| Q1 |
What are the various Copper Products manufactured by Birla Copper?
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| A.
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Various copper products manufactured and marketed by Birla Copper are:
- Electrolytic grade Copper Cathodes conforming to BS-6017/ASTM B115
- CC Rods of Diameter 8, 11, 12.5, 16, 19 mm conforming to ASTM-B 48/92
or IS-12444.
- Trapezoidal Copper bars of 3220 mm2 cross section area having
length of 600-1300 mm & corresponding weight of 18-40 kgs.
For more details please refer to Product Profile
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| Q2 |
What are various CC Rod coil weights offered by Birla Copper?
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| A.
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- The minimum weight that can be offered is 1000 kgs, which are manually tailor made offline.
- The normal preferred coil size is 3000 kgs, loaded @ three coils in a standard truck having payload of 9.0 ton.
- On specific request from buyers, we can offer coils of 2250 kgs with a load
pattern of 4 coils per truck having pay load of 9.0 tons.
- The maximum coil size that can be offered is 4000 kgs.
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| Q3 |
How is the packing of the coils done at Birla Copper?
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| A.
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We have a fully automatic compacting & packing line. Among the Indian
rod producers, Birla Copper has only acquired such a unique & sophisticated
system.
The salient feature of this system are:
A conveyor station feeds the pre-weighed wooden pallets. Thereafter
the said coil is formed on a automatic platform lift, which discharges
the formed coil on a automatic electronic weighing station. The
coil then moves to compacting & strapping through a roller conveyor
system. Hence the coil automatically compacted & strapped before
discharging to the next station, where it is covered with HDPE
sheet and secured through a stretch wrapping.
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| Q4 |
How are the coils loaded in to the truck and handled while in transit?
|
| A.
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The coils
are handled by over head and mobile cranes and fork lifts, to
avoid all possible damages during storage and loading into the
trucks for dispatch. During loading the 3 ton coil, the first
layer comprising of three coils utilizes the permissible payload
of 9 tons. However, while loading four coils of 2.25 ton each
in a truck, the first layer contains three coils & the fourth
coil is loaded on it's top.
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| Q5 |
Are the CC Rods superior to the Conventional Wire Bar? If so, why?
|
| A. |
Worldwide, on quality & cost considerations, CC Rod has fully replaced
the wire bars. Some of the advantages of CC Rod over Wire bar / HR technology are:
a) The lower operating cost as compared to the conventional wire bar / HR coil
due to:
- Lower energy cost
- Better quality of CC Rod in terms of metallurgical homogeneity,
which means lesser wire breaks & lesser scrap generation during
wire drawing.
- Lesser number of joints involved during production of continuous
length of wire/strips, which provides freedom from
welding failures.
- No acid pickling, hence cost saving on acid and water.
b) More Consistency in quality of CC Rod than that of the HR Rod
due to:
- The improved technology & continuous process contrary to the batch process
adopted in wire bar / HR Rod manufacturing.
- Uniform distribution of oxygen & impurities in the stock.
c) Environment friendly technology:
- CC Rods are pickled and have protective coating of wax eliminating
the need for acid pickling before drawing. Complete freedom
from hazardous acid fumes & disposal of the acid solution.
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| Q6 |
What
are the technical superiorities of CC Rod manufactured by Birla
Copper over other competitors?
|
| A.
|
Birla copper could achieve the quality leadership in the market within
the short span and some of the technical superiorities are:
- Bigger cast bar with highest reduction ratio - For better
grain distribution.
- Latest version of rod mill (SCR-2500) from Southwire, USA
- Computerized On-line process monitoring right from the
charging to coil forming, weighing and packing.
- Superior raw material (Cathodes) matching the best in the world.
- Highly trained & experienced manpower.
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| Q7 |
What are the different steps/measures that Birla Copper undertakes at their
rod plant to improve Drawability?
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| A.
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Drawability, being the ratio of the number of wire breaks to the length of wire
drawn basically, is a composite of rod quality as well as wire drawing practices.
Our experience, sustained interactions & joint exercises did prove that the
following aspects in a CC rod are the most contributing factors for obtaining
right quality rod & thereby enhancing the drawability.
- Use of high quality cathodes as the charge material, where
minimum impurities are fully kept under control in line with
the international practices & standards.
- Efficient process control for achieving metallurgical homogeneity
across an individual coil length as well as across the batches.
- Accurate control over temperatures of the molten metal during
casting for attaining better solidification & sound cast bar.
- Use of AMPS (Automatic Metal Pouring System) for uniform
distribution of oxides in the cast bar.
- Maintaining correct reduction of the stock & minimum tension
inside the mill for perfect No-twist rolling.
- Use of high-pressure sprays to prevent extra oxides from embedding
into the cast bar during the rolling operation.
- Optimum temperature & application of suitable pickling media
to obtain correct cooling & control over surface oxides.
- On-line defectomat for detection and prevention of surface
imperfection like flakes, seams, slivers & iron inclusions in
the rod.
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| Q8 |
Could Birla Copper suggest some of the measures and precautions
which a user of CC Rod should take to improve drawability at users' end?
|
| A.
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Efficient wire drawing practices
coupled with CC Rod quality can drastically reduce the breaks and
add the drawability & rod performance. The common saying in wire
dawing parlance goes like this "A bad rod will perform well in good
wire drawing machine & a good rod even fails to perform in a bad
wire drawing practice." Some of the most essentials of good wire
drawing practices are:
- Installing proper coil handling facilities.
- Undertaking good mechanical & electrical maintenance of drawing
machine to ensure smooth & trouble free bearings, gearboxes,
pulleys & capstans in a systematic manner. Timely replacement
of worn out parts is a must.
- Maintaining correct lubrication system including emulsion,
filtration, fat concentration, pH, Water quality.
- Using lubricant enriched with modern additives.
- Regular monitoring of the health of the lubricant.
- Using correct profiled 'dies' with proper blending of die
angles & replacing them at predetermined intervals.
- Maintaining the required tension level within the drawing
machine through adjustments in various guiding systems.
- Recording, analyzing & interpreting the wire breaks in a structured
manner. This may call for support from suppliers of copper,
Lubricant & dies etc.
- Maintaining a clean & Dust free environment.
- Proper training to the operating people at shop floor.
Users must have received
from Birla Copper, technical hand outs covering the above aspects.
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| Q9 |
What are the areas where Birla Copper can provide technical assistance
to various users?
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| A.
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We have a dedicated department providing tehnical assistance & product
support to our customers in the various matters related to wire drawing,
troubleshooting, development & anything and everything of mutual interest.
Several arears, where interaction, co-ordination & feedback sharing system with
the CC Rod users have been undertaken by Birla Copper in the past are:
- Joint exercise & trial run at buyer's request so as to benchmark
the drawing process & de-bottlenecking, if required.
- Evaluating quality of CC rod & it's effect on the wire drawing.
- Conducting study & analysis of various wire drawing parameters
& suggesting ways & means to improve productivity.
- Sharing thoughts on different technical matters of mutual interest.
- Product support system on continuous basis.
- Sharing information on the various developments taking place in the technology
worldwide.
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| Q10 |
How does one insulate himself from the volatile price fluctuation
of the London Metal Exchange price of copper?
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| A.
|
One can insulate himself from the price fluctuation by adopting
hedging practices through futures trading at the London Metal Exchange.
Birla Copper is permitted by the RBI to carry out such dealing at the
London Metal Exchange. Consequently Birla Copper can offer various
pricing options to protect their buyers from London Metal Exchange price volatility
based on merit of the individual deals.
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