Technofour, a name renowned for providing customized cutting-edge NDT solutions to its clients, has taken eddy current to the next level by coming up with unique products, such as the world’s smallest credit card-sized eddy current instrument – EddyUSB, and the world’s first Bluetooth enabled instrument – EddyBLU. This was revealed by Mr. Bharat Biradar, Sales Head, Technofour, during his interaction with Tube & Pipe India.

Tube & Pipe India: Please walk us through the business journey of Technofour, highlighting major milestones and crucial achievements.

Bharat Biradar: More than 50 years ago, four green youngsters fresh out of India’s premier engineering school – IIT Bombay, got their heads together and set forth on a daunting task. Their mission was to design and build a range of world-class sophisticated eddy current non-destructive test systems. Today, the Technofour group takes pride in its products. Apart from making one of the best eddy current NDT systems in the world, we have three other major lines of business – highly sophisticated metal detectors for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and other industries; check-weigher systems; mechanical handling systems; and robotics. We also operate an exclusive unit for the defence sector.

Technofour has now diversified into ultrasonic NDT systems, magnetic flux leakage systems, and Barkhausen emission analyzers. We take pride in introducing the world’s smallest credit card-sized eddy current instrument – EddyUSB, Ultrasonic flaw detector – UTUSB, and the world’s first Bluetooth-enabled instrument – EddyBLU. We recently launched our advanced conductivity meter, ‘Sigmet’. From a humble beginning in 1972 with a single-frequency metal sorter, we have come a long way, serving many industries, including steel, automotive, defense, tubes, petrochemical, and oil power generation.

TPI: What does the product basket of Technofour contain? Which are the industries where your products find application?

BB: The product basket of Technofour boasts a wall-to-wall range of eddy current test systems, ultrasonic systems, magnetic flux leakage systems, and Barkhausen emission instruments. Our present range of eddy current systems can detect defects such as longitudinal/helical cracks, laps and seam line cracks in camshaft, engine valves, engine liners & various automotive components. These eddy current techniques are used for the inspection of various types of tubes, pipes, bars, wires and profiles made from different materials such as carbon, carbon & alloy, steel, stainless steel, copper, copper alloy, brass, hot rolled steel, aluminum, and wires.

Our Flawmark family can be used for the inspection of ERW round tubes & profiles – square, rectangular, pentagon & octagon and welded stainless steel tubes. The system detects various defects like circumferential cracks, pin holes, open welds, voids, inclusions, short defects,concentrated porosity, and many more. Our state-of-the-art model Flawmark-GX has industry standard 4.0. Defectoscope Test System detects surface breaking cracks on finished roto-symmetrical components such as ball pins, gudgeon pins, piston rods, bearing races, rollers, cylinder liners, gear blanks, ammunition shells etc in production environment or at inward quality inspection.

We use rotating probe-type technique, which is very helpful for the detection of longitudinal/helical cracks, laps, seam line cracks, etc.

Multifect EX is a versatile multi-frequency, multi-channel, multi-lines eddy current comparator for segregation of metallic components and raw stock. It can sort fasteners according to hardness; segregate forgings as per heat-treat condition; evaluate gudgeon pins for case-depth; regress readout of values (e.g. hardness); and conduct confidence testing with known good samples. Our latest 7th generation model Multifect-GX can test parts at up to 32 frequencies at one go. We also have INSIS, a leading-edge multifrequency/multichannel eddy current test system for in-service inspection (INSITU) of steam generator tubes or heat exchangers and boiler tubes using ID bobbin probes with pusher-puller, robotics arm and cameras to meet the ASME codes.

TPI: Please tell us more about EddyUSB, UTUSB and EddyBLU.

BB: EddyUSB is an incredible credit-card-sized feather-weight instrument that interfaces with a windows tablet or laptop via USB. The multi-frequency test solution has applications in various industries, such as in aircraft inspection for cracks and corrosion damage, for material sorting, bolt-hole inspection, and heat exchanger tube examination. EddyBLU is the world’s first bluetooth eddy current tester, which has a Bluetooth interface with a windows laptop/tablet or android phone/tablet. UTUSB is a full-featured ultrasonic flaw detector that literally fits in the shirt pocket. Its advanced bipolar square wave pulsar maximizes the acoustic energy in the trigger pulse, resulting in as much as 30dB gain advantage over conventional spike pulse instruments.

TPI: What is your USP that gives you an edge over others?

BB: As India’s pioneer, leading brand in high-performance systems, Technofour is not just delivering unmatched efficiency and longevity in its products; we’re setting the industry standard. With cost-effective, fewer breakdowns and durable solutions, our commitment extends beyond sales with prompt, affordable after-sales service.

As India’s pioneer, leading brand in high-performance systems, Technofour is not just delivering unmatched efficiency and longevity in its products; we’re setting the industry standard. With cost-effective, fewer breakdowns and durable solutions, our commitment extends beyond sales with prompt, affordable after-sales service.

TPI: Kindly tell us more about your market footprint and major clientele.

BB: We have a strong foothold in the market. Our clientele includes the Government of India: NPCIL, BARC, DPS, Indian Air Force, Indian Railways, OEMs, the tube & pipe industry, the steel industry, and the forging industry. We cater to market leaders like Tata Steel, Tube Products of India, ISMT-Kirloskar Ferrous, Goodluck Industries, Jindal Group of Companies, Sunflag Steel, Panchmahal Steel, Saar Loha, Kalyani Steels, Vardhman Steel, Arora Iron & Steel, Bharat Forge Limited, M&M, Bajaj Auto & their vendors, Toyota, Shriram Pistons, Federal Mogul – Tenneco group of companies, Maruti Suzuki & their vendors, and many more.

TPI: Kindly share your views on trade fairs. How do you think such events help the industry?

BB: We believe trade fairs enhance our brand visibility by increasing brand awareness and presence. We consider industry fairs as a versatile marketing tool because they bring together the whole industry, including the manufacturers, suppliers, buyers, and traders under one roof, giving every stakeholder a good opportunity to connect with the best.

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TPI: What are your expectations from Tube & Pipe Fair 2024?

BB: We are looking forward to the Tube & Pipe Fair 2024, to analyze ourselves, as well as sell products & services in a competitive environment. TPF 2024 provides us with a great opportunity to connect with existing customers and potential clients. We also expect TPF 2024 to give us information about product launches, innovations, new materials, machines, and processes, along with current trends driving the industry.

TPI: Please share recent developments at Technofour.

BB: We have unveiled our new advanced conductivity meter Sigmet, which is a highly advanced hand-held instrument for measuring the electrical conductivity of non-ferrous metals. It has an intuitive graphical user interface with a 5-inch capacitive touch screen that simplifies the operation at four test frequencies. The bristles of Technofour Sigmet are loaded with unique smart features like smart probe, smart logging, smart data, smart charging, smart display, smart connectivity, and smart readout.

Visit Stand: Hall 1 / A-5 at Tube & Pipe Fair – Hyderabad