DUKANE

Empowering India’s OEM With Strategic Innovation & Engineering Excellence for Tomorrow’s World

Suneil Rajagopal

Country Manager, India

Dukane India

I n a world driven by technological advancements and sustainability, Dukane India has quickly become a key player in the plastic welding industry, known for its innovative solutions and global expertise. Established as part of the global Dukane Corporation, which traces its origins to 1922, Dukane India has carved a niche for itself in the Indian OEM sector. Specialising in advanced ultrasonic and vibration welding technologies, Dukane has consistently led the way, providing critical solutions to industries such as automotive, medical devices, electronics, and packaging. Dukane India’s unyielding focus on precision and sustainability sets it apart in the crowded marketplace. Their ultrasonic sealing technology, for instance, is revolutionising packaging, offering eco-friendly solutions for biodegradable materials—a timely innovation in today’s environmentally conscious world. Led by Mr. Suneil Rajagopal as India Head, Dukane India continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, driving growth and innovation in a competitive landscape. In this exclusive interview, Mr. Rajagopal, Country Manager of Dukane India, discusses the company’s vision, the challenges of the Indian market, and how Dukane leverages its global knowledge to serve local customers.

Can you explain Dukane India’s vision and mission and how they align with global goals? What challenges do you face in India?

Dukane India’s vision is to be the leader in plastic welding solutions, and we are fully aligned with our global philosophy of "ONE WORLD, ONE DUKANE".

This approach ensures consistency in product quality and innovation across the regions. At Dukane, we prioritise solutions that meet global standards while offering systems & solutions made locally, thus being closer to our customers. Dukane is involved in offering solutions to the automotive, medical, food and electronics industries. In India, Dukane faces challenges related to the price-sensitive nature of the market and the developing supply chain. However, the company addresses these by delivering high-quality products that offer long-term value, thereby gaining the trust of our customers who value quality over cost.

How does Dukane India leverage global experience to meet local market needs, and what is your unique selling point?

Dukane India taps into its global knowledge pool for technology sharing and best practices through our global data exchange platform where designs developed at Dukane US, Dukane Europe and other Dukane offices can be easily accessed and customised for the Indian market and viceversa. This allows Dukane to offer localised solutions without compromising our global standards. The company’s unique selling point lies in our ability to offer complete end-to-end solutions to the customer, right from design to manufacturing, all areas are managed in-house at Dukane. This end-to-end offering to our customers provides a significant competitive advantage in maintaining control over our product quality.

What key milestones have shaped Dukane’s expertise in plastic welding?

Over the years, Dukane has made significant technological advancements that have solidified our ground in the plastic welding industry. Our Global acquisitions like the Blackhawk Technology Group, KVT Germany, Aurizon, etc, have helped expand our capabilities in new segments while ensuring we continue to grow in our traditional sectors, such as automotive, medical and electronics. Through these acquisitions, Dukane was also able to introduce advanced laser technologies, especially for sensitive applications. We also ventured into the Non-woven and Hot-gas welding, which is a clean welding technology. These acquisitions and innovations have set new industry benchmarks for precision and speed.

What are some of the most innovative solutions Dukane India has recently developed?

As part of our innovation initiative, we have been able to develop and deliver local solutions for Indian customers. We recently delivered a system for a leading pharmaceutical company in response to their Make in India initiative. In this project, we at Dukane helped our customer with a system built in India to weld their sensitive filters. While we developed this system for their global standards, we also were able to reduce the cost by a third compared to their overseas supplier. This success highlighted Dukane’s ability to meet stringent international standards while delivering costeffective, high-quality solutions for the Indian market. Most of the solutions we offer are customised; hence, innovation is a mantra we live by every day.

How does Dukane India ensure reliable and timely product deliveries, and what are your plans?

Dukane India follows the principle of “GO GLOBAL, BE LOCAL,” and promotes local sourcing wherever possible.

This approach of procuring our majority requirement locally reduces our delivery time to our customers while supporting the local industry. Our future plans include expanding our portfolio to introduce and grow advanced technologies like Hot-Gas, which are relatively less penetrated in India. We at Dukane India have also set up a laser welding demonstration Lab where our customers can walk in and test their samples. This new addition to our Application Lab enhances our customer engagement and showcases our cutting-edge solutions. These efforts are integral to Dukane’s strategy to become the preferred partner for OEMs seeking plastic welding solutions.