Grind Master takes ‘Brand India’ to the globe

The story of Grind Master based in the historic city of Aurangabad is a story of ‘garage to globe’ journey of an SSI unit started from a small garage by the duo Milind Kelkar and Mohini Kelkar with a meagre investment of Rs.25,000/- way back in 1984. After their graduation in production engineering from VJTI, Mumbai and work experience of two years in Pune, the duo decided to do something on their own and project the prowess of Indian engineering to the globe. The birth of Grind Master Machines Pvt. Ltd is the result of this determination. Today Grind Master is a Rs.100 crore company with four state-of-the-art manufacturing units, a workforce of 300 highly motivated employees with a ‘can and will’ attitude, a spread of 4000 plus customized finishing and deburring machines in six continents, technology and marketing tie-ups with world leaders, and a 10,000 plus customer base built over three decades by sheer stint of passion, innovation, trust and expertise. Mr. P.K. Balasubbramaniian converses with Mrs. Mohini Kelkar, Managing Director, Grind Master to know more about this trendsetter and its endeavor to make India proud by taking the marvels of Indian engineering for the world to view. Excerpts:

Q. You have metamorphosed from a small SSI unit in metal finishing to a global technology leader in metal finishing and deburring. What do you attribute this path-breaking entrepreneurial success to?
It is our strong desire to excel and to be the best in the world, creating an identity and image for our country.

Q. Could you enlighten us on your beginnings?
Both my husband Mr. Milind Kelkar and I came out of VJTI, Mumbai with a degree in Production Engineering way back in 1981. We worked in Pune for couple of years & then started our own company in 1984 in a mall garage. We began with polishing of non-stick cookware. Nirlep gave us the first order. Thereafter, Hawkins, TTK and others from the cookware segment came in. In 1986 we got a major breakthrough with the order from Bharat Forge for belt grinding for de-fleshing of forgings. These are for the front axle forgings they make. Earlier we gave them semi-automatic process. Now they use robots. We keep in step with the technology trends and create most appropriate technology solutions for our customers.

Q. What’s your range of manufacture today?
We make machines for microfinishing, superfinishing, deburring and metal finishing. Our Automation Diviion has successfully built sophisticated automation solutions using robots, gantry systems and customized maniupulators. And our Abrasives Div. lends support to the customer in selecting the most appropriate tooling & abrasives.

Q. What’s the significance of deburring, and what’s special about your deburring machines?
Time was when deburring was a neglected operation. No one felt the need or wanted to invest in deburring. We spent a whale of time educating the customer on the nuance of deburring. But slowly things are changing. MNC’s have started specifying edge radius of finished components. Auto components sourced from India used to get rejected because of poor deburring quality. Then the industry started realizing the importance of deburring. It’s a process innovation rather than just the machine. Each manufacturing process like gear hobbing, sheet metal punching, laser cutting, grinding and so on creates different types & amounts of burr and it also depends on how well tools of these processes are maintained. Therefore Deburring a part satisfactorily and consistently requires extensive experience of various deburring methods and tools.

We offer equipment and solutions for planetary deburring involving precision deburring and deburring with abrasive belts & brushes for punched & fine blanked parts. We also supply machines for deburring & brushing of automotive gears and sprockets, deburring of crown wheels & pinions, gear tooth chamfering and so on.
We also make SPMs for deburring piston rings, camshafts & splined shafts, engines, fluted rollers, etc. By virtue of our core process knowledge, we can select the right process which enhances output with Robotics and automation.

Q. What about belt grinding and finishing machines?
Our expertise in metal finishing is well-known. We offer the widest range of metal finishing equipment for applications ranging across tubes & bars, cookware, hardware and automotive components. There are versatile and robust semi-automatic machines as well as fully automatic special purpose machines for high volume production. Belt grinding is used for de-flashing of casting & roughing tubes & bars, and for de-scaling and removal of surface defects. We have customized machines for flat bars, shock absorber parts, on-line planetary machines for wire rod & bright bars, etc.

Q. Could you elaborate on microfinishing and its benefits?
Microfinishing is done after grinding (bonded). It is functionally necessary to superfinish Bearing & oil seal diameter of all kinds of shafts. The life of engine & transmission parts depends on the finish of the parts. It brings down the noise and vibration levels of high speed running parts. The cylinders in rotogravure printing machines are microfinished. The same way, paper mill cylinders are also microfinished. Microfinishing is the technology to generate surfaces that can only be measured in microns. We have mastered the technology by film backed abrasives to fulfill the demands of our discerning customers for consistent finish and superior surface quality. We pioneered this technology in 2000 and have since built over 400 machines for a wide range of applications.

