At the cutting-edge of Robotic WELDING & AUTOMATION Technologies: Finearc Systems Pvt. Ltd.

When we think of welding automation, the first name that comes to mind is of ‘Finearc’. Indeed, the Pune-based Finearc Systems is a formidable name in robotic welding and automation. The company, which has a global presence today, isheaded by technocrats S.S. Pathak, Rahul Pathak and Dr. Milind Kelkar who envisioned Finearc to be a partner of choice for its customers to deliver complete industrial solutions encompassing various technologies such as welding, cutting, marking, leak testing, assembly, handling, gauging, forming, traceability and many more. In the welding domain, for instance, Finearc delivers solutions ranging from simple systems using the gas metal arc process to very complex TIG, plasma and laser welding and cutting systems.

Well Begun

Finearc began its journey in 1986 to support the developing industry by harnessing its core expertise in welding engineering. In the initial years, Finearc manufactured only hardautomation and special purpose machines and welding tooling. Over the years, the company evolved into a state-of-the-art robotic high-technology systems integrator with a full product portfolio ranging from small stand-alone machines to very big robot lines encompassing a wide variety of industry segments. All of Finearc equipment is manufactured in Pune in two factories at Pimpri and Urawade under strict quality control and in accordance with the ISO 2001-2015 certified management program.

Finearc has a modern infrastructure comprising several design work stations and software, robotic simulation software, coordinate measuring machines, control & documentation software, aweld quality evaluation lab and an extensive component database. The company delivers solutions for high volume as well as for single piece production. Customized solutions are also provided depending upon multiple end product requirements at optimum costs.

End-to-end Engineering Solutions

Finearc delivers solutions not only for serial high-volume mass manufacture but also for single piece flow and batch production. Numerous variants are possible even on one tool to meet multiple end product requirements with minimal investment. Finearc partners with world leaders in their respective fields to enable deliver robust systems with very high reliability, backed by a team of qualified and experienced professionals in the entire industrial value chain. Finearc has installed equipment globally in over 20 countries in 6 continents. Its global installations are helping customers achieve their quality and productivity goals in countries namely Canada, USA, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Poland, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Bahrain, China, Russia, UAE, Oman, India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Australia and so on. The solutions offered include: robot cells, welding solutions, custom automation, forming machines, leak testing machines, marking machines, cutting machines, jigs & fixtures, gauges, presses, material handling solutions, and special solutions. Service support to the customers is provided not only from the factory but also from multiple locations across the world. In India, it has offices in Gurugram, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Nashik, Pithampur, Bengaluru and Chennai, besides Pune where it has its head office-engineering center and an assembly plant.

The company constantly strives to partner with customers over the past 30 plus years and has reinforced this win-win relationship with its esteemedclientele. This fact is validated by Finearc winning multiple awards of appreciation from its esteemed customers.

Repeat Customers

“We have several long time repeat customers with trusted relationships who rely on us for their ever-changing needs,” says Rahul Pathak, Director. “To meet these challenges, we spend a minimum of 5% of our annual revenue in research and for developing new applications and innovative products,” he adds. Finearc ’s client list is ever-expanding. This includes some of the big names like Toyota, Tata Steel, Hitachi, Siemens, BARC, Nuclear Fuel Complex & several others representing a wide spectrum of industries such as automotive, railways, construction, power, defence, nuclear, heavy engineering amongst others.

Success Stories

Finearc has several success stories to narrate. One such case study testifying its ingenuity, engineering prowess is a robotic pipe welding system it developed for one of the largest metal pipe manufacturers in the world. The story goes like this: The pipe manufacturer approached Finearc Systems for an automation solution for welding a metal tab to a pipe to be integrated into a running pipe mill 4 miles long. The company was facing a severe shortage of skilled welders in addition to the added time and cost involved in the manual welding process. Repeatable quality was also a concern.

The challenges involved were: To weld a pipe tab in a cycle time of 10 minutes that is a considerably stiff industry standard; welding needed to be carried out in a running mill condition, that put tremendous pressure on the skilled welders to complete the job in the available time; since the pipe length was very long and it was heavy and handling very cumbersome, detecting the proper weld joint location posed difficulties in addition to gap and orientation

Finearc studied the problem in detail after multiple customer visits and discussions to zero in on a fully hands-free integrated solution. For this, Finearc proposed a fully automated robotic welding system that included the welding robot, power supply, seam finding intelligent sensor and automated pick and place of the child part that worked in synchronization with the entire mill operation. All technical requirements of the application such as clamping, butting, weld position detection and weld strengths were addressed using advanced technologies. All customer requirements were fully met. These included a reduction in the cycle time (achieved was 6 minutes as against a 10-minute target) that resulted in a considerable productivity increase in a stress-free environment. The robotic welding system operator ended up having more time on his hands to oversee other operations that needed attention. Welding no longer remained a bottleneck in the plant, and skilled welders ended up being deployed in other areas that needed manual intervention.

Rahul Pathak attributes his company’s success to its unwavering commitment to help the customer achieve his productivity goals using advanced technologies in the most economical way. Finearc’s business, he underlines, is based on its values of honesty, integrity and a ‘humanity first’ approach which has been its core philosophy since its inception and will continue to be its guiding light into the future.

– PK Balasubramanian