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Launched in 2012, Kalaimakal Systems Private Limited (KML Sensors) is India’s first and only laser sensor company. S. Logadeepan, Founder and CEO, noticed that there were no laser sensor manufacturers in India and sensors were imported from Europe and America. The gap led him to launch KML Sensors which designs and manufactures Laser Vision Systems for a wide range of welding and 3D inspection applications. The company leverages smart technologies in their sensor system to improve the welding quality, removing operators from harsh and harmful environments.

The initial days

S. Logadeepan remembers that their Indian customers were looking for an automated solution to inspect the pipes which were otherwise manually inspected using tapes. The desire to innovate in the Industry 4.0 space came from there. “Designing a Laser sensor for a harsh welding application was most challenging. We have a wide range of customers ranging from automotive, defense, health, energy and pipe industry. Currently we are the largest and only manufacturer of laser sensors in India for welding applications,” he said.

Today, KML Sensors has grown a steady list of satisfied customers such as Larsen & Toubro, TVS Motor, Royal Enfield, TATA, ELGi, Ratnamani, Welspun, Jindal among others.

The KML Sensors edge

Speaking about the impact the company made, S. Logadeepan shared their experience with a pipe manufacturing company. Due to manual measurements only 50 percent of the plant capacity was utilised. There were repeatability and accuracy issues due to person-to-person measurement variations, and only random pipes were subjected to measurement of all parameters.

To that end, KML Sensors leveraged their Automatic Laser Pipe Measurement System which enables pipe manufacturers to inspect and assure their customers that 100 percent of their pipes will be inspected for dimensional accuracy. KML Sensors used its inhouse R&D team to design and test the system at a record time of eight months. Industrial robots were used to minimise the floor space and have flexibility.

Some of the key features of the Automatic Laser Pipe Measurement System include:

1. Higher productivity is achieved by eliminating the bottleneck due to manual measurements.

2. Every pipe scanned by the system are logged and archived for retrospective

inspection.

3. User-friendly software.

4. Fully automated inspection. Single operator controls the complete dimensional inspections process.

5. Measures over 150 parameters per pipe.

6. Suitable for pipe sizes from 6” to 60” and Wall Thickness upto 60mm.

7. Suitable for ERW / LSAW / HSAW pipes.

Through this process, KML Sensors helped the pipe manufacturer to utilise 100 percent of their plant capacity. They ensured quality pipes for safer oil and gas pipelines, along with digital records of every pipe that was manufactured.

The journey ahead

“Our plan is to develop more solutions for welding quality and dimensional inspection systems to improve the fabrication quality,” revealed S. Logadeepan.

About Community Voices

Community Voices is a series of articles from the Plugin Alliance that spotlights solutions and startups helping India’s manufacturing and supply chain industries benefit from smart technology. The series leads in to Innovent 4.0, an exclusive industry technology conclave from the Plugin Alliance — a first-of-its-kind Industry 4.0 alliance in India — with the aim to showcase India’s role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In tune with the event, the series will continue to highlight stories from Industry 4.0 startups.