

RenishawTel: +44-1453-524524E-mail: [email protected]: www.renishaw.com

Bin Activator

Metalfab has launched a new line of bin activators, available in a wide range of sizes from 2 to 16 inches diameter.

The new product includes a dual baffle design that provides con-tinuous flow of dry materials without plugging, jamming or bridging. The unit also features an endless beaded flexible sleeve 7/16-inches thick with 3-ply reinforcement; solid steel suspension arms bolted

90° that can support up to 500,000 lbs and a unitized vibrator and motor in a single, sealed enclosure.

MetalfabTel: +1-973-7642000E-mail: [email protected]: www.metalfabinc.com

Rotary Table

Everest Blowers has launched twin lobe rotary air blowers

(roots type), which discharge a constant volume of air when oper-ated at a constant speed.

The product is also suitable in cement plants, pneumatic convey-ing systems, effluent treatment plants for aeration, water treat-ment plants for backwashing of fil-ters, blending of powder material, agitation of chemical solutions, aquaculture and electroplating.

Air blowers in the range from 25 m³ / hr to 7,000 ³ / hr in single stage and upto any capac-ity in parallel configuration, for pressures upto 1 bar, are also

available. The other features of the product include 100 per cent oil-free air delivery, anti-friction bearings, rotary oil sealing and large inlet and outlet connections for minimum loss.

Everest BlowersTel: +91-11-45457777E-mail: [email protected]: www.everestblowers.com

Rotary Air Blower

Palletizer

Intelligrated has launched its Alvey GS100 family of palletizers, comprising Alvey GS120 (manual pallet handling), Alvey GS130

(semi-automated pallet handling) and the Alvey GS140 (fully- auto-mated pallet handling).

The new product is capable of speeds of up to 30 cases per minute. The unit is suitable for large, multi-line palletizing projects or for smaller operations interested in converting from manual to automatic palletizing for ergonomic reasons. The machine is also suitable for applications such as food, beverage, consumer goods

and general manufacturing. The product features a com-pact and modular design with a small footprint for facilities with limited floor space.

IntelligratedTel: +1-866-9367300Website: www.intelligrated.com

IntelLiDrives has released SRT rotary table with direct drive

servo motor technology (DDR) to eliminate backlash, reduce the number of mechanical compo-nents and provide stiff mechani-cal system for highly dynamic applications. The product includes

pre-tapped mounting holes and a hollow-through shaft, which allow a variety of machine designs.

The rotary tables are fitted with precision four point contact preloaded ball bearings. These are available with low and high speed (1000 RPM) windings and resolu-tion to 0.2 arc-sec. The product includes a high-accuracy encoder mounted directly to the rotor to provide improved positioning ac-curacy, and to eliminate backlash, positioning delays and mainte-nance requirements.

IntelLiDrivesTel: +1-215-7286804E-mail: [email protected]: www.intellidrives.com

Haas Automation has launched EC-550 horizontal machin-

ing centre, featuring a 30 x 34 x 32-inch work envelope, 50-taper spindle, dual pallet changer with 550 mm pallets, 50-pocket side-mount tool changer and a built-in 1-degree pallet indexer.

The product includes a stan-dard 6000-rpm spindle, which uses an inline direct-drive system that couples the motor directly to the spindle to provide fine surface finishes and thermal stability. For high-speed work, an optional 10,000-rpm inline direct-drive spindle is available. The spindle is driven by a 45 hp vector drive sys-tem and yields 170 ft-lb of torque at 1,400 rpm and a peak power rating of 60 hp at 7000 rpm.

Each of the machine’s pallets is capable of handling a 2205 lb load. The servo-driven pallet-changer swaps pallets quickly. The other features of the product include a coolant tank and a belt conveyor for chip removal.

Haas Automation IndiaTel: +91-22-66098830 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.haascnc.com

Laser Calibration System

Horizontal Machining Centre


Elevator Feeder

Elscint Automation has introduced a bulk loading elevator feeder for small metallic parts. The product is available in widths of

150 mm, 200 mm, 300 mm and 400 mm.The unit, made up of aluminium extruded sections of suitable size, has hopper capacities ranging from 75 litres to 200 litres.

