Marks Pryor Marking Technology, the 50:50 joint venture between Edward Pryor & Sons of the UK and Marks in Pune is gearing up to offer customised marking solutions to the auto component industry. With global OEM majors facing huge overheads, the obvious route is to source components from low-cost countries like India. Quality, of course, is priority and markings, therefore, become important for identification and traceability.
The JV now plans to offer end-to-end solutions in marking with integrated special purpose machines, said Dhiren Gupte, managing director.
Over the last eight years since its inception, Marks has been providing solutions by focusing on high quality marking tools such as interchangeable steel types, punches, numerators and customised stamps. Last year, it established a JV with Edward Pryor of the UK and set up a Rs 5 crore manufacturing facility. Operations began with assembly of select marking machines using imported components based on Pryor’s technology. It also makes special dies and steel punch indexes.
Marks Pryor imports 2-D readers and will make them in the next phase of a Rs 10 crore expansion programme. At present, it makes 1,000 dot markers annually, which will be trebled after the second phase, as per John Tissiman, chairman of Edward Pryor. Marks Pryor uses the latest state-of-the-art technology to make marking tools such as punches, automatic numbering heads, engraved packaging types and logotype marking dies that are ideal for long production runs with minimum machine downtime.
It also deals with hydraulic and pneumatic roll marking machines that are fully tooled up to suit specific needs for marking on the periphery of cylindrical or conical components such as engine valves, shock absorbers, gears, flanges, shells and shafts. An interesting machine, says Tissiman, is the dot marker. The marking is carried out with a single conical tip stylus which indents the data to be marked on the component and produces a stress-free mark. 2D matrix codes can also be marked with this machine which can be used as a standalone unit or integrated with the production line.
The company has in-house facilities for design, development and manufacture of workstations, which can be integrated with customer manufacturing and assembly lines. These workstations are PLC-controlled and communication with customer SAP system/host computer can be done through RS 232 ports. Laser marking machines are used for marking alphanumeric data, logos and 2D data matrix codes on hardened and finished components. Even fragile, thin walled parts can be marked as the laser beam burns and vaporises the material to make a permanent mark.
Over 45 percent of Marks Pryor’s revenue comes from the automotive sector which has clients like Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors and Hero Honda. Edward Pryor & Sons also has a 50:50 joint venture in the US and a wholly-owned subsidiary in France. It has two plants in the UK. It caters to over 70 countriesincluding Germany, Japan, China and Korea. While the facilities in France and the UK support the European market, the US unit caters to both North and South America. In China, it operates through distributors.