Thriving on indigenous technology & customized solutions
Mr. P. S. Rajagopal, Managing Director
Mr. Manoj Rajagopal, Head (Techno-Commercial)
West Coast Engineering Corporation based in Coimbatore is one of the most respected names in the machine tool industry. West Coast along with its sister company, Minerva Automation, was founded by Mr. P.S. Rajagopalan, 1959 batch mechanical engineer and a strong machine tool designer with a vast manufacturing and maintenance experience in the domain of machine tools, having built special purpose machines for a plethora of applications in industries as diverse as power plants, Health, automobiles, shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, textiles, light & heavy engineering, boiler industry, railways and so on. Mr. P.S. Rajagopalan, the Managing Director of the Group, is the first generation entrepreneur who swears by indigenous technology and import substitution and believes that Indian engineering can more than match the best in the world. Assisting him in achieving his goal is his son, Mr. Manoj Rajagopalan, also a mechanical engineer and a Management Post Graduate from the Indian Institute of Management shouldering the responsibilities of techno-commercial activities of the Group, along with Design.
Customized Products & Solutions
“You name any application, we can provide a customized solution,” declares Mr. Manoj, reflecting on the core strengths and design capabilities of the Group. “We have a strong design team comprising our directors, consultants and hardcore designers, we benchmark our products against the best available across the globe and make an improvement from thereon and delivering to the customer the benefits of the best design, technology, quality and productivity – all at an economical price”.
The Group’s product spectrum today provides complete solutions for Boiler Manufacturing & Piping, CNC Vertical Turning Centers, Hydraulic Presses, Special Purpose Machines, Plant Automation, Disc Grinders & Reconditioning, Manufacturing Services, etc. In Piping and Boiler Manufacturing Areas we provide Turnkey Solutions in Machining, Forming and Plant Automation.
A CNC Pipe Edge Preparation Machine supplied to L & T
The Machining Ranges start from Large Sophisticated CNC Machines for Pipe Edge Preparation for Pipes to Small In-Sutu Machines for Panel End and Insert Scarfing for Tubes, Automatic Tube Cutting and Edge Preparation Machines, Plate Edge Preparation Machines, Large CNC Machines for Vertical Turning & Machining, Automation Lines Integrated with Online Radiography Testing which Includes Pick and Place Devices, Storage Transfer Lines, Conveyors, In-Process Position Manipulators for Individual Tubes upto Panel Transfer lines inclusive of Panel Flipover System. “The Largest System supplied by us runs in BHEL for a Length of over 250 Metres end-to-end and is one of the largest in the Industry,” Says Mr. Manoj.
“The Forming & Straightening Range starts from Four Column Hydraulic Presses Upto 2000Tonne with an In-house Manufacturing Restriction on Platen Size Limited to 4M x 2M. Large Servo Controlled Straightening Machines have been manufactured in the 100Tonne Ranges for Components like shafts Upto 12 Meters. The other specialized forming Solutions offered by the company Include Flaring & Upsetting, Squeezing & Sizing. “In short, we design and manufacture machines for all operations in the Boiler & Piping Industry which is Machining, Forming and Complete Automation Systems . The Only Thing we don’t do is Welding,” elucidates Mr. Manoj. All these machines are indigenously developed.
“Earlier, the country used to import CNC pipe edge preparation machines from European & Japanese Manufacturers. We developed Import Substitutes in 2008. These machines were Initially Developed for BHEL to whom we have supplied over half a dozen machines. Even Today, which is over 5-6 years after these machines have started producing, we can claim that they are the most sophisticated machines in its class and there is no product across the globe which can match its performance and stability’.
A Bogie Load Testing Machine supplied to Indian Railways
It produces more than 300% Output compared to other machines doing the same operation in the plant, and the credit for this success is only partially to us, but more to the entire team at BHEL who worked along with us giving us Inputs of Various Functional & Maintenance Issues Faced over the Years which we took care one by one in the design and at one stage we realized it was difficult to get the Best Results on the Conventional Machines with PLC Controls which was ordered . And we took the internal decision, took permissions and convert the entire lot of machines to CNC at our own cost to get this machine which was better than the best.
“These machines were also supported with some of the most sophisticated artificial intelligence programs we developed along with dedicated screens that it no longer requires a CNC operator to run them. “The Bottom line cost us a bomb financially but today with project after project where we have taken care of the customer requirements like this has won us the Industry Trust & Recognition.
“Based on this, In 2010 L & T-MHI (Mitshubisi Heavy Industries) New High Pressure Boiler Plant at Hazira ordered the next Higher range of Machines which we supplied at a mere 1 Crore Plus against an Import cost of around 5 Crores for the same size machine from Europe which is at least 30% Lower in Technology’ with over 3 years of Uninterrupted running other than some marginal corrections that were required on the bought out tool holders.
Mr. Manoj in addition to pinpointing the value addition given to the customer tells this “If we as Indians with a 4500 Year old Vedic Civilization boasting the World’s First Astronomers, Surgeons & Mathematicians at our Back, Cannot Do something. Please understand that then there is nobody else in this world who can… So let’s realize that first”.
