In the industrial world, Bettinelli is a well-known brand synonymous with quality, operational efficiency and productivity in automation and motion technology. The brand has a reputation for versatility, precision and reliability spanning close to seven decades. Bettinelli is a conglomerate headquartered in Italy. Its Indian arm, Bettinelli Automation Components Pvt. Ltd. has been serving the Indian industry for the past decade, providing world-class products and matching technical and service support. The company has built up an eminent team to speed up its response time and stay closer to its customers spread across the length and breadth of the country, says Managing Director Rupesh Paparaju in an interview with P.K. Balasubbramaniian. Excerpts:
Q. Bettinelli is a formidable name in motion control and automation. What’s your standing?
Bettinelli S.p.A, established in 1953, specializes in the development of precision motion control components and systems. In 1996, a separate division named CDS Cam Driven Systems was formed to provide engineering solutions in automation and motion technology
Q. Could you describe the activities of your CDS Division?
CDS produces the widest range of mechanical Cam Driven Units, commonly known as rotary / indexing tables for precision motion control applications requiring rotary or linear transfer, positioning and handling. The product range includes cam indexing and servo-driven tables, ring positioning drives, intermittent and oscillating drives with parallel or right angle configuration, rotary and linear part handlers, precision link transfer systems and epicycloidal servo reducers.
Q. We understand that Bettinelli’s portfolio includes a wide product range.
Indeed, Bettinelli has a broad product spectrum covering IP parallel shaft indexers, IT roller dial indexing tables TR roller dial indexing tables, HP roller dial indexing tables, IG/IGA roller gear indexers, TL precision link conveyors, MHP /LHP part handlers, FT-HT open centering tables and packages of rotary indexing tables. Bettinelli also has a wide range of standard products. These are delivered in three weeks. When it comes to customized products, these are designed, manufactured and shipped in 6-8 weeks.
Q. Could you tell us something about your manufacturing facilities?
The manufacturing takes place centrally in Italy. The regimen starts with design & engineering, CNC induction hardening, CNC milling, grinding, quality check and then assembly, painting and shipment. In order to ensure quality, all components are machined internally, including the cam hardening by a proprietary CNC controlled induction hardening equipment. For better finish, the products are also subjected to chemical nickel plating, blasting and printing. The manufacturing process is constantly controlled to conform to international standards. Our quality systems are ISO-9001-2008 certified.
Q. Your CDS Indexers seem to be quite popular in the automation industry. Could you elaborate?
Yes, over the years, Bettinelli Group and CDS Indexers have become synonymous with high quality automation products and technologies. Our design and manufacturing systems have afforded competitive and strategic advantages to numerous industries including pharmaceutical, automobile, manufacturing, electrical engineering including switchgear manufacture, packaging and a plethora of other sectors. And for automation functions, our solutions are invariably preferred by companies.
Q. When did you start the Indian operations?
Well, the Indian operations were started in 2010 with headquarters in Pune. Bettinelli Automation Components Pvt. Ltd., India recently celebrated 10 years of our existence and service to Indian industry. We serve our customers by doing installation & commissioning and providing after-sales support. We also provide technical consultation and help the customers go in for the right equipment and systems to complement their manufacturing and enhance their productivity.
Q. Which are the proven and potential applications for cam driven systems?
In the pharmaceutical industry, cam driven systems are used for filling, blister pack, tablet making and packaging machines. In automobile industry, they are used in pallet transfer tables, assembly machines, painting applications and test rigs, etc. In machining industry, they are used with advantage in de-burring, lapping and pressing machines and in transfer lines. In SPM & robotics they find applications in transfer lines, station loading, sequential operations and so on. In welding, these indexers are inevitable in positioners, synchronous welding, robotic welding & component transfer.
Packaging is yet another major application area. Cam systems are used in box filling machines wrapping machines, cartooning and capping machines. Indexers are also used in casting, printing and cosmetics industries.
Q. When it comes to conveyors, your High Precision Link Conveyor is said to be a boon to the automation industry. Could you throw some light on this?
CDS Precision Link Conveyors TSL, TL and TXL provide the industry’s highest accuracy and repeatability for automated assembly and manufacturing machinery platforms combined with the highest dynamic performance available on the market.
The precision link conveyor TL series has been designed to meet the requirements of high productivity and reliability of modern automation, combined with excellent precision and speed, with a high degree of versatility to offer customers the most suitable solution. They are used on machines that require stability, precision, high speeds and low maintenance. They are different in terms of body width, allowing great flexibility and a more accurate choice during the designing phase.
The need of the market and customer orientation, added to the desire of CDS to want to expand and improve its product range has brought new innovations to the TL series:
In TL 200, the depth of the body has been reduced, with the same stroke, with a consequent reduction of the gearwheel diameter and a better ratio with the driver unit and a better positional accuracy. This makes the machine far more compact and it is a great advantage to the machine builder.
In the TL range, the plastic protections have been studied to be applied on pallets in order to guarantee an anti-intrusion covering for the components being processed. These covers are printed in 3D. Together with the plastic protections a new links chain has been developed. The latter is equipped with special seals to reduce the accumulation of powders or abrasive material during the process and increase the protection of leads and bushes.
In a nutshell, following are the salient features of these conveyors: Versatile and compact modular-component design; Precision machined cast iron chemical-nickel plated links; Precision chordal compensation cams; and cam driven for fixed indexing motion or servo driven for flexible positioning. The competitive price and fast lead time together with CDS quality and reliability make this series very attractive for the market.
Q. What’s your market mantra for gaining customer delight?
We are highly customer-centric. Our presence in India means quite something in fostering a symbiotic relationship with our customers. It helps us to match our world-class products with our eminent customer support. We have specially built up a team to improve our response time. CDS are high-tech products which lend themselves to enhance the operational efficiency and productivity at customer’s end. We stay closer to the customer to understand his needs and offer customized solutions within the shortest possible time to ensure peak uptime of his equipment and operations.