The height of the elevator is adjust-able along with the degree of inclination. The product is suitable for all types of industries where bulk feeding of light metallic parts is required to vibratory bowl feeders.

Elscint AutomationTel: +91-20-27122059E-mail: [email protected]: www.elscintautomation.com

Label Applicator

ID Technology, a division of Pro Mach, has launched a high speed wipe-on label printer applicator, viz., model 450 W.

The wipe-on module uses fans to create the vacuum needed to hold the label in place prior to application. As the product passes the applicator, the label is applied then, wiped down by a follow along

roller. This helps create adhesion with no label skew.

The unit has a stainless steel cabinet base. All major modules can be swapped in short duration. Label changeover from 3-inch x 4-inch up to 6-inch x 13-inch can be carried out without tools. All settings are made through colour touchscreen operator interface.

ID TechnologyTel: +1-888-4383242E-mail: [email protected]: www.idtechnology.com

Hydraulic Chuck

Multiturn Encoder Degree Controls has launched AccuSense F333 air velocity

sensor for embedded applications.The F333 series utilizes

constant deltaT architecture and is designed for field systems. The product is RoHS compli-ant and has a rugged construction.

The unit provides air velocity measurements within the range of 0.2 to 10 m/s, at the same time maintaining better than ±10 per cent accuracy across a temperature range of 15 to 60°C with a 2 per cent or better repeat-ability of reading.

The product is suitable for ducting applications, fume hoods

and biological safety cabinets. The other applications comprise industrial process equipment and packaged electronics.

The other features of the product include an open drain

alarm pin, fully configurable temperature-based or velocity-based set points and a UART or I2C interface.

Degree Controls Tel: +1-603-6728900E-mail: [email protected]: www.degreec.com

Air Velocity Sensor

Turck has introduced F36 en-coders for CANopen networks.

The new product features a compact size, robust design and is suitable for medical technology or drive engineering applications.

The F36 series includes optical multiturn encoders without gears, which makes them insensitive to magnetic fields. The product mea-sures only 36 mm in diameter with a hollow shaft diameter measuring up to 10 mm.

The unit is IP67-rated and pos-sesses a wide temperature range of -30° to 85°C. The product utilizes OptoASIC technology to

reach a high resolution of up to 16 bits for singleturn applications, while multiturn versions provide a resolution of up to 32 bits.

TurckTel: +1-763-5537300Website: www.turck.us

Endress+Hauser has launched the Deltatop

differential pressure (DP) flowmeter for measur-ing gas, liquid and steam in ½ to 24-inch pipes.

Deltatop is a flow monitoring solu-tion comprising an averaging pitot tube. The product features precision-machined orifice plate primary devices with flanged unions, mani-fold and transmitter, designed for applications in accordance with ASME B16.36. These primary

elements are designed to safely and accurately mea-sure flow on liquid, gas or steam. The flow solutions are available in class 300 to 2400# flanges.

The product measures volumetric flow through the development of a theoretical model of flow coefficients proven through empirical test data.

Endress+Hauser Inc.Tel: +1-317-5357138E-mail: [email protected]: www.us.endress.com

NT Tool has launched new Power Hydro Chucks (PHC)

series of hydraulic chucks.The new products are designed

for a range of machin-ing applica-

tions such as precision drilling, reaming, fine boring and finish end milling. The units possess a runout accuracy of 3 µm or less at a projection length of 50 mm or 100 mm (depending on the cut-ting tool diameter). The machine features an optional adjustment

mechanism that allows the cutting tool projection length to be easily adjusted with a hex wrench.

The product is available in bore diameters in sizes from ¼-inch to

1-¼-inch and metric sizes from 6 mm to 32 mm. The ½-inch, ¾-inch, 12 mm and 20 mm chucks

accommodate PHS series straight collets, which are sized for cutting tools with shanks as small as 1/8-inch or 3 mm.

