Genesis Five years ago, Anil Kamdarbegan toying with the idea of building abuttonhole machine. Considering he hadlittle knowledge in designing machines, thetask was challenging. So he started studyingvarious parts of the sewing machine closelyand their inter connections. He embarkedon his mission to build a machine with abetter thread cutting mechanism, a bettergear mechanism, and an auto pump forlubricating several parts of the machine.In the year 1999, he began work on themachine. “While repairing sewing machines,I came across problems inherent in theJapanese and American versions of thebuttonhole sewing machines. I did not copythese existing versions, but rather designeda different one, with newer functions andmodes,” says Anil.

The InnovationThis machine provides for the fully automaticsewing of buttonholes. It requires only the

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CONSOLATION

Anil Rashmikant Kamdar (42)is a native of Godhra, Gujarat. He has two sons who are

studying in a district school. The family lives in a dilapidated rented house. His wife, has been both

his critic and confidanté and he would often call her to see his small feats during the making of the

machine. After initial skepticism, she gradually gained confidence in his abilities and fervently

hoped that his efforts would bear fruit. On many occasions, his wife had helped him in his work,

even lifting machine parts, when he was unable to handle them alone.

Anil can read Gujarati and Hindi and a bit of English haltingly. He keeps himself updated on the

latest happenings in the country. He hopes the money that he will earn from this machine will

enable him to buy a house, invest in his children’s education and buy a bicycle for his sons (a long

pending demand of theirs). He also wants to invest in aesthetic modifications of the design of the

machine and spend the rest, in buying sewing-machine parts for his business.

simple manual adjustment of one elementto selectively determine buttonhole lengthprior to initiation of sewing. The length,width and spacing of the buttonhole fordifferent fabrics can be varied at ease andcalibrated with adjustment screws withautomatic gear change lever to set differentspeed settings. This device has variablespeed and auto lubrication facility (i.e. onceset up for all parameters, it will performthe rest of the operation automatically andcalibration is comparatively easier becausethis can be done by adjustment of somescrews).The timer mechanism allows easyshifting of gears to obtain different stitchpatterns, by simply setting their sizesonly.There is a needle steering mechanism,which guides the needle along the widthof the buttonhole with its zigzag motionas one cycle of stitching is completed. Thebase plate, unlike in the existing machines,remains fixed. It has an auto stopmechanism to stop the sewing process when

AddressKhadi Faliu, Nr. Shantoshimata Temple, B/h. YaranaPan Center, GodhraPanchmahal - 389 001Gujarat

Scouted byGIAN-West

(Annexure I, 64)64 162 Anil Rashmikant Kamdar Button-hole stitching machine

the needle or thread breaks and one can re-start sewingfrom the point of the broken thread by adjusting thejog lever. It also has a counter for counting the numberof buttonholes stitched and a light arrangement to enableworking in nights with ease. On an average this machinecan do 100-120 buttonholes per hour. This button-holemachine runs on a 0.25 HP, 2880 RPM electric motor.

AdvantagesThis machine has lesser number of parts and so requiresless maintenance and cost. In all other machines thecalibration is done automatically and hence the chancesof failure are higher, whereas in Anil’s innovation theadjustments are done mechanically which tend to bemore accurate.Unlike other machines, in this machinethe base plate is high, so that all the mechanisms belowthe base plate are easily accessible and bobbin-shuttleadjustments can be done without much effort. Formaintenance and adjustments, one need not lift thewhole machine. It enables easy thread handling as it isequipped with thread trimming, thread-tension andspring-loaded material clamping system.The cutter-unloader mechanism in this machine gives flexibility offinding faults in the machine while the machine isrunning, thereby making fault identification easy andaccurate.

Overcoming all obstaclesIn the process of developing this innovation, Anil hadto overcome all manner of hurdles. He took his savings,all of Rs 5,000, to buy various parts of the machine. Heused to commute long distances to work and whiletravelling he would spend time thinking about hismachine. He would spend two hours every morning,and three to four hours in the evening tinkering andexperimenting with his machine.

