Shaping Ideas 

It was in 2008 that the idea of PROTO-D Engineering Pvt Ltd took root after the founders’ meeting with TATA Motors. And since it fell in complete alignment with their plans, it instilled the much-needed confidence in them to explore the market and the opportunities it had to offer.

It all began when young technocrats, Pradeep Lokhande and Deepak Shinde found their calling in prototype production and tools manufacturing. As they went ahead passionately with their plans, which had begun with just ideation, they found their third partner, Sumeet Bagrecha, sharing the same goals.

Their clear vision kept them positioned on the path for their growth and eventually led them to open branches at four locations across India.

Challenges abound        

As a prototype development company, PROTO-D was hugely dependent on the best output which would bring the founders’ visualization to reality. “And as you know, that costs a huge amount of investment which was the risk involved for us during our kick-off days. These initial days made us learn about the good machine which we had always dreamt of because we always thought of saving the gestation time and capital investments of our clients,” shared Lokhande.

Disclosing the solutions for the challenges, Shinde said, “To begin, we purchased a used machine of TRUMPF. When the process of prototype development allied to the machine started, we started reaping its benefits. This clarified around 60 percent of our ideas about the good machine we always admired. It turned out to be a remarkable day for us when we found one such machine. It was a brand new TRUMPF Machine with cutting-edge technology that helped us attain faster production time. It's been roughly one and a half-decade and the company has had a first-hand experience with the ever-changing demands of the market.”

To this added Bagrecha, “We have seen changes in the demands and thought process of customers. Over time we have started to believe in being a partner to them and developing components from scratch for them. Thus, we have procured machines for almost every kind of manufacturing process and brought in almost all types of technologies under one roof to fulfill our customers' needs and provide them with extensive customer support.”

PROTO-D Engineering today has a large team with over 350 employees across all the units pan India with 17 state-of-the-art laser cutting machines for meeting and exceeding its customer needs.

Building trust

The founders were aware of the TRUMPF brand but had very little knowledge about the cost of purchasing, maintenance, service and after-sales support. “When we saw the machine run for the first time in action with its output it boosted our confidence. It helped us build our trust, and that was the major turnaround in our thought process,” explained Lokhande.

“It all started with TRUMPF people; they explained to us all the minute details of the machines which helped us move ahead. And then technology offered us answers to our doubts from our previous procurements,” he added.

TRUMPF experience 

Previously, the company used a 5-axis CO2 laser machine that was an advanced machine of its kind to cater to market demands. “We received a new project from a well-renowned OEM from the Aviation industry that requires stringent quality manufacturing techniques. When we saw a consistent flow of orders, we decided to enter into production, rather than only doing prototyping as we saw a huge business opportunity here,” Bagrecha shared.

The market at the time, he explains, was ready with a few options. “The question now was how to make the production profitable with operating costs, running costs, and maintenance costs compared to CO2 machine. Our partner TRUMPF came to help us one more time with more advanced machinery from its arsenal, which was TruLaser Cell 7040 with new Solid-state (TruDisk) Laser source, the latest technology available in the industry that remains matchless.

Plans in prototype development

“To achieve better growth, we need to be well educated about the technology, the current market scenario, and the latest development in our field of manufacturing,” states Shinde.

To get a better awareness of the current technologies, the partners have visited multiple international exhibitions. “This exposure has given us another goal of rapid prototyping. As the market is constantly changing, customers’ needs are also shifting accordingly. Our one and a half-decade of experience with procuring machines and producing quality output for our customers has made us passionately follow our vision by keeping up with the latest trends in manufacturing. We have the expertise and approach needed to get into any kind of manufacturing. We are open and always looking for new solutions for our customers’ manufacturing problems,” he sums up.

Image Source: TRUMPF India 

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