The Indian manufacturing segment has undergone a paradigm shift over the years and the global exposure has made the customers more quality conscious. Also, the advancements in the industry have bought a whole lot of opportunities for the automation companies. Hence, consistent manufacturing process enabled by the automation is the only solution to cope with these advancements and customer requirements. Automation helps in reducing the cost of production, due to which the Indian Manufacturing industry is treating automation as a necessity instead of the luxury.
A renowned organization which established a pure tech-oriented approach in the automation and robotics industry is Reflex Technologies. The company is the leading organization in providing End-of-Line Automation solutions to the giant organizations across India. It has strong partnerships with the global industry leaders and offers a highly-customized as well as a cost-effective solution under “PACKTOPACKOFF”™.
A Dynamic Leader of Reflex
Rajesh Ananthakrishnan is the Founder of Reflex Technologies who has been standing as a strong pillar of the company since its inception. Rajesh completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay in 1992 along with a specialization in Controls and Robotics. In the early days, he worked as a Research Assistant in the robotics lab at IIT to develop his ideas and concepts of the robotics. After mastering the core concepts of robotic technology, he stepped into the nascent world of automation in India. Under his effective leadership and guidance, within the initial years, Reflex successfully developed a 6-Axis Robot and a 3-Axis CNC machine from the first principles.
Rajesh is engaged in the operational areas of typical segments such as Sales, Finance, Project, etc. Also, being an entrepreneur, his core interests and responsibilities lie in the product development, technology development, and market development in the organization.
An Extensive Set of Services
Reflex Technologies possesses high adaptability over the fluctuations in the market and the evolving global technology developments. With the extensive experience of over two decades in the various industries like automobile, food, pharmaceuticals, textiles, plastics, and FMCG, the company has narrowed down to the End-of-Line automation solutions since a decade.
Reflex offers a complete range of quality products and solutions to the high volume manufacturers in food & beverages, FMCG, and textile market to meet the Intra-Logistics challenges of their customers. The company is an expert in providing Case Packer, Palletizer, Conveying Solution, Warehouse Automation, Product Tracking Solution, and Truck Loader. It also provides thorough end-to-end solutions under its ‘PACKTOPACK’ by integrating its products with the third-party products if required.
“At Reflex, we have taken the concept of designing and delivery of automation system to altogether new levels. All of our designs and inventions are highly customer-focused and backed by the strong intellectual property rights”, says Rajesh.
The USP of Reflex Technologies
Reflex Technologies holds a strong USP in having a ‘unique approach’ towards solving a customer problem. The company’s vivid strategy starts with the customer requirement and then proceeds with developing the required solutions. This unique approach of the company has made it stand tough among its peers and has thrown a long lasting impression on its clients.
One of the milestones achieved by the company includes its outstanding service delivered to the edible oil industry in 2016. The edible oil industry was facing a major issue regarding the strapping of a brown cardboard cover to the 15 kg tin. This process was proved to be more expensive in terms of the material and labor involved in it. To solve this issue, Reflex developed a robust process of sticking the cover by eliminating the strapping and developed an automatic machine which would eliminate the human intervention and hence, the bottle-neck. This strategy gave a huge benefit to the oil manufacturers. With more such achievements Reflex is spearheading the automation era.
Overcoming the Challenges and the Opportunities
While sharing his views on the opportunities and challenges of the company, Rajesh expressed, “We see both opportunities and challenges in today exciting market. I have seen Indian manufacturing segment mature over the years. Thanks to our fast growing economy, volumes have shot up. Global exposure has also made our consumer very quality conscious. Consistent manufacturing process enabled by automation is the ONLY solution. To be competing in the global market, cost of production is paramount .Automation helps greatly in reducing the cost of production. Indian Manufacturer has experienced the above and treats automation as a necessity and no longer a luxury.”
One of the toughest challenges Reflex has faced include the palletizing process. Palletizing is an operation of stacking up products (Cartoons, Pails or sacks) on a pallet for easy storage and transportation for high volume manufacturer this process involves high labor and strenuous work. In 2007, Reflex introduced its first robotic palletizer. The robotic palletizer of Reflex de-bottle neck this activity and improves plant efficiency. After the successful commissioning of first installation, this concept has now become a standard norm in the paint industry.
Unwavering Vision
Reflex is currently working on the two major technologies which are Haptic Technology and Machine Vision Technology. With Haptic technology, an operator of a tele-operated robot can “feel” a product even though it is being remotely handled. On the other hand, the machine vision technology is the next major explosion in the automation industry where robots would be coupled with a vision.
Reflex’s products and services are widely accepted and implemented due to its unique and innovative designs. The company is gearing to scale-up and deliver their products to more customers. While enunciating the future of the company, Rajesh asserts, “We are aggressively working to get the cheaper and more cost-effective as well as user-friendly products using some very promising technologies like AI & IoT. Also, we are working on a project to eliminate the complexities of our product with a reduced cost.”