Autofina was established with an aim to fulfill the growing need of Indian automobile sector in the field of painting of plastics. Presently leading OEMs and auto industries like Tata Motors, Minda, John Deere, Eicher-Volvo, TACO group companies and International Automotive Components are major customer of Auofina. Recently, Autofina has also entered into non-automotive applications like Home appliances, Electronic products as well as stationary and gift articles.
==Experience==
Over the years Autofina has acquired very wide ranging experience in painting of plastics such as PP-EPDM, PP-TC, GF Nylon, ABS, Polycarbonate, PVC, HIPS, SMC, RTM, RIM Polyurethane, FRP, PC-ABS, PC-PBT, etc. and has become well known in the industry for innovative technologies and cutting edge knowledge in the plastics painting field. We have also established paint systems for Metal, Glass & wood substrate components. Autofina has developed painting systems for almost all plastic parts used by OEMs.
==Research & Development==
Autofina has worked in tandem with OE suppliers such as Goodlass Nerolac Paints, BASF Industries, Asian PPG, Akzo Nobel, GE Plastics, Zylog India Ltd., Dupont India Pvt Ltd., for development of new painting systems and technologies in the field of plastic coatings. Autofina is instrumental in development of all plastic painting systems for most of the Tata Motor vehicles such as Tata Safari, Tata Sumo, Indica, Indigo, Tata 207, Winger, Ace etc.. Paint systems of plastic components for Tata Motor’s World Truck & Mahindra Navistar trucks have been developed at Autofina. Autofina was chosen by Lear for development of Soft-feel painting systems for the Special Edition M&M Scorpio, by DC Design for the Geneva motor show Concept Vehicle, by Tata Motors for the Limited Edition Tata Safari, by Kinetic Engineering for the Emergency Medical Relief Scooter and scores of other such assignments.
==Facilities ==
*Paint Booths
Autofina has state of the art positive pressurized, side draft type paint booths ensuring clean & dust free painting area. These booths are equipped with efficient air handling units with dust control effectiveness of up to 5 micron. Screw type compressors along with refrigeration dryers & 2 stage filters ensures desired quality of air supply to the HVLP spraying guns. These paint booths are capable of handling components of dimension of as small as 2 inches to components of size of upto 10 ft.
*Testing Facility
Autofina is equipped with Testing Lab capable of performing both quality & performance test of painted components. In house testing lab is equipped with equipments such as Gloss Meter, DFT Meter, Adhesion Tape tester, Mistubishi Pencil tester, Hot water bath testing, Humidity chambers and salt spray chambers. This test lab is also capable to test the major quality parameters of paint received from various suppliers.
*Ancillary Equipments
Autofina is equipped with all necessary ancillary equipments such as various types of sanders (Bench sanders, Orbital sanders, palm sanders) for surface preparation, parting off line flashes and Buffing/polishing facility for further improvement of surface finish. Generator backup of 125 KVA to supports entire set-up incase of power cut-off. All the production processes are supported with necessary jigs, fixtures, storage racks & bag sealing machine for packing of finished goods.
*Space
Autofina has 50,000 sq ft of built up space, ensuring proper space allocation for raw material, unpainted parts inventory, space for aging and curing, use of drying racks and processes such as buffing, deflashing, segregation and rework etc.
*Manpower
Autofina has total strength of above 100 highly skilled & competent people in the field of painting. We impart special emphasis on continuous training of correct procedures & processes. These training programs also emphasis on one of the important factor i.e high level of employee involvement.
==Water Transfer Printing ==
'''Hydrographics''' or '''HydroGraphics''', also known as '''immersion printing''','''water transfer imaging''', '''cubic printing''', or '''hydro dipping''', is a method of applying designs to three-dimensional objects. The hydrographic process can be used on metal, plastic, glass, hard woods, and various other materials. In the process, the substrate piece to be printed is pre-treated and a base coat material is applied. A polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film is gravure-printed with the graphic image to be transferred, and is then floated on the surface of a vat of water. An activator chemical is sprayed on the film to dissolve it into a liquid and activate a bonding agent. The piece is then lowered into the vat, through the floating ink layer, which wraps around and adheres to it. Autofina, has one of the latest Water Transfer Printing (also known as Cubic Printing) machine in India.
*4th Generation Mitsubishi Microprocessor based controls ensure consistency and repeatability and total control over critical parameters
*All Stainless Steel film contact parts
*Unique ‘Rotate tower’ conveying ensures repeatable angle of approach of all parts
*Built-in Poka Yoke Jig mounting prevents inadvertent errors
*Completely air conditioned booth for maintaining correct amount of humidity and temperature
*Conveyerised washing machine
'''Water transfer film Patterns'''
*Over 400standard patterns readily available
*Natural patterns like Wood, burl, stone & marble etc., Geometric patterns and metals grain structures, camouflage patterns are available
*Custom printing of exclusive patterns is possible
*Flexible colour palette of patterns
*Finishes in Gloss, Matt and Everything in between
