THAT CAR EMBLEM IS ALMOST CERTAINLY FROM POLYPLASTICS

Kapil Gupta, Technical Director of Polyplastics (left) and Kamal Gupta, Finance Director of the company (right) hand the purchase order for the new machine to SR Chandrashekar, surrounded by examples of the work they do for the automotive industry.

Not many companies in the world can boast of holding 80% of the market in which they operate, but that is the proud claim of Polyplastics, a leading Indian manufacturer of automotive components and automobile OEM supplier.

Amongst the markets in which they operate is the manufacture of emblems and monograms ?the chrome-plated logo that sits on the radiator grille and on the back of every car, electroplated grills and rear number plate garnishes. Eighty out of every 100 cars in India bears an emblem manufactured and plated at Polyplastics?plant in Yamuna Nagar in the northern Indian state of Haryana (200 km north of the capital city of New Delhi).

The company is a major supplier for Suzuki cars in India and back in 1997 it entered into a technical collaboration with Sakae Riken Kogyo Co. Ltd. of Japan for the manufacture of PVC extrusion door mouldings and other car parts.

They also specialise in hubcaps and wheel covers, automotive plastic moulded parts, auto-electrical assemblies, ABS electroplated automobile components for decoration, aesthetic parts, car spares and accessories. Yes, they know cars inside out!

Polyplastics has recently bought a very special automatic electroplating line from PAL and Kamtress Automation Systems Pvt Ltd that, once commissioned by the end of this year, will be used for plating on plastic components for Suzuki, Honda, Ford, General Motors, Toyota cars and perhaps many more world-renowned car-makers too. This plating line will be set up with technical assistance from Sakae Riken Kogyo Co. Ltd.

Like their emblems, this is a new automatic line that will really stand out from the crowd! "It’s a complicated line with seven transporters and cross transfer shuttles," explains SR Chandrashekar of Kamtress, PAL’s Indian agent. "No other plastic component manufacturer in India has an automatic line of this magnitude. In fact it’s a set of two lines next to each other separated by a walkway. Each line is approximately 47m in length and 3m high x 5m wide; and designed to produce about 4000ft2 of plated plastic components per week." Like many installations in India it is a clever combination of PAL’s and Kamtress’s technology and design with some locally sourced components to lower the capital investment.

"We are very much looking forward to the set-up of the new line and its smooth running," explains Kapil Gupta the technical director of Polyplastics. "There were several deciding factors when we came to make our decision about who would supply our new equipment, finally we narrowed it down to a PAL/Kamtress machine after assessing the commitment of the PAL and Kamtress teams in executing the project for us. Although the other quotes were more competitive, we were confident to have banked on PAL and Kamtress due to their vast experience in the field of metal coatings. Our decision to go with PAL and Kamtress was strengthened after visiting the PAL plant in China and some of their installations of similar plating lines. We were convinced that we would be able to have a high uptime on their machines in comparison to the other suppliers. We are now looking forward to a long and lasting relationship."

Established in 1967, Polyplastics is now an ISO-9002/QS-9000 company so the quality of work produced by the new PAL & Kamtress machine is of vital importance. "Quality of work is something that we know all our customers want, and we are able to give it to them time after time on all our installations," says SR Chandrashekar.

A "time line" on the Polyplastics website shows the many milestones they have passed over the last 37 years since the company was set up with a small tool room for manufacturing special spacers for coaxial telecommunication cables. Their expansion programme over the years has not only seen them grow physically, but expand into an impressive array of industries too ?including the textile, defence, refrigerator and, of course, the automotive industry (in 1982); as well as exporting telecomm components to Finland, Austria, Italy and the UK.

"Our main strengths lie in the expertise developed through long experience, constant innovations and adoption of the latest technologies by a dynamic technical and managerial team supported by dedicated work force," explains Mr Gupta. "Intelligence, creativity and skills perfected over 37 years are now at the service of OEMs for sourcing world-class components having highest quality."

Further information at www.polyplasticsindia.com