NT Tool CorporationTel: +81-586-540101E-mail: [email protected]: www.nttoolusa.com

Pressure Flowmeter

product update


Spinnaker Coating has introduced SureLock, a permanent adhesive designed to adhere to textured surfaces without being

gummy or leggy.The new product is suitable where the flow of the adhesive is

needed to fill in a textured surface and ones that involve uneven surfaces, which are difficult to stick to.

The adhesive exhibits high tack and appropriate flow to work in a large number of hard-to-stick-to applications. The product runs with less build-up on press and has a flat release profile for good dispensing.

Spinnaker CoatingTel: +1-800-5439452E-mail: [email protected]: www.spinnakercoating.com

Paul N Gardner Company has introduced MiniTest 70 series

of measuring units, designed for non-destructive coating thickness measurement. The new product is available in two models, viz., MiniTest 70 F with built-in sensor for measuring non-magnetic coatings applied on steel and MiniTest 70 FN with a built-in dual sensor for measuring non-magnetic coatings applied on steel and insulating coatings on non-ferrous metals.

The MiniTest 70 series are compact, pocket sized coating thickness testing gauges. The

device includes a

4-button opera-tion, clear display and built-in

statistics displaying the number of readings taken, the minimum, maximum, mean values and standard deviation.The product is suitable for on-site applications.

Paul N Gardner CompanyTel: +1-954-9469454Website: www.gardco.com

Microspectrophotometer

Craic Technologies has launched 20/20 film microspectrophotom-eter for measurement of thickness of thin films of sub-micron

sampling areas. The unit is capable of analyzing films of many materi-als on both transparent and opaque substrates including semicon-

ductors, MEMS devices, hard disk drives and flat panel displays.

The product can be configured for contamination analysis, concentration and relative intensity mapping. The solution combines advanced microspectroscopy with software and helps the user measure film thickness by either transmission or reflec-tance of many types of films and substrates.

Craic TechnologiesTel: +1-310-5738180E-mail: [email protected]: www.microspectra.com

Adhesive

Combustion Gas Analyzer

General Tools & Instruments has launched a new infra

red, gun style thermometer, viz., IRT206 heat seeker.

The new product is a precision measuring device used for obtaining accurate temperatures instanta-neously without having to contact the object being measured.

The device func-tions by capturing and measuring the invis-ible infrared energy naturally emitted from all objects. The unit offers a safe solution to instantaneously

measure surface temperatures of objects, which are difficult or unsafe to contact.

The product has a rugged, ergonomic design and features a backlit LCD

display with built-in laser sighting. The product is suitable

for home owners, home inspectors, electrical and

HVAC/R contractors and techni-cians, automotive hobbyists and technicians.

General Tools & InstrumentsTel: +1-212-4316100Website: www.generaltools.com

ABB has launched a new combus-

tion gas analyzer for industrial and utility boiler applications. The new product, viz., Endura AZ20, includes a revised sensor de-sign and an increased choice of probe lengths up to four meters (13+ feet).

The product, with an enhanced robust design, is manufactured using a new ceramic-to-steel bonding process. The unit offers resistance to thermal stresses and shocks. This enables it to

be used in a wide range of applications subject to sud-den variations in process

tempera-ture.

The product is

also suitable for arduous applications

subject to sulphurous and reducing atmospheres such as

sulphur recovery processes, cre-matoria and industrial and clinical waste incineration.

ABBTel: +41-0-43-3177111Website: www.abb.com

Aerospace Profiler

Infra Red Thermometer

MAG has introduced the HyperMach GTi series 5-axis

titanium aerospace profiler for processing large

parts such as spars,

bulkheads and door edge frames or nested part groups.

The new product is designed for high-output machining of large monolithic titanium aerospace parts. The machine includes a

modular design available with part capacities from 2 x 4 to 2 x 8 m. The structural link of the product provides lock-up between

the column and X-axis table base, to provide stiffness for aggressive cuts, at the up-per limits of the workzone.

This four-point column link provides closed-loop

stability by controlling machine geometry changes caused by thermal growth and maximizing structural stiffness for heavy machining.

