Orbit Bearings is one of India’s leading taper roller bearing manufacturers with plants in Gujarat having an installed capacity of six million units per annum. It has been meeting customized and stringent quality benchmarks of automotive manufactures and industrial applications since last 26 years.
“Our success in the domestic and international markets is the result of our continued focus on product quality and value addition to our customers. This has enabled us to grow 25% year on year. We are committed to delivering exceptional customer service through innovations and unmatched quality standards,” said Mr. Vinesh Patel, Chairman and Managing Director, Orbit Bearings, in an exclusive interview to MOTORINDIA.
Excerpts:
Orbit talks about giving customized solutions for its customers. How different are these from the other manufacturers?
Orbit Bearings believes in proactively offering value additions, beyond product quality and customer service. We explore opportunities that would enhance the competitive edge of our customers in the market place by way of value addition that enhances the product efficiency and extended performance of commercial vehicles using our bearings.
Following this philosophy Orbit Bearings has taken steps for providing complete solutions to its truck manufacturing customers. It installed a robotic unitized hub assembly line in 2016 to offer completely assembled hubs and ready for axle mounting.
Orbit Bearings is the first Indian taper roller bearing manufacturer to start robotic assembly of hubs with unitized taper roller bearings for trucks and trailers. Over two lakh unitized axle hubs have already been delivered so far. The facility is geared to deliver three lakh completely assembled hubs annually, and we are looking at doubling this number to six lakh units by the end of this financial year.
What are the benefits of robotic unitized hub assembly?
The state-of-the-art robotic unitized hub assembly at Orbit ensures precise, controlled and higher accuracy levels. This enables faster, safer and more efficient assembly as compared to the conventional methods.
The hubs are pre-adjusted. Hence, the installation process at the truck manufacturer’s end becomes simple and reliable. They are greased for life and protected by effective sealing and greasing systems.
The robotic hub assembly line ensures extended service life of both the bearings and the hub along with reduced downtime for maintenance and re-greasing.
How do truck manufacturers benefit by using Orbit-assembled hubs?
Outsourcing of hub assembling is almost a standard protocol among truck and trailer manufacturers in the US and Europe. Today Orbit is assembling hubs for leading truck manufacturers in Europe. This reduces the truck manufacturer’s effort at maintaining tolerance levels while improving the bearing life substantially.
Vehicle manufactures can overcome the tedious and inaccurate assembly for correct bearing setting and also get relieved from shim selection. All processes in the robotic unitized hub assembly line are fully automatic even inspection of the hubs. Unique QR codes are laser marked on the hubs to ensure 100% back traceability for 35 different parameters.
We also provide complete solutions to customers willing to shift from conventional taper roller bearings to unitized bearings.
How do the highly maintained tolerance levels benefit truck or fleet owners and users?
Highly maintained tolerance levels with robotic unitized hub assemblies increase the tyre life by 25% and fuel efficiencies, and reduced downtime & overall maintenance. These are the most crucial parameters for all truck owners. Unitized bearings reduce maintenance cost as they are greased for life, and optimized greasing and sealing extends the bearings life.
Does Orbit provide measurable benefits to truck manufacturers for unitized hub assemblies?
Orbit is offering guarantee of 10 lakh km for Unitized Hub Assemblies in Europe and can offer guarantee of five lakh kilometers to truck and fleet owners in India. In fact, Orbit is willing to take on the responsibility of guaranteeing bearing and hub performance to all manufacturers opting for unitized hub assemblies.
What are your short-term and long-term plans for manufacturing and R&D?
We are looking at increasing our presence in automotive and industrial segments since they are growing in India. We are continuously investing in capacity, technology and new products.
We are increasing our hub assembly capacity by three times. We are also working on providing 360 degree customization to truck manufacturers switching to unitized hub assemblies by providing hubs as per specs and delivering the complete hub and bearing assembly. This would ensure product quality and reduced costs.