His wife and relatives pressurized him to give up theidea, but instead he distanced himself from people, andeven stopped attending Church on Sundays. Withoutelectricity supply to his house at that time, he workedunder the light of an oil lamp.

Months passed in many such experiments, and he soonwanted new machine parts. Since the parts were difficultto find in the market, he bought a hand-drill for aboutRs 1,500, and began crafting the spare parts. For overtwo years, he worked with the hand drill- cutting,moulding and making the parts -as he wanted. He evenused a small lid of a bowl, as a part of the machine.Anil’s enthusiasm was infectious and soon his wifebegan to assist him.

After his savings got exhausted, he began using a majorpart of his daily income on his machine. He gave lessthan the normal amount to his wife for householdexpenses and even had to postpone his elder son’sschooling by a year. His wife argued that the amount ofmoney he was wasting on the machine could insteadhave been invested in their children’s schooling. Soonbickerings gave way to pleading, but Anil ignored hiswife’s persistent pleadings. They were on the verge ofseeking a divorce but reconciled later. He sought helpfrom friends and relatives at times, when he could notafford to sustain his family financially. But they used toridicule his far-fetched dreams and turn him away.

It was this attitude of theirs that steeled his resolve to

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build the machine and prove them wrong. Hisdetermination, patience and confidence in his abilitieskept him going. He dared to invest about Rs.4-5 lakhsfrom his meagre income, on making his dream a reality,over a period of four years inspite of severe familyand financial pressures. In 2002, the machine was readybut he kept tinkering with it to improve its functions.

Current StatusWhen he was confident that the machine worked, Anilwanted to sell the technology. So he wrote a letter tothe Chief Minister of Gujarat and the Governor ofGujarat. The Chief Minister’s office advised him tocontact the Industries Commissioner, who in turn askedhim to contact a Patent Attorney in Bangalore. TheIndustries Commission, Govt. of Gujarat also contactedGIAN and informed them about Anil Kamdar and a fewdays later, a representative from GIAN visited Anil anddocumented his innovation. In early 2003, he was givenfinancial assistance to improve and modify hisinnovation. The District Industries Centre of Godhradistrict also informed the media and a Zee Newscorrespondent interviewed him in October 2002. GIANhas filed a patent application on his behalf and has alsosought the help of a sewing machine expert to modifythe machine with the active involvement of Kamdar.His machine has since then been showcasedat various exhibitions and workshops and a prototypeis available at the GIAN office. GIAN is simultaneouslyon the look out for entrepreneurs, interested inmanufacturing the machine commercially. Currently theTechnopreunal Promotion Program (TePP) Scheme ofthe Department of Scientific and Industrial Research,has agreed to support the development of the prototype.

Anil has also made a wooden model of a modified versionof his prototype. The idea is to use this wooden designin calculating and designing a better machine or its partsthe next time. This assumes relevance as the currentprototype is crude and suffers from a number oflimitations. Because of the play in the moving partsand components, the operation of the machine is noisyand the mechanism heats up. The machine is also bigin size because the components have not beenoptimized.

An example to othersAnil believes that patience and courage can convertideas into reality. “I have never ever given up hope onanything ever since I was a child,” he says. His passionfor innovating is evident when he reveals that he hasalso made a lock-stitch machine (used for stitching thehems of denim garments). He has also completed thedesign for a button-stitching machine. Apart from thesehas developed the design for a bicycle with gears whichmay travel at 50km/hr and will have greater pick up.

Questioning the prevalent attitude towards innovation,he says, “We Indians tend to have a kaam chalao (laidback) attitude and make do with whatever is available,without attempting to improve things. Innovations areindispensable if a country is to progress. Products fromcountries like USA and Japan are considered the best,why can’t we strive to be number one?” Difficult indeedfor a man to understand whose dream is to contributein every manner possible to the welfare of hiscountrymen.

164 Anil Rashmikant Kamdar Button-hole stitching machine