Heavy bails that have blocked the way of Knowledge-based Companies

Kaveh Ezzati, CEO of the company, told Sina Press: "Our field of activity is the manufacture of various types of industrial machines, and the main focus of the company is on the production of different types of CNC machines."

According to him, these devices are controlled by computer and have different types such as MDF CNCs, wood CNCs, four-axis woodcarving, stone CNC, waterjet CNC, fibre laser CNC, and we produce all of them in the company. In the program intended for the research and development of the company, the manufacturing of other devices having more special features and are only imported, is to be included in the production plan and we will start building them over time.
Emphasizing the wide applications of the company's manufacturing machines, Ezzati said: "Most of the customers of our machines are wood, MDF and stone industries. For example, one of the machines produced in our company is stone CNC for the production of Roman facade stone cladding of buildings. In general, the use of stone CNC machine is very wide and can decorate or carve from tombstones to decorative stones.
The CEO of this knowledge-based company told Sina Press about the functions of these machines: "These devices perform various tasks such as cutting, engraving and inlay work, etc. on stone and wood. The machines even do the carving of the bases of the sofa or stone, in other words, whatever is designed inside the computer, the machine can do it, but it depends on whether the machine is multi-axis."
He explained the different types of devices produced in the company based on the axis: "simple devices start from three axes and reach up to four, five and six axes so that a 6-axis device can make a complete sculpture. Cut on the stone and do turning on the stone in all directions."
Ezzati continued: a computer design of the desired model is given to the device and the device starts working. For example, if you want to make a board inside a walnut wood, there is a design inside the computer and all you have to do is define the dimensions of the wood for the machine.
He said: "Sometimes a CNC machine even needs to work automatically for about 10 hours, depending on the design given to the computer. On these devices, a servo motor is mounted that has very fine movements and the accuracy of these devices is up to one-hundredth of a millimetre."
The CEO of the knowledge-based company "Vira Technology Atrin" further points to the different applications of CNC machines and says: the uses of these machines vary depending on the machine. For example, the waterjet machine that we make does the cutting work with very high-water-pressure and can cut everything and is used in all industries.
A thick ceramic cannot be cut with anything other than a waterjet machine. In fact, steel and very thick stone can be cut with this machine. Laser fibre machine is one of the other types of our production machines that cut metals by laser with very high speed and accuracy, which is mostly used in industries.
He added: "Many of these machines that we produce are imported devices and some of these devices are also domestically produced, but we have tried to produce machines to have advantages over the imported ones. We first communicate with operators who already own such devices and look for the drawbacks of imported machines.
For example, the operator states that the German CNC machine, with three automatic axes, has difficulty in cornering and adjusting the MDF on the table. We try to solve this problem of the German machine by designing an option for the device to make it perform better and different from the foreign model. If there is a similar model of our machine in the market, we will try to upgrade the device in this way.
Ezzati emphasizes the difference between the company's production machines in competition with foreign models: Our machines are very competitive with foreign models in price. We have a device that costs about $ 16,500, compared to a similar German model with the same quality, and maybe lesser options, priced at $ 50,000. We have been able to produce at a more reasonable price of about one-fifth of the foreign product.
He also states that of course, we have devices such as fibre laser machines, the price of which is closer to the foreign model, and the reason is due to the cost from the source. There is only one producer in the world and we have to use it from the same source, so the price goes up.
The director of this knowledge-based company stated: If we want to compare, the price of our production devices is much closer to Chinese models and there is not much difference that depends more on the device model.

There are some devices manufactured by our company that have a higher price range due to more options than foreign models. Examples of these devices include the 10-head inlay that we produce for Malayer, and the machine is more expensive than the available models in the market, but it is a better choice in terms of quality and options, which is an encouraging factor for a domestic customer.

Ezzati referred to the priority of exports and the financial problems that the company is struggling with and told Sina Press: "We are seriously looking to export the machines and we are currently negotiating with Sulaimaniyah in Iraq and Oman; Of course, the most important problems were the financial commitments given to us which unfortunately none of them have been fulfilled.
He stressed: "If these financial obligations were implemented, we would be able to produce several machines and send them to the negotiating countries, and we could get good orders for export; Because in terms of quality and price, we produce devices that can compete with foreign models that we can easily take over the market of these countries, and if the negotiations are successful, in addition to the financial gain we can have currency saving for the country.
The CEO of this knowledge-based company added: "The export of these devices has heavy and very difficult dimensions and requires very strong financial support, and we have not reached that stage yet since we started the company's activity in 2018. We have completed the loan process, but the problem is the heavy collateral they are asking for.
He continued: "One of our problems is the Fund for Innovation and Prosperity. Because we are knowledge-based, we can lease machines to customers so that the customer pays 30 percent of the cost in cash and 70 percent in installments. During the last month, I introduced three customers from Hamedan, Bukan and Kermanshah for leasing, but they have not had the right to sign due to the change of the CEO of the Kermanshah Fund for the past two months.

Despite having a contract with these clients, we are waiting for the fund to sign and, unfortunately, we have not yet succeeded in completing the contract officially. We have also acted through venture capital companies (VCs). Some time back, Dr. Madani from Barakat Foundation visited our workshop and we were promised a loan of one billion Tomans without collateral, but nothing has happened yet and the follow-up has not yielded any results.

Reported by: Neda Azhari
Translated by: Mehdi Fallahi Panah
 

 

 

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