Page 55 - Manufacturing Heroes 2022

machining, grinding, heat treatment, and metallurgy laid solid us to start meeting requirements in India’s growing economy. By
foundation and love for manufacturing. 1993, Solitaire was converted to a domestic unit.
From 1993 to 2020 , over 800 grinders have been supplied
Role Model: My eldest brother was always the role model for me to various engineering industries across the country to grind
and taught the value of knowledge, sharing, caring and financial components from steel, aluminium, ceramics, bronze, carbide,
responsibility for organisation as well as for individuals. This zirconium, plutonium, fibre glass and others. From the original
helped me in good time and especially in bad times. range of grinders with 200 mm and 250 mm wheel width, the
Manufacturing business was the goal of life and everything range was extended to 100 mm grinder in 2003, 500 mm twin
else was secondary. Working for long hours, always be present grip grinder in 2011, and 300 mm twin grip grinder in 2019 to
when required and team spirit helped me to be a friend to most of cover the entire range of components. Capacity has been built to
my co-workers and later mentor for many. grind components from 0.5 gram to 250 kg to meet the growing
During the period of 1969 to 1982, there were many ups and industry requirements.
downs in business. A few projects did not work out and some in 2007, Solitaire entered into a technical licensing with Bocca
did work well. However, all these lean times taught that hard & Malandrone, Sunebo of UItaly to manufacture their range
work always pays back and losing hope or worried about failure of high precision CNC centerless grinders with fixed centre
does not help to keep your morale. There is always sunrise after and hydrostatic slides – first in India for centerless grinders.
darkest of nights! We supplied a number of grinders to meet high volume, close
I joined my brother, Dinesh in the US in 1982 to work in tolerance components.
his rebuilding business of machine tools. His knowledge
while working in the USA in an engineering company and Leadership in Centerless Grinders: Solitaire has been the
the encouragement he received from his previous company, recipient of EEPC awards for outstanding export performance
made him take a plunge into rebuilding work for machine tools, five years in a row and we continue to export around 30 %
especially centerless grinders. As business grew, I joined him and of our production, thus earning precious foreign exchange for
started learning about rebuilding and marketing of these grinders the country. Solitaire has been the leader in centerless grinder
all over USA. The business grew exponentially to the extent that manufacturing in the country and continues to meet the demand
we were rebuilding more Cincinnati centerless grinders than in India as well as abroad on a consistent basis.
built new by Cincinnati Milacron itself in their plants in USA and The focus at Solitaire is to challenge our capabilities to meet the
UK. This prompted Cincinnati to start dialogue of manufacturing ever required closer tolerances and ensure that customer is able
centerless grinder for them in India to save on cost as well as to offer their components worldwide with pride. We believe that
ability to sell at more competitive price against rebuilders in USA success comes from complete dedication and hard work with
and Europe. The agreement for tie-up was signed in 1987 in ability to be flexible to work with customer as partner in progress.
USA and complete knowhow, tooling, etc. were handed over. Our vision is to be among the best in the world for centerless
grinding machines & offer the best value for money to
The Birth of Solitaire : We had no manufacturing base in India customer. Our motto has been ‘BUILT WITH PRIDE IN INDIA’.
and Cincinnati gave us one year to manufacture first grinder As a matter of fact, we have been following the ‘Make in India’
and ship it to USA for complete inspection as well as trials. The theme since 1988.
challenge was taken without any plant location, machinery or
trained manpower in India. With lots of struggle and help from
several industry friends, the 4-tonne maiden grinder was air
shipped to USA in 14 months. Thus Solitaire became the first 100
% EOU plant set up in India in 1988 for machine tool industry.
Since that day in 1988, over 400 grinders have been supplied
through our associates in USA, and are working in USA, Mexico,
Canada, Europe, China, etc.
1991 was the year of evolution for Indian industry to start
thinking in terms of freedom to manufacture and expand as
demanded by the domestic market as well as open the doors to
international trade. By 1992, several of our customers prompted

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