ADOR : The pioneer & trendsetter in welding technology

Mr. Satish Bhat, Managing Director, Ador Welding Ltd.

Ador Welding Ltd., formerly known as Advani-Oerlikon Ltd., is the pioneer and trendsetter in welding in India. The company has been spearheading technological innovations in the field for the past six decades.  All the major welded structures of modern India stand testimony to the quality and reliability of its innovative processes, products and systems.  Chiseling out over 9000 welding equipment, standard and customized, and over 35,000 MT of welding consumables annually for all welding processes, Ador caters to the requirements of metal joining solutions in every segment of the industry.  The company is also in the vanguard of welding education and skill development in the field.  It has the distinction of having churned out over 1,00,000 welding professionals in the past 40 years.  Mr. P.K. Balasubbramaniian speaks to Mr. Satish Bhat, Managing Director, Ador Welding Ltd., to get a ringside view of the latest developments in the welding field and Ador’s initiatives to provide contemporary and enduring solutions to the fabricating industry.  Excerpts:

Ador’s sprawling consumables manufacturing plant in Silvassa

Q. What’s exciting in the welding world today?

The Welding Industry is moving towards more and more automation to ensure quality and repeatability as well as flexibility in set-up changes. The target is to achieve higher productivity, enhanced quality at PPM level, de-skilling of welders as well as reduction of manual intervention and re-work.

Several new advanced single-process and hybrid welding processes have come in vogue, including Keyhole Plasma, Keyhole TIG, Hot wire TIG, HNG MIG and HNG SAW, Electro-Slag welding with various new concepts, Laser & Laser-MIG Hybrid welding, Cold Metal Transfer, Synergic TIG, etc.

Q. As a leader, what’s Ador’s contribution to enhance the quality and ease of welding?

Quality of welding is determined by the use of process, quality of consumables, power source, automation and skilled manpower. Ador is committed to offer complete solution for improving the quality and ease of welding. We can proudly say that we are the only Indian company which invests heavily in R&D (recognized by DSIR, GOI) for improving offerings of existing consumables, equipment and automation solutions and develop new technologies for enhancing value offered by our customers. We have about 50 research chemists & engineers in R&D. Our R&D facilities (separate for Consumables & Equipment) are state-of-the-art and comparable to any facility with leading global player. Our quality systems are of global standard to deliver quality products to the customers. Ador welding Academy provides solutions on establishing welding processes and enhancement of welder’s skills to improve quality of weld. We have offered solutions to the strategic customers in indigenizing the consumables and establishing new welding processes with local consumables and still get the desired welding specifications. Our automation solutions are used by key customers in infrastructure projects such as Railway bridges (also one in J&K) for improving productivity and quality. Customers expect Ador to deliver / offer solutions to their problems.  This is always a proud feeling to us.

Ador’s consumables plant in Raipur.The company makes a comprehensiverange of welding consumables

Q. Automation is the key to productivity.  How do you lend yourselves to enhance productivity both on the shop floor as well as at site?

Automation is the key to the success of massive infrastructure development plans of GOI. Due to less availability of skills, automation is going to play a pivotal role in the future. We at Ador have hence decided to focus on offering automation solutions and created the business as one of our SBU’s. We have created organization for supporting the business in Welding Automation Products and Systems (WAPS) for designing, manufacturing, marketing and providing after-sales support to deliver customized solutions in shortest time possible. The SBU is headed by a senior manager who is responsible for growth of the business.

Our WAPS Division has provided several customized Automation Solutions to different types of Industries on a pan-India basis as well as to customers in the Gulf countries. A few examples are:

• Square Axles Welding System
• System for Longitudinal Welding of Girders
• System for Internal Longitudinal Welding of Pipes that are 12m long & 350 mm in diameter
• Manipulator for Welding of Assembled Railway Bogie
• L- Seam Welding System with FCAW
• Automated TIG Welding set-up with cold wire feeding for pipe – to –  flange welding
• Dedicated MIG Welding set-up for LPG Cylinder manufacturing

Q. What are your offerings for cryogenic welding?

Consumables are available for all welding processes – In SMAW / TIG / MIG – solid wire + FCW / SAW. The most important criterion for service at cryogenic temperatures is normally toughness, and it is important that the weld metals used are capable of achieving good toughness. Large land based storage tanks are normally fabricated from 9% nickel steel with pipe work for distribution, etc. It is often made from austenitic stainless steel. The 9% nickel steels and 304 / 316 austenitic stainless steel consumables are tested down to -196°C. For applications down to -269°C, 304/316 austenitic stainless steel (welded with fully austenitic stainless steel consumables) or aluminum are used.

We have also supplied total welding systems to the manufacturers of cryogenic vessels like Cryolar, Chennai and BPCL, Nasik

Q. What are the product innovations in the recent past that caught the eye of the end user?

Some of the advanced process innovations inbuilt in the welding products in recent days are :

• Improved Accu-Pulse technique providing fewer spatters, better arc control and less heat input – very forgiving to changes in stick-out.
• RMD – designed for thin materials and gap filling with very low spatter.
• Versa-Pulse is a fast, low-heat, low-spatter process resulting in faster travel speeds and increased productivity for semi-automated and automated welding. Typically used on thin materials up to 1/4 inch, great for gap filling on sheet metal and tube applications.
• Weld cells – equipped with customized multi-axis robots , and equipment adaptable to a variety of Weld Cell Configurations
• Flexible user interface location (power source, feeder, remote operator interface)
• Welding Intelligence software, for equipment ‘with a power to think and adapt’
• Auto-Line™ Power Management Technology allows for any input voltage hookup (230–575 V) with no manual linking. It also eliminates weld defects caused by unstable or unreliable power. 
• Welding of 9% Ni steels using Ni-Cr-Fe alloys for storing & transporting LNG.

