In the United States in 1869, a printer named John Wesley Hyatt attempted to create an alternative material to supplement ivory in billiard balls. He experimented with a mixture of cellulose nitrate and camphor, creating what he called celluloid. His invention brought a revolution in production and manufacturing. By 1892, over 2,500 articles were being produced from celluloid. Among these inventions were piano keys, false teeth, and the first movie film. But, celluloid did have its drawbacks. It could not be molded and it was highly flammable.
It was not until 1909, however, that the Belgian-American chemist Leo H. Baekeland produced the first synthetic plastic. This product replaced natural rubber in electrical insulation and was used for phone handsets and automobile distributor caps and rotors, and is still used today. Today, plastics manufacturing is a major industry whose products play a vital role in many other industries and activities around the world. Ever since 1975, the Khandwala dynasty is catering as an OEM supplier of plastic products, tools and decoration of plastics with an in-house Manufacturing Facility. Saumil Khandwala, an adept Plastic Engineer in the Khandwala dynasty, established Solution 4U with a mission to provide product design services, Proto type & Commercial Manufacturing of the Customized products in the plastic industry.
The Dawn and the Rise of Solution 4U
Solution 4U, believes that ‘Ideas are No one’s Monopoly.’ They shape new product ideas mainly around plastic. A vast manufacturing experience of over 40 years and an in-house manufacturing facility added a great advantage for Solution 4U to become a one stop solution provider. Incorporated in January 2003, Solution 4U bridges the gap between development of product and the commercial mass production.
Solution 4U serves professional companies as well as individuals with same amount of effort and passion to bring-out their new ideas into the market. Right from the conceptual stage to commercial production, the company supports their clients providing best-in-class facility, tie up, associate partner as well as customer insight. Initially in 2000s, the concept of product design, proto-type and pilot tooling was not very popular. Most people wanted to copy from imported samples and would not invest in the initial research and study for any product development.
Until 2008~2009, it was invariably difficult to convince the customer for this process of development in India. Solution 4U had very good responses from developed countries like the USA, CANADA, and UK among others. They followed their strategy of developing the product and then performing failure analysis followed by repairing each facet. Though this incurred big cost, delay in time-to-market, along with company’s reputation at stake, Solution 4U adhered to its practices to deliver best quality products.
A Leader Who Leads From Among the Clan
Saumil Khandwala, Founder of Solution 4U, goes through all new enquiries and decides the way forward for the processes, materials and the technical possibilities. He participates thoughtfully in all the client meetings to understand their requirements with great zeal. He also gives a frank opinion if the product is not really feasible to meet technical or pricing expectation at stage one. There is no process to drag customer into trial and possibility at their own cost unless there is expectancy of positive result. Saumil’s strategic approach to provide the best in the industry has proven to be beneficial for the customers as well as the company.
Relying on his prudent vendors for the premium quality raw materials, Saumil and his team manages to bring a range of quality for their esteemed clients. Under Saumil’s mentorship, the team at Solution 4U manages to bring forth designs that offer most efficient manufacturing solutions. Aided with efficient designs and a qualitative range of thermoplastics, they have become a preferred choice over others in the industry.
Saumil’s Client-centric Tenacious Commitment
Possessing true sportsmanship, Saumil envisions the competition in the field of product development as an opportunity to increase entrepreneurship, employment and industrial growth. He constantly strives to market the company’s expertise through various resources such as exhibitions, seminars, the Internet and mainly through the ability to retain the client for a longer period of time. Most of the clientele Solution 4U works with are associated with them for 5+ years. They also have a core team working with them for more than 10 years, which gives a quick insight of requirement, possibility and awareness of process keeping the company values intact.
Solution 4U treats their customers as partners. The success or failure of the client’s product directly reflects the image of the company. Each project at Solution 4U is a new learning experience that the team studies in detail. Their vast experience while working on over 100 products, has given them knowledge, customer expectation and execution experience. This journey has not been easy, there have been a lot of failures due to improper marketing, functional limitation, before market and technical faults in the product. But these details have kept them improving with experience of each success as well as failure of the product.
Thoughtfully Assisting the Clients with New Ideas
Current Industry is very mature and there are a number of tools available at a very competitive cost. Solution 4U is engaged in the business of providing plastic solutions, 3 D models, plastic prototype, Product design analysis and validation, plastic injection moldings, Blow Molding, mold/tools design and manufacturing, Pilot tooling, extruded profiles and thermoform packaging application products. Saumil believes that design is a creative activity whose aim is to establish the multi-faceted qualities of objects, processes, services and their systems in whole life-cycles.
He supports independent person new ideas by giving them flexibility in payment as well as infrastructure support till the client actually starts selling the product in market. It’s a calculated risk but adds a lot of value to build the trust in company and word-of-mouth publicity.
Foreseeing Growth over the Horizon
Solution 4U constantly looks out to bring awareness by organizing a seminar and encouraging exhibition participation. They are working to get associated with global consultants and broaden their horizon while effectively materializing new concepts.
Saumil plans to open a new division with a library for new and futuristic product. This will help customers to choose from on-the-shelf new products along with complete analysis from process to costing. They envision becoming the consulting partner for new product development and provide assistance for standardization of products and implement automation for vendors all over India. This will give them flexibility of inventory as well as quality product procurement.
Quote: “Design is a creative activity whose aim is to establish the multi-faceted qualities of objects, processes, services and their systems in whole life-cycles”
Saumil Khandwala: A Creative Persona Designing Innovative Solutions for Plastic Products
