Before you buy any line
Seventeen tests. Run them on ours too.
Grouped the way a buyer actually thinks: what it costs to run, whether the bar passes, and whether the line keeps going.
Test data, not our word for itThree questions about you first. They decide how strict the rest of this needs to be.
One thing the list will not tell you. This industry is new in India, and you do not just need a machine supplier — you need a mentor and a manufacturing expert on your side. The day something fails, the question is whether the person who sold you the line understands why.
First, three questions about you
A
Cheapest possible start, or a setup built to growOne of those buys a machine. The other buys a plant. They are not the same purchase.
B
A brand, or just something that producesIf you cannot say which, the machine will decide it for you.
C
Do you intend to export, everSay yes now and the requirements change immediately. Say no later and you have lost nothing.
See it working
01
Insist on a working line, not a demo unitYour future depends on this one. A demo unit proves the machine can be switched on, nothing more.
02
Watch production speed live for at least 30 minutesContinuously. Not a burst at the fastest diameter while someone talks over it.
03
Time the start of the lineShift time lost at startup, and again after every stoppage, comes out of your month whether you count it or not.
04
Scrap at start and during productionBoth numbers. They are different, and the second one repeats every shift.
How the line is built
05
Is there a preheater to remove moistureMoisture in the roving before impregnation is a defect you cannot see until the bar is tested.
06
Do the heaters hold temperatureNot whether they reach it. Whether they hold it.
07
Can the heaters sustain 250 °C and aboveCheap heaters fade the moment you push them, and undercured bar fails on the bench.
08
Automatic cutting to length, or manual measureManual measure is a man, a tape and a variance you will be arguing about with customers.
09
Can ribbing distance be changed, and is it syncedIf it is not synced you are correcting it by hand for the life of the plant.
10
Does rib distance need readjusting every time pulling speed changesThis is the question most people never think to ask, and it decides how much of your day is spent resetting the line.
What it costs to run
11
Power consumptionA 10 kW difference is roughly ₹10 lakh a year. Ask for the meter reading, not the connected load.
12
Slippage when running multiple bars at onceWatch it with your own eyes on a multi-bar run. Slippage is lost metres and inconsistent bar.
13
How often the pulling-side rollers need changingAnd what a set costs. Ask for it in writing.
14
Large coils or compact coilsLarge coils cost you more to ship to every customer, for the life of the plant.
15
Your cost of production, fully loadedRent, labour, electricity, interest, depreciation. Your focus is the lowest cost of production, not the lowest cost machine.
Who you are buying from
16
Tensile strength of the bar their line producesTested on bar from the run you watched, not a sample they brought with them.
17
Can the supplier actually guide you on manufacturingMany machine makers are copying a design and do not understand the technicalities. It matters on the day something fails and you need them to know why.