Q. You provide sophisticated automation solutions. Could you give a couple of examples of finishing and deburring?
The deburring machine with belt grinding we supplied to Bharat Forge for parting line removal of the front axle beam of 2.5 m length is a classic example. It was a long drawn development project which took almost three years. We worked in tandem with the customer and developed the technology and system. To quote Bharat Forge: “The machine quality is found to be of international standard and Grind Master also provides excellent service support and spares.”

Coming to microfinishing, we bagged a prestigious order for a micofinishing machine for crankshafts from Shanghai’s General Motors. Grind Master is the first Indian company to build a ‘mission critical’ machine for any crankshaft production line of General Motors anywhere in the world. At home, our microfinishing machines are being used with advantage by all OEMs in the automobile sector, starting from Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra to Renault, Suzuki, and Toyota – you name any.

Q. We understand you repositioned yourselves recently. What is the brand identity you have created and how has it been perceived in the market?
It was at the last IMTEX in January 2013 that we launched our new brand identity. The new outlook reflected the internal changes in the company and marked its transformation from a pioneer in metal finishing to a global technology leader in metal finishing and deburring. The brand identity indicates the deep rooted philosophy of Grind Master: To form solid partnerships, and to provide absolute engineering through Passion, Innovation, Trust and Expertise. The rebranding also helped in percolating the beliefs & values down the line in our organization.

Q. Please tell us something about your production facilities and manufacturing excellence?
We have four state-of-the-art manufacturing units here in Aurangabad, with a team of 300 people. These units spread over an area of 1,60,000 sq. ft. equipped with the best of mother machines. We have separate divisions for different production lines. Each division is equipped with independent fabrication, machining, inspection, painting, assembly and testing facilities. We chisel out some 400 machines annually which go to various parts of the globe. A dedicated R & D and tech center is continuously working on improving the existing solutions and developing new breakthrough technologies.

Q. We talked about machines, components & processes. Where do people figure in your pursuit of excellence?
We have a highly motivated team of people who have been trained on multi-tasking. Individuals are our company’s biggest asset. We motivate them to achieve higher goals and involve them in decision-making. In the process, their competence enhances everyday. Our employees, who hail from Marathwada, have adopted to the culture of excellence and the ‘can and will’ attitude. The philosophy to partner with the customer to meet his quality, quantity and process economics is deep rooted in our people and they always endeavour to provide a complete solution.

Q. Which are your on-going technology and marketing tie-ups?
Our technical collaboration with VSM of Germany for manufacturing and selling coated abrasive products, and the licence agreement with IMPCO of USA for microfinishig machines for crankshafts and camshafts are very strong. Similarly, Fuji Star, Japan is our partner for film backed abrasives; Balance Engineering, USA for dynamic balancing; Omera, Italy for trimming; and Kuka, Germany for robotics. We have marketing tie-ups with companies in Greece, Holland, UK and Switzerland. Lately we also do contract manufacturing of machines for select Italian, Japanese and American companies. We also have a worldwide contract with General Motors for supplying microfinishing machines to their various plants. The first machine was supplied to China (Shanghai’s General Motors). Subsequently, three more machines have gone there. One machine has gone to Korea and another to Mexico (Toluka).

Q. What are your growth plans and what’s your roadmap for Grind Master?
In the next five years we want to double our turnover and become a Rs.200 crore company. We have already forayed into robotics and high-tech automation business. Now our son, Sameer, an IIT topper and UC-Berkeley graduate (M.S in Robotics) has joined our business after working in Switzerland for two years. He foresees a huge growth potential and will certainly bring new dimensions to our company. We are soon setting up one more plant in Waluj. We recently set up Sales & Service Company in China employing local people. Currently we are working through dealers in South East Asia, to expand our export business. We are looking around for some more collaborations in niche areas. We have a base of 10,000 customers across the globe. We have to strengthen our bond with them. All these are our growth plans.

Q. What are the challenges ahead for you?
We have to increase our volumes of production and gear up our organization to cater to the demands and sustain growth. We do not believe in inorganic growth. We shall move steadily and firm footed. We have succeeded to some extent in changing the image of ‘Brand India’ overseas. But this has to be enhanced further.

Q. Now a word about your CSR activities?
Grind Master has always been a responsible citizen. Apart from contributing to various educational institutions and foundations, Grind Master team is engaged in training young talent in engineering and technology by promoting student projects, internships and apprenticeships, and conducting factory visits to introduce college students to industry. Our initiatives in healthcare include: blood donation camps, fitness drives, etc. We have also undertaken social projects like drought relief work, de-silting and nalla widening, building river bunds, giving scholarships to students from drought hit villages, etc.