Udaipur (Rajasthan)-based, Kundan Switchgears Pvt. Ltd., an ISO 9001:2000 certified company has been engaged in manufacturing of plastic moulding components in different segments since 1992. The company diversified in to LED lighting 2009 to manufacture streetlights, LED solar lights, flood light, down lights & more. Kundan Switchgears Pvt. Ltd. (KSGPL) is an entity having very good infrastructure well-equipped with the best plant and machinery indigenous/imported. Its strength is enormous in-house design center, tool room, moulding section, aluminum pressure die casting machine, press shop, assembly line etc. We, at LED World, met Hemant Jain, the company’s director to know how has been the company fairing in this hugely competitive country’s LED lighting arena.
According to him KSGPL’s manufacturing facility is spread over 1,00,000 sq ft having constructed area of around 45,000 sq ft. The company offers Injection moulding machines ranging from 50 to 180 ton clamp force with a maximum of 300 grms. “Our experience in all grades of materials covers the full spectrum of injection molding applications. At KSGPL, we process a wide range of materials including: Polycarbonate, Nylon, Styrene, Polypropylene, and ABS,” says Jain adding that the capacity to manufacture street lights is 30,000 units per month. “Our aim is to achieve customer satisfaction by identifying & understanding market requirements and then providing quality and timely deliveries of products with continual improvement through continually improving the quality management system as per ISO 9001: 2008 guidelines.”
“For LED industry especially, we have developed complete light in India which were largely being imported from China. As far as designing of moulds is concerned, we prepare fixtures based on the design/drawing received from our clients, using various computer aided software, tooling and Jigs. We have complete in-house infrastructure right from designing, die-casting, component production, finishing to packaging. Various operations like die casting, powder coating,forming, deep drawing etc. are performed. Apart from these, for other assemblies, additional operations like drilling, tapping, welding, assembling, electroplating, etc. are carried out. Then after the product is sent for final inspection prior to packing and dispatch,” he elaborates.
Jain shares that it’s his passion to design products using his expertise gained over the years being in the lighting industry. “We do have reputed clients in LED lighting industry to whom we serve as OEM. We assist them in concept development, designing, material selection and manufacturing processes to ensure that all the product specifications are met. As of now, we are catering to the needs of many clients. It happens such that either they choose from our portfolio or share their concept, based on which we develop the sample moulds which after a couple of revisions get finalised.”
He asserts that using the most advanced software solutions to better monitor, price, and deliver the products, KSGPL engineering team takes the responsibility for the success of each and every new product that it develops. “For creating samples, we have 3D printing machine in-house. First, we develop design and then create a prototype with the help of our 3D printer. Once the client approves it, we move ahead to the final production of the moulds. Further, we have complete tool room and validation equipment to test the products for it being sturdy, robust and most importantly functional. We do have CNC machine installed in our facility that eliminates the chances of size inaccuracy,” Jain says.
Delineating further on KSGPL’s engineering capabilities, he states, “Our engineering team has extensive experience in tool design in order to ensure a successful product development. When it comes to creating moulds, especially for housing of LED streetlights, we deeply study each aspect of the products to be made and then accordingly we go for transforming the concept in to a reality. While developing a design, the points to ponder are the property of LEDs, applications functionality, and then maximum utilisation of components like MCPCBs. For instance, we can see so many curved moulds for the streetlights, which eventually end up with the wastage of MCPCBs, adding further cost to the product, which is also an important consideration in making the moulds.”
Jain insists that the role of fixture for the life of finished LED lighting products is vital. According to him, heat dissipation is always significant for the success of LED in lighting applications wherein the role of fixture or in particular the housing is very important because heat dissipation for LEDs should be as quick as possible. The construction of heat sink and the alloy i.e. the raw material used to make the heat sink are essential. Further, the fixture should be made IP66 rated to withstand all the external forces like wind and water pressure. “For all these to be verified, we have complete setup of testing equipment including those for IP and endurance testing,” he asserts.
He suggests that ideally, the housing should not be powder-coated as it reduces the heat dissipation attribute of the metal. “But as you know, in India, we love to have make-up on faces to look good and attractive. Also, the MCPCB should be of copper, but due to escalating costs people first worked out aluminium as the alternative and now switched over to FR4 for the same,” he laments.
He is not worried as for all the outdoor lighting BIS is still not compulsory except for those going to government projects. “We are OEM to since last four years to a few major brands who are supplying to government projects including that of EESL,” he avers adding that if sometime in near future, BIS is made mandatory for the outdoor lighting as well, it will filter out the low quality and substandard products prevailing in the market. “It will boost our strength and demand from quality lovers. Also, it would help us enhance our share in overseas markets,” he anticipates adding that KSGPL has exported a Hungry recently but citing the scale of requirements, India is far bigger market for its products with greater future potentials. “All thanks to the government, which took such initiatives in this regard,” he signs off.
