OK International : Aiming to offer Turnkey Solutions to interact with Factory Automation in Industrie 4.0, IOT Scenario
Q. Being the key player in the industry, please brief us company’s journey from inception & share some of the milestones achieved?
OK International was founded in 1946 manufacturing machine tools for the telecoms industry. By the 1980’s it had diversified to focus on general electronics assembly tools, a key segment of this being fluid dispensing tools and consumables. In 1996 the dispensing range was strengthening with the acquisition of Techcon and when The Dover Corporation acquired OK International in 2000, Techcon became a division with a dedicated management and sales team to drive dispensing development. Subsequently Techcon has developed its valve Technologies to address the industry requirements of ever higher precision driven by miniaturization.
Q. Please brief us about company’s infrastructure & what are the technology alliances that has been made in order to out-front the competition?
Techcon has expertise in both the design and manufacture of precision dispensing equipment and the associated plastic consumables this allows Techcon to offer a comprehensive solution not just to the dispense action itself but to the packaging and presentation of the materials being used.
Q. What are the products manufactured by your company?
Techcon manufactures precision valves and controllers for the dispensing of materials in precision assembly and it also manufactures a wide range of plastics syringes, cartridges and dispensing needles for the material packagers and formulators.
Q. What is your marketing strategy for India?
The strategy in India is to focus on the equipment portfolio and offer solution-based propositions to manufactures with assembly challenges and technology solutions to machine builders.
Q. Product innovation through R&D is vital to be a leader in the competition, as per your opinion, how does R&D plays the role of catalyst in the success process?
Development of new solutions provides a platform for Techcon to offer unique methods to end users which drives brand identity and image E.g. Techcon’s unique Disposable Material Path valves provide customers with a labor saving and cost saving solution to applications where perception is no improvement is available.
Q. Quality standards are benchmarked by the product performance; please brief us how do you maintain the quality norms since from solution development to implementation?
Techcon under the OK International umbrella develops its product with a defined development process to ensure the outcome meets the market requirement and is cost effective. Subsequent production is controlled with our internal Quality Management System which is ISO-9000 accredited.
Q. According you what are the factors affecting to your business?
Price pressure from end users to provide more cost-effective equipment and the capability to offer the process engineering to customers who don’t have the process expertise in house and rely on their vendors to provide technical support and advice for their process.
Q. What are the key technological trends that are driving the industry?
Miniaturization of products and a demand for reliability particularly in aerospace and automotive demand the capability for ever smaller dispense volumes with increasing accuracy and repeatability with new materials that can be two components and have challenges in terms of compatibility with the dispense tool.
Q. How do you perceive the future of the industry?
The market is moving towards increased automation and the ability to evaluate and control a process in real time. Development therefore of equipment that is capable of interacting with another factory automation is important for example industry 4.0 , IOT .
Q. What is your vision for your company for near future?
We aim to be able to offer turn key solutions to applications with a new “smart” Robot and valve controllers that facilitates integration into a smart factory environment to provide leading edge equipment for automation projects.
