Valco Melton India, a subsidiary of US-based Valco Cincinnati Inc, has seen significant growth in its business in the country since its establishment in 2010. The company has built a large customer base for both hot melt and cold glue application systems in India and surrounding markets in the region. In 2016, it inaugurated a new manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, which is its first such operation outside of the US and Europe. The new premises, with an area of around 15500 square, feet became fully operational in the first half of 2017, and contains the new manufacturing unit, the registered office, a warehouse and an enlarged test and demonstration center.
In the past year, Valco Melton has been manufacturing the D series of hot melt tanks (4-liter D4 tanks) and heated hoses at the Bengaluru plant. Now, it plans to start manufacturing the 10-liter D10 tanks at the Bengaluru plant. “We expect to start manufacturing the prototype of the D10 tanks soon and once we get the approval from the head office, we will start full-fledged production. That should happen during the month of December,” says Ravi Kiran, director of Valco Melton India.
Over the past year Valco Melton India has produced close to 100 units of D4 tanks and about 200 hoses. These have been supplied to customers in India as well as in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. According to Kiran, production of D10 tanks could also be around 100 units per year.
“Our target is to manufacture about 100 units of D10 tanks in the next one year. That number may double to 200 if we start exporting,” he says. The company is also planning to start manufacturing controllers for hot melt and glue systems at the Bengaluru plant. “The biggest advantage of having a local production unit is that we are able to supply to our customers in a very short time,” Kiran adds.
New Eco Stich Electric gluing system
Valco Melton India recently launched the Eco Stitch All Electric hot melt system, which combines a sophisticated electric hot melt controller with the gun, gear pump and tank. Kiran expects this product to do very well in the Indian, Middle East and South East Asian markets. This solution is primarily meant for high-speed cartoning lines. “This system has very few moving parts and therefore its life is very long; almost 2 billion cycles. In addition, it saves adhesive by almost 70%,” he says.
Kiran expects to install 50 units of the new Eco Stich Electric gluing system in India and another 50 machines in the Middle East and South East Asian market in the coming year. Although India is a major focus area for Valco Melton India, the Middle East and South East Asia also hold tremendous promise, he says. In 2016, Velco Melton India established a fully owned subsidiary in Dubai to service the Gulf countries. Last year, an office was established in Singapore that will service the South East Asian market. Although the Singapore office is a subsidiary of Valco Cincinnati, it is managed by Valco Melton India.