“Our CNC vertical turning centres are supplied by our sister company, Minerva Automation under the brand name, ‘MAT’. We started making these machines since 2007 we have supplied only about 15 machines in the ranges starting from 600mm Upto 3 matres due to other production pressures, But with most of the models already launched our concentration is now on scaling up the production to meet up at least domestic consumption.
“The performance of these machines is at par with the European machines. We cut down the unwanted features and Power wherever possible in order to economize and pass on the benefits to the end users. In premium machines we incorporate all the additional features. In the economy versions, however, we never compromise on functional technology requirements.” And we work on this keeping the bottom-line of the customer in mind – ROI in 2-2.5Years, Do whatever to achieve that.”
“Another Major product line of the Group is ‘Hydraulic Presses’ for Deep Drawing, Straightening, Assembly, Specialized Applications Etc for Various Industries Like Automobile, Textile, Ceramic , Compressors, Railways Etc. In various Models & Tonnages but we have an In-house Restriction that we can handle Platen Sizes of only upto 4000mmx 2000mm. And with some of the Presses supplied over 30 Years back to companies like LMW working 3 Shifts for Deep drawing for Over 30 Years now is what speaks on the quality and robustness of our presses.
“For the Railways, the Group has supplied a number of SPMs for Bogie Load Testing where the machines are big enough for the entire Chassis on rails to go in, Also Spring Scragging & Testing machines for Goods and Passenger Coach Springs. It has also supplied special straightening machines for railway chassis & Rails. Some 15 plus installations are giving satisfactory performance in Railway Workshops like Golden Rock, Integeral Coach Factory, Kota Workshop, Etc.
A 1600 mm Vertical Turning Centre from the MAT range
“Textile is a major user segment for the company. It has developed SPMs for the spindle manufacture. It also provides Turnkey Solutions for Groove Grinding, Card Clothing, Clipping, etc. “Our maiden product was Disc Grinding Machine. These machines are ideal for Grinding 1st reference side of Castings used in Textile and Automobile Industry and it gives a guaranteed accuracy of 0.05mm flatness on 300 mm x 300 mm size, much faster than milling with a cost of operation comparatively at less than 10%. Inspite of the advantages vis a Vis other related processes, Unfortunately our marketing failure has been such that we ended up supplying 12 of these machines to the LMW Group for Textile Components but not one Machine to Anybody else.”
“We make SPMs for the shipping industry as well and our machines work in Major Ship Repair yards like Singapore for Marine Piston Reconditioning”. Jigs and fixtures too are a part of the product mix with large Jigs and Fixtures being its strength. Its jigs & fixtures are being used by companies like Suzlon in its windmill projects, Large Valve Manufacturers and Automobile Industry for Robotic Welding of Chassis for Cars and Trucks.
The company also undertakes reconditioning retrofitting and conversion of large conventional and CNC machines. West Coast Group has a Full fledged Machine Shop of 22 Machines which Include Mother Machines like Slideway Grinders from WMW Germany for a Size of 4Mx2M, 3 Nos of CNC Universal Machining Centers from ZAYER Spain upto a Size of 6mx1.8M along with a Host of Other Machines like Horizontal & Vertical Jig Borers from Dixi & Oerlikon of Switzerland, Machining & Turning Centers from Cincinnati and HMT, Grinding Centers from WMW, TOS and so on.
Enlightening on the infrastructural facilities, Mr. Manoj says: “In order to expand our capacity, we have annexed a 14,000 sq. ft. area at Ganapathy and plan to start work on a much larger manufacturing facility by end March 2015. We have three units as of now – Two for production and One for Design & Marketing with a staff strength of around 50 people which includes 11 engineers. Our current turnover is in the vicinity of Rs.13 Crores.”
Proven Quality
On quality, optimum design and pricing, this is what Mr. Manoj has to say:
“Our quality is proven in the performance of our machines which are 20-25% more efficient than the existing machines in the market. The trend with the machine tool builders is to add unwanted features and boost the overall cost. In our case, we retain the essential features and make robust machines that perform the functions intended. This is why our machines are atleast 40% less in cost compared to imported ones of the same class, and at least 20% less compared to large domestic machine tool makers.
“Our boiler equipment go to BHEL, L&T and other boiler manufacturers. Valve manufacturers are predominantly using our CNC machines. Our SPMs are also used by automobiles, textiles and shipping industries. “Our Endeavour is to help the country restrict the outflow of foreign exchange by developing more and more import substitutes. This is why we are not focusing on exports at the moment. There is so much of demand in the domestic market, that we are struggling to fulfill them. We hope to be a Rs.100 crore company by 2020.”
Future Thrusts
When asked to reflect on the future, Mr. Manoj had this to add:
“Our product lines are all in place, Our Manufacturing Infrastructure is in Place. We now have to step up our production to meet the increasing demands of the domestic market. India is soon going to be the superpower. We are a 4500 year old civilization. And if we in India cannot do it, none else in this world can!”
– Mr. P.K. Balasubramanian