MAG Industrial Automation SystemsTel: +1-586-5662400Website: www.mag-ias.com

Coating Measuring Unit

product update


Turning Centre

Emco Maier has launched a multi-task production turning/milling centre, Hyperturn 45, which is suitable for a wide range of ap-

plications on bar stock to 45 mm diameter.The new product includes high-performance main and counter

spindles, two tool systems, stable Y-axis, water-cooled spindle mo-tors and digital drives. The unit also comprises a thermo-symmetri-cal machine construction with compact dimensions.

The main and counter spindles are equipped with water-cooled spindle motors with power of 15 kW, a maximum speed of 7,000 rpm and a high torque of 100 Nm. With A2-5, the counter spindle

can be used to remove bar stock parts with a diameter of up to 45 mm. Maximum turning diameter is 300 mm.

Emco Maier Tel: +43-62-45891-0E-mail: [email protected]: www.emco-world.comFoam-in-place System

Pregis Corporation has launched a combination foam-in-place (FIP) system under the IntelliPack SmartShot hybrid brand. The

new system offers both hand-held and bag options in one machine.The hand-held option is suitable for larger, heavier and lower-

volume applications. It allows the operator to remove the dispenser nozzle from a housing unit and pull the attached hose over to the shipping case. A piece of film is placed over the product and a channel is created between the item and the internal cor-rugated wall. The liquid foam is injected into the channel, the outer part of the film is folded over the foam and the case is sealed. As the foam expands to fill the void, it envelops the product, protecting it in transit.

Pregis CorporationTel: +1-877-6926163Website: www.pregis.com

Dust Collection Bench

Crimping Dies

Honing System

Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched ARL 9900 IntelliPow-

er series of X-ray spectrometer, for addressing the common require-ments of the cement industry. The new product operates at 600 W and can be configured with a Free Lime channel.

The Free Lime channel is an integrated X-ray diffraction system, which enables free lime monitor-ing in clinker. It also helps deter-mine free lime in slags (GBFS).

The machine can be config-ured with XRF fixed channels and with two types of Thermo Scientific goniometers, viz., the SmartGonio and the F45 universal goniometer.

The product is capable of operat-ing without any gas supply.

Thermo Fisher ScientificTel: +1-781-6221000Website: www.thermofisher.com

Sunnen Products has intro-duced the SV-500 series

vertical CNC honing system with custom bore profiles for diesel cylinder liners. The new product helps produce accurate sur-face finish specifications, using technology that allows creation of whole-bore, constant crosshatch, as well as custom profiled or tapered bores.

The machine is suitable for profile machining of diesel cylinder-liner bores. The tool is available with a stroke length of up to 1524 mm with the 15-kW spindle being suitable for bores up to 300 mm diameter or larger.

Sunnen ProductsTel: +1-800-3253670Website: www.sunnen.com

Thomas & Betts has launched the

new colour-keyed Hex-Flex crimping dies, which provide an inspectable, crimp on flex-conductor cables. The dies cre-ate a hex-style crimp on the top of the con-nector and an indent crimp in the bottom for pull-out resistance.

The new product is designed for use with all types of flexible conductors. The units are colour-coded for easy matching with

colour-keyed lugs and splices. When used on colour-keyed compression connec-tors, it creates a UL-listed, CSA-certified connection.

The product is made from high-carbon tool steel with black oxide plating.

Thomas & BettsTel: +1-901-2528000E-mail: [email protected]: www.tnb.com

Donaldson Australasia has introduced a dust collection

bench for small parts grinding and finishing processes.

The new product, viz., Down-draft bench model DB-800 is a

heavy-duty welded cabinet unit with direct drive fan.

The self-contained dust collec-tor is designed to act as a worksta-tion to capture contaminants from tasks such as grinding, drilling, sanding, polishing and finishing.

The product has hinged side-wing panels, quick access to dust drawer and built-in fluorescent light. The unit maintains a 200 ft/min minimum downward airflow.

Donaldson AustralasiaTel: +1-02-43502000Website: www.donaldsonfilters.com.au

X-ray Spectrometer

R.N.I. No. MAH ENG/2001/4796 Tech/MH/MR/SOUTH-127/2006-08

industry 2.0 july 2010

Documents

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narayananart director

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interactive pvt