Heidenhain had a good IMTEX, owing to the positive customer sentiment this time around. Tripathi said that some of their large customers, such as DMG MORI, have been doing quite well, and even Indian companies like BFW, Jyoti CNC and Macpower CNC have been scaling up well, indirectly helping Heidenhain as their component suppliers.
“In general, companies know that to survive in this market, they need to look at quality. It’s no longer just Make in India, it also has to be made in India to the standards, which customers are interested in or used to. There are products coming from Europe, Japan and Taiwan, which are already at a very high level. Customers are really looking at suppliers like us to add that kind of value to their products. I think it’s good, because unless the Indian industry scales up, it does not have a chance against foreign manufacturers or machine tool builders,” proclaimed Tripathi.
In order to make a machine accurate, one needs highly precise measuring equipment, and that is where Heidenhain comes in. Indian companies didn’t opt for these products earlier, for various reasons, particularly price. But now companies are aware that unless they use these products, they can’t ask for a higher price from customers. “Today, customers are willing to pay two or three times the price of Indian machines just because a product is made better. Indian companies need to use better quality components, if they also want to scale up and get to a similar kind of pricing level,” asserted Tripathi. Currently, this technology is used by 10% of the market, which leaves a huge opportunity for us, and we are eyeing at least 15% in growth figures this year, Tripathi stated.