Tempsens Unit No. 4 was established for the production of Control & Instrumentation Cables, having more than double of the previous production capacity. Besides, we have also added dual extrusion lines for the inner and outer sheathing of Unarmoured Cables
Mr. Vinay Rathi, Director, Tempsens Instruments (I) Pvt Ltd. sheds light on the business story of the Company, the product portfolio specific to the wire and cable segment, the details about the new manufacturing facility, the role of innovation, the market presence and the outlook on the Indian wire and cable market.
Wire & Cable India: To start with, give us a glimpse into the business journey of Tempsens Instruments and the significant milestones the company has attained so far.
Vinay Rathi: Tempsens Instruments (I) Pvt. Ltd is an independent business vertical of the Pyrotech Group, which was established by four technocrats in 1976 in Udaipur, Rajasthan. As a startup then, the initial products introduced by company were temperature sensors i.e., thermocouples and RTDs. Today, Tempsens offers a range of thermal engineering solutions. It is one of the largest thermal and cable solutions provider having world-class manufacturing facilities and operations in India, Germany and Indonesia. The company is involved into the manufacturing of thermocouples, RTDs, thermowells, wires & cables, infrared pyrometers, thermal imagers, furnace camera systems, heaters, calibration equipments, industrial and R&D furnaces etc. with factory area of approximately 380,000 sq ft. Tempsens has been awarded with many prestigious awards such as – Rajeev Gandhi National Quality Award 2005, MSME National Award 2010, EEPC Export Excellence Award 2012-13, Rajasthan Udyog Ratna Award 2019, and Rajasthan Export Excellence Award 2019 etc.
WCI: Tell us about the product portfolio specific to the wire and cable segment. Also, outline the key strengths and the applications/ industries served with these products. Is there any new addition in your product range in the recent times?
VR: Tempsens has two different business units for the manufacturing of wires and cables equipped with latest technology, which covers all types of instrumentation and control cables up to 1.1 kV, thermocouple cables and high temperature cables up to 1200°C, which are duly certified by BIS and already approved with reputed consultants, OEM’s & EPC contractors. Further, we are majorly supplying to sectors such as power, steel, chemical & fertilizers, oil & gas, defence & nuclear energy, cement, glass, food & pharmaceutical etc.
The expansion of Tempsens’ product portfolio has been planned with due diligence of both forward and backward integration.
WCI: As a leading manufacturer and supplier of Thermal and Cable Solutions — how do you aid the wire and cable industry? Elaborate some key processes in wire and cable manufacturing where your products (temperature sensors, thermocouples etc.) are used!
VR: The expansion of Tempsens’ product portfolio has been planned with due diligence of both forward and backward integration. With regard to wire and cable manufacturing, we are more focused towards industrial application and not much on the domestic segment.
The choice of wires and their material composition is the key for the compensating and extension cables to be used. At Tempsens, we start from the ingots of the specific wires in-house which are then sent for drawing into wires. Also, we undertake the wire-drawing process in-house as well. Besides that, we also offer the nickel and thermocouple alloy to the cable market depending on their need. Our thermocouples and industrial heaters – band heaters and cartridge heaters are widely used in different cable extruder machines.
WCI: Tell us about the infrastructural set-up, workforce, manufacturing capabilities with regard to the wire and cable segment. Are you planning to invest in capacity expansion, plant addition, or technology up gradation?
VR: Tempsens’ production lines include – nickel alloys, online copper drawing machines, electroplating over bare conductors, high speed bunchers, extruders, vertical and horizontal laying machines, armouring machines etc., which can run efficiently without any interruption, to achieve volume production. The metal and resin braiders and wrapping machines are useful to manufacture the special-purpose cables which are very complex in nature. Our Tempsens Testing Centre has been duly accredited by NABL to ensure the inward, in-process and final product quality after going through all applicable national and international testing parameters. Then, the material is dispatched after routine assessment. The acceptance and type tests are duly witnessed by the customer/third party inspection agency. Now, the second phase of expansion is in progress to enhance the production capacity of the Instrumentation and control cables to cater to the market-demand specially for projects.
Tempsens has an integrated plant right from basic raw materials to finished products especially for thermocouples & RTDs, which includes – special nickel alloys, mineral insulated metal sheathed cables, thermocouple com
WCI: In 2020, Tempsens has established Unit No. 4 for the production of control and instrumentation cables — could you shed light on the manufacturing and technological capabilities of the new facility?
VR: Tempsens Unit No. 4 was established for the production of control & instrumentation cables, having more than double of the previous production capacity. Besides, we have also added dual extrusion lines for the inner and outer sheathing of unarmoured cables as per IS 1554 and DC solar cables as per EN50618 to manufacture in a single process. We have also added silver, nickel and tinned electroplating facilities to fulfil the customers’ needs on an independent-basis.
WCI: Kindly give a brief outline on the Company’s efforts in R&D and innovation. How pertinent do you consider the role of innovation to ensure productivity and attain consistent growth?
VR: Tempsens’ products are designed, developed and produced in-house to meet the customer expectations and to be at par with their satisfaction. Mainly, the focus is on the indigenization of related products and their qualification as per applicable national and international standards based on the integrated manufacturing and testing facilities. To ensure the superior quality of our final product, our qualified and competent team of engineers consistently use the cutting-edge technology to test and monitor the entire process, starting from the basic raw materials up to the finished products. Our R&D team is fully capable to customize products to suit the specific clients’ requirements based on our vast experience in this particular field.
WCI: For a company every product is important, still, there are some products that become a synonym for the company. Which are those stand-out products under Tempsens Instruments portfolio?
VR: Tempsens has an integrated plant right from basic raw materials to finished products especially for thermocouples & RTDs, which includes – special nickel alloys, mineral insulated metal sheathed cables, thermocouple compensating and extension cables. In addition, we also supply these raw materials and intermediate products to similar manufacturers worldwide. Also, the range of space-grade high temperature wires and cables are supplied to various defence and space organizations for more than a decade. The company has been now involved into new product development processes under the ‘Make in India’ policy. Moreover, I would like to mention that the range of DC solar cables are certified by – TUV Rheinland.
WCI: Could you please define the market presence of Tempsens Instruments – both globally and domestically? How pertinent do you consider the Indian market for the Company in the present time? What are your plans to expand your market presence by entering into new geographies?
VR: Our products are approved with many reputed consultants such as EIL, Mecon, Desein, Avant Garde etc., a number of EPCs such as BHEL, NTPC, L&T, and OEMs, the government and private end customers and supplying them with substantial growth of 25% every year. The Company has operations in Germany and Indonesia and export from India through dealer/distributor network to more than 70 countries worldwide which constitutes almost 30% of the annual turnover.
WCI: Give us your perception about the trends, challenges, opportunities and area of improvisation in the Indian wire and cable industry.
VR: There is a huge potential of the wire and cable industry in India for both the domestic as well as export markets. There are a number of big players in the domestic wire and cable market and competing with them sometimes is challenging. Further, the prices are very competitive especially in the project-related packages. Thus, developing more and more import substitute products and producing them on a large scale could be a good opportunity.
