Mr. Manjit Singh, Executive Director – Cables, KEC International Ltd., divulges key details about the new developments, strategies undertaken to promote innovations, and some innovative products.
“Our technology roadmap includes the development of new products for railway applications to cater to the demand from the railway segment. We have also been working on speciality cables for the Indian Navy to strengthen our product portfolio in the defence sector besides expanding our telecom portfolio.”
Wire & Cable India: Please highlight the technology as well as quality development or up-gradation that recently took place at the company.
Manjit Singh: At KEC International Ltd., we have a continued focus on innovation and new product development to cater to industry needs.
Recently, we have developed a hybrid cable that integrates power cable with optical fibre cable for a few private utilities.
We are also focusing on new product development in the field of railways, metro rail, defence, marine, telecom, etc., to penetrate further into the market and cater to wider business segments.
Our in-house R&D centres in Vadodara & Mysore factories are now recognised by the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.
Watch: Wire & Cable Industry Year Review
WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?
MS: Innovation and R&D is deeply ingrained in KEC’s ethos. We are developing a special compound to be used in fire survival cables, which will be an alternative design for conventional fire survival cables. We are also developing formulations for special insulation and sheathing compounds to maintain quality. As a testament to our focus on quality and innovation, we have won several awards recently, which include ‘Manufacturing Excellence’ award by Frost & Sullivan and a runner-up award in ‘Process’ category at the All India Kaizen Competition organised by Baroda Productivity Council.
WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?
MS: Our technology roadmap includes the development of new products for railway applications to cater to the demand from the railway segment. We have also been working on speciality cables for the Indian Navy to strengthen our product portfolio in the defence sector. Additionally, we are also expanding our telecom portfolio in line with the new investments announced for the sector.
WCI: Kindly elaborate on some of the industry 4.0 initiatives taken by KEC International.
MS: We have taken various initiatives under industry 4.0 such as:
Connected Machines
- Real time OEE
- Track & trace through RFID
- Material consumption vs BOM
Analysis
- RCCP -Digital planning
- Predictive Maintenance
- Optimisation (Real time DOE study for optimal CCV line speed)
Smart Process
- Proactive quality approach (In process parameter measurement)
- Energy Monitoring & Control
- Shop Floor Control (Digital work orders/Job card)
Apart from this, we are also working on the development of software for cable size selection, optimum drum size selection and e-CRM for Sales & Business Development.
Also Read: KEC International inaugurates Railway Conductor Manufacturing Unit in Vadodara
WCI: Please take us through some of the technology-driven products manufactured by KEC International.
MS: We have developed hybrid cables which are OFC embedded cables that enable utilities to optimise their costs. We are also developing overhead conductors for high-speed railway applications in view of the investments planned by the Ministry of Railways under the Mission Raftaar Scheme.
