PRAYAG POLYTECH - FUELLING GROWTH WITH LOCAL TECHNOLOGY

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Written by  Arpit Mahendra | 10 June 2014 | Published in June 2014 ( Shopfloor )

In less than two decades of its existence, Prayag Polytech has turned out to be a leading exporter white & black colour and additive masterbatches from India to more than 70 countries. The company’s compounded annual growth through the last five years has been in excess of 50 %. Making it unique is the fact that the company relies almost entirely on exports, while having a fully indigenous R&D set-up. We visited the company’s plant in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan to find the story behind the above mentioned achievements.

INTRODUCTION

Prayag Polytech manufactures masterbatches for colouring objects used in industries such as food & industrial packaging, textiles, automotive, consumer goods and healthcare. These are essentially colour granules, which are used for giving colour to automotive parts such as dashboards, mudguards, and bumpers, etc. during the injection-moulding process.

As a group, the company presently has three facilities, of which the Bhiwadi plant is the largest in terms of size and capacity. The facility houses R&D and testing set-ups to complement the production lines. At the plant we got to meet RK Aggarwal, Managing Director, Prayag Polytech, who gave us a brief on the company's performance and future plans. This story yet again highlights the intensely complex technology requirements involved in the development of processes as unseen as colouring of various sub-assemblies.

R&D, PRODUCTION

The Bhiwadi plant is spread across an area of over 9,000 sq m in the RIICO Industrial Area of Bhiwadi. Entering the plant, it takes barely a few seconds to realise that this is a unit with abundant work as workers and forklifts make their way through the area. This doesn't come as a surprise to us as we knew that this plant works 24 x 7 x 365 with three shifts. The company's business across industries is based primarily on exports, with the domestic market being small for now but growing year-on-year.

Our visit started with the R&D centre, which isn't too large but is equipped with modern machines and processes. The company claims to have the experience of matching over 10,000 shades along with having developed the ability to develop customised shades for various materials. Finding more about the machines and the roughly 40 engineers that enabled such achievements, we first saw a spectrophotometer. This machine is used for precise colour-matching and is automated, making it quicker and more consistent in terms of accuracy. We were then shown the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), which is used for checking the quality consistency of the raw material coming into the plant.

Further up, there was a Thermal Gravimetric Analysis machine, which analyses the quantity of decomposition of material, when exposed to a range of temperature. Using this tool, engineers are able to monitor the material giveaway details under a specific temperature. Next up was the Differential Scanning Calorimetre, a thermal analysis apparatus, which measures how physical properties of a material change with change in temperature against time. In simpler words, the machine allows for determination of melting point of a material through an automated process. The same process can be done manually as well at the lab through some other installed machines.

Moving on, we came across a Friction Tester, which checks for friction on various applications such as the dashboard. Then there was a Universal Tensile Machine, mainly used to check product strength of the polymer used. A Suntest CPS can further check the stability of the colour used, when exposed to sunlight by simulating similar environment.

The six Melt Flow Index machines at the plant are used to check the extrusion rate of flow of material, after which it is sent for moisture analysis. Hereon, a muffle furnace comes into play, which burns the material to check for parameters such as quality and performance by creating temperature upto 900° C. There were other ovens too, which can be used for moisture analysis by manual control for multiple parts in one go.

Moving onto the testing area, we first saw a few Blown Film Machines & Injection-Moulded machines, used to check colour by making plastic films of the required colour. The set-up here primarily consisted of machines aimed at checking for quality and consistency from the production at random and preceding production as well. We then moved to one of the largest machines in the R&D and testing set-up – the Spin Boy. This automated machine is used to create threads, which are then used in various products, including seatbelts.

The trial section has machines similar to those in production, but much smaller in size. Also known as extruder, this machine is particularly interesting. Once the coloured material has been fed into the machine, it is heated till it turns into a thick liquid, which is channeled through multiple pores into a tray of water. This instant cooling causes the liquid to solidify in the form a wire, which is then pulled from the water and passed over rollers, right into a cutter. Here the wire is turned into granules, which in the form of finished products are packed and made ready for dispatch.

The production set-up consists of about 20 extruder machines, with capacities ranging between five to 24 tonnes per day. Daily production right now accounts for about 80 tonne currently, with scope for further increase, when required.

Building further on the high automation used at the plant, overhead suction tubes allow operators to feed packets with required quantities of these granules. An interesting thing we noticed was that the area making white granules has its own quality check set-up. This has been done to ensure quicker flow of information and feedback, helping efficiency.

BUSINESS

Prayag Polytech left us impressed with the kind of advanced technology and production processes used, more so by the fact that all of this technology and capability has been developed indigenously. The company doesn't have any foreign technology collaborations and plans to depend on and further improve its own abilities, highlighting its confidence on its technology.

Adding to the appreciation of the efforts made for technology is the fact that the company exports about 80 % of its production, including global automotive suppliers across multiple industries. That the company is comfortably meeting the stringent standards in developed markets and plans to keep its business that way, speaks a lot about its technical capabilities.

Aggarwal pointed out that minimal dependence on Indian companies is one of the primary reasons the company has been able to maintain a CAGR of over 50 % over the past five years or so. Hence, the company intends to continue with its focus on exports unless the Indian manufacturing industry undergoes a radical change in payment habits, putting them at par with their counterparts from the developed markets. The longer payment cycles prevalent in India across industries leads to slower cash flow, he said. In the automotive sector the company is a tier2 supplier to Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI).

 

Prayag registered annual revenues of about Rs. 300 cr in FY14, and the present year is expected to close with an increment of about 25 %, said Aggarwal. He refused to comment on a long-term financial goal but mentioned that the company has an aggressive expansion plan and should continue to grow at a healthy rate in the coming years. In fact, a new plant close to the existing one will be operational in about two months from now. Furthermore, the company has bought land in Dahej, Gujarat for setting up a new plant. The area of the land here is about 110,000 sq m, much larger than that of the other three plants combined, hinting at the quantum of the expansion being planned.

OUTLOOK

With the activities we witnessed during our visit, and going by the plans shared by Aggarwal, Prayag Polytech surely seems to have a busy order book. The fact that most of these orders are for exports highlights the globally synchronised technology of the company. This has become possible due to continuous and generous investment of resources, time and thought into R&D.

 

Our visit to the plant and the interaction with the senior management once again highlights the underlying potential for small and medium enterprises, provided they invest adequately in technology development. In the past we have witnessed that small companies, when independent in terms of technology, fare better in global business and Prayag Polytech further underlines our belief. With the kind of technology possessed and the expansion plans in place, it only seems to be a matter of time before the company has to further enlarge its growth plans.

Text: Arpit Mahendra

Photo: Bharat Bhushan Upadhyay

Prayag Masterbatches