Picture Gallery: Line O Matic - Transforming notebook making in India
When looking at print equipment manufacturing in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad sector, it’s occupied by companies that are not very large, but gritty; where the owners are not engineers but have the ability to develop a wide array of products and also upgrade them when required.PrintWeek doffs its hat to the Ahmedabad-based Line O Matic, a game changer for exercise books with over 1,000 installations worldwide and makes us proud of the Made in India brand. By Noel D'cunha
Established in 1991 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the Indian manufacturer, Lino O Matic has emerged as a pioneer and leader of exercise book making machinery. The company has three plants. This one in the picture is the headquarters, which also houses a plant in the 54,000 sq/ft campus. The other two plants, which produce tools for manufacture of exercise book making machines, operates from a combined 73,800 sq/ft site
At the reception, Line O Matic welcomes the guests in various languages, Indian and foreign
At the helm of affairs at Line O Matic is Uday Patel (in the centre), who believes that being efficient means being enterprising and proactive, and being competent means being skilful and well-qualified. His vision is to make Line O Matic, a leader in the paper converting industry in the global network. Seen in the picture are Swapnil Patel (right) and Mukesh Sonani of Line O Matic
HT Hirpara is the general manager at Line O Matic. Hirpara took us around explaining the manufacturing processes at the plant. According to Hirpara, Lino O Matic’s two star products, RB 104 and RB 120 are parallel to if not better than any similar type of machine being manufactured in the world and is supplied “at an affordable price”. The company has sold 100 machines, 70 of which have been exported
Nova RB 104, the fully automatic exercise book machine can notch up a speed of 300 metres per minute and can take reel width of 104cm. This machine is being test run and will be dispatched to a company in Latin America
The department where individual sections are manufactured, for example, the reel-to-sheet ruling/flexo printing machines, cutting machine, binding machines. Line O Matic’s production floor is automated such that it aid workers do their work efficiently. Here the pneumatically controlled drilling system is placed overhead for ease of work
The flexo unit with the newly developed inking system. According to Hirpara, this development was made after customers’ feedback and incorporated this year
The Nova RB 104’s paper feeding unit. The machine can handle a paper stock ranging from 42 to 200gsm with reel weight of maximum 1,000kgs
This PLC automatic synchronised system record data like per day production, data of every unit – folding, cutting, number of ups, paper consumption and output ratio, etc. It also keeps a note of the ink consumed
It is where the reel once printed is cut to sheet size according to the size of exercise book
The pre-printed covers are fed after the collation of the sheets at this unit
A closer look at the pile of pre-printed covers ready for insertion
Hirpara pointing at the stitching unit attached to the exercise book making machines. There are 12 overhead pin rolls feeding pins to the stitching heads from Hohner, Germany. Depending upon the number of ups, the number of pins units are engaged
Hirpara showcasing the perfectly back-squared exercise book. The folding and back-squaring (perfect-bind like) section of the machine. The back-squaring system has been automated following customer feedback. Earlier this was done manually
After the cutting units is the delivery table where the paper’s run is completed in the shape of a fully printed exercise book. The collated sheets complete with a cover, is slit into either three, four or five sizes, depending upon which machine and what size of the paper reel has been fed
The framework of what will eventually be fitted with all the units that would make an Nova RB104 fully automatic exercise book machine. It take about 10 days to manufacture a machine after complete and satisfactory test run
The assembly of machine is facilitated by usage of tools table, which is dedicated to the section or unit. In the picture for example, an employee is working on a segment using the cross-cutting table to accomplish the task
An employee working on the printing tower unit
At Line O Matic, a complete bill of materials is maintained. Every component put to use is duly numbered with part identification numbers and marked
Line O Matic uses solar panels to generate 800 units of electricity power per day. This junction controls the solar panel and the power generation
The reel to sheet semi-automatic unit being manufactured
A full-fledged quality control department is equipped with latest testing equipment, which gauges sizes and thickness, etc of the tools being put to use
A Jafuji height and thickness measuring equipment, part of the QC department
Besides hosting live demonstrations for customers, Line O Matic also welcomes individual buyers who desire to see machines being manufactured. Here one of the Indian customers on a visit to Line O Matic, to see and finalise a deal