Q. What’s the head count of consumables and equipment you manufacture?  Any new products in the anvil?

We make 9000 plus Welding and Plasma Equipment per annum and about 35,000 M.T of welding consumables for all welding processes. New Products in the anvil are advanced PULSED MIG Equipment with Synergic Pulsing and Double-pulse welding features, Multi–station Data Acquisition and control system, Adaptive Control for Root Welding in pipes, etc.

Q. You are known for your customized welding solutions.  Could you recount one recent development work done for a critical application?

As explained earlier, customers expect Ador to provide solutions to their problems. They have faith in Ador and we are proud of it.

Some of the customized solutions provided are:

1. High speed fillet welding of heat exchanger panels, in boiler manufacturing of power sector, using Flux-Cored Wire instead of solid wire using submerged arc welding.
2. Critical stainless steel cladding onto C-Mn steel using SAW process to meet very critical corrosion requirements.

Q. Could you enlighten us on your wherewithal, capabilities, talent and knowledge base?

Ador is truly an Indian MNC. We have four manufacturing plants. We manufacture almost all welding consumables and equipment required by customers. We have modern manufacturing facilities which are unmatched by any Indian manufacturer. Our labs and quality systems are world–class to ensure delivery of quality products.  We are approved by most of the critical / stringent authorities including PDO, QP, KOC, KNPC, etc. and world renowned approving agencies. This proves that we have world-class quality systems. Our R&D facility and talent are again world-class.  That is the reason why we are able to develop and manufacture products to meet stringent requirements.  We do not import and supply products as done by most of the welding companies in India.

Over the last six decades, Ador has developed a vast knowledge base on the art and science of welding. Our HR practices include Organisation Development and Talent Management. We encourage young and fresh talent to make career in welding and offer them exciting opportunities and freedom to experiment. This has enabled us nurture new talent under the guidance of seasoned adorians.

Q. What is your contribution to welding education, especially when there is a dearth of qualified welding personnel in the country?

For over six decades, we have trained over a lakh welders / supervisors / engineers in welding.  Hence it will not be an exaggeration if we claim that there are no sectors / segments of industry in our country where people trained by us have not contributed. We were the pioneers in welding training and we started it when the knowledge of welding was in the infancy. Even today, when welding is an advanced technology, we have an Academy which imparts training in all welding processes and for all levels. We also certify the persons who have been trained by us. We continue to be the leading and trusted welding training Institute.

Q. What makes you to deserve the sobriquet, ‘Welders to the Nation’?

We made commercial availability of arc welding electrodes in India as early as in 1951. Every project that helped India to grow had our footprint – Hydro electric, Fertilizer, Railways, Nuclear power plants, Oil & Gas Refineries, Automobiles, Mining, Shipbuilding, Steel plants and Infrastructure included. We popularized MIG / MAG and submerged arc welding (SAW) processes by introducing the welding consumables and equipment for these processes and helped in improving the productivity of the end-users. Starting from Bhakra Nangal hydro electric power plant and dam, Neyveli Lignite thermal power plant, Trombay nuclear power plant, Integral Coach Factory of Railways at Chennai, Hindustan Shipyard at Vizag to the present day Reliance Oil refinery at Jamnagar, Suzlon wind towers, and all those projects that shaped industrial India stand as eloquent testimonies to our significant contribution.

Q. What are the challenges ahead for you?

Meeting  the new technical requirements of welding consumables for a) super critical     power plants  b) high tensile steels used in submarines; and Meeting the higher productivity requirements of automobile, shipping and Infrastructure industries are some of the challenges for us.

Q. What are the positive vibes in the industrial climate/economic horizon and what are the prospects of the welding business?

The GOI, under the dynamic leadership of our PM, Shri. Narendra Modi, is creating a conducive atmosphere for the manufacturing sector. GOI has launched the ‘Make in India’ campaign which has started showing some improvements especially in the Railways and Defense sectors. We have started receiving some good enquiries from the major manufacturers representing these two industries. With GDP growth expected to be at 7.5% and likely to go up in the next FY,  we envisage huge investments in other sectors such as oil & gas, shipbuilding, power plants, etc. and hence  we can expect good demand for our welding products and automation systems. We have also started getting indications of finalization of new projects and issuing of LOI by public sector companies from O&G and Steel sectors.

In general if we see the GST and Land bill through in the Budget session, we can expect substantial investments which will culminate in good business opportunities for us in the years to come.

Q. What’s your vision for Ador?

Ador’s Vision is  “To become the ‘best-in-class’ enterprise with a turnover of Rs.600 Crores by FY 2017-18 by providing  Complete Welding Solutions to the World of Manufacturing for enhancing their operational efficiency and productivity”.

Ador’s equipment plant in Chinchwad, Pune