It was a pleasant morning for the students of the third year Mechatronics
department. The department had organized an industrial visit to the “Elecon Engineering
Company Ltd" - Gear Unit, GIDC, V. U. Nagar.
On reaching the plant we were welcomed graciously by their delegates. Soon we
were escorted to their gear manufacturing unit. We were divided into two batches and
started our tour from there onwards. Firstly, we were briefed about the power distribution
throughout the entire plant. Then, we proceeded towards the main manufacturing unit. In
the beginning, we saw the various raw materials on which various manufacturing
processes is to be carried out. We were also explained about all the processes involved in
gear manufacturing. Moving ahead, in the first workshop, we saw the conventional
vertical boring machines which were used by the company before automation took over.
These conventional machines were more rigid and sturdy compared to the CNCs. On the
other side of this workshop there was a dispatch area where the finished goods are packed
and dispatched. Moving on to the second workshop, it was one which had all the
machines required. There were vertical turning lathes (VTL), milling machines, gear
hobbing machines, grinding machines etc. We were all surprised by the size and number
of machines. There was also a special room for checking the accuracy of the products by
using coordinate measuring machines (CMM). The third workshop had equipment for
heat treatment processes like furnace and shot blasting machines. Some of the machines
were also Industry 4.0 enabled, meaning they could be monitored and controlled
remotely.
This visit gave us a great insight in how the industries work and the processes
required in the gear manufacturing process. We would like to extend our thanks to the
Company as well as Mechatronics Department, the faculty involved and the college for
making this visit possible.
