Vendors are preparing to unleash a variety of tech-savvy products and solutions at imtex 2019. get a glimpse of some new products here.
By Jayashree Kini Mendes
The largest show for the machine tools industry is around the corner. Come January 24, vast populace of the manufacturing industry are going to gather at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) to hobnob with the core of the manufacturing sector where numerous technologies related to CNC machines and machine tools are going to be on display. This is one exhibition that the manufacturing industry cannot resist.
Over the years, the organiser IMTMA has only strengthened the trade fair through making infrastructure attractive, and this is mainly because it’s a strong supporter of the manufacturing industry.
IMTEX 2019 is the flagship event for the Indian metal cutting industry. Concurrently, Tooltech 2019 is a premier event concurrent showcasing machine tool accessories, metrology and CAD/CAM cutting tools, tooling systems and current trends in the tooling industry.
The South and South East Asia’s apex exhibition showcases latest trends as well as technological refinements from India and other global players. The mega event attracts visitors from a wide spectrum of manufacturing and ancillary industries including key decision and policy makers as well as industry captains who are keen to source latest technologies and manufacturing solutions for their product lines.
Manufacturing Today speaks to some of the exhibitors who will display their products and technologies at IMTEX 2019.
Smart Moves
It’s an advantage that IMTEX is held every two years. The time allows companies to prepare and come up with new technologies they can showcase, thus creating new business avenues. For some time, the machine tools industry has been beleaguered with low sales since manufacturing companies are not quick to adopt new technologies at the rate they should be. However, this has not stopped them from coming up with new products and solutions.
Explaining what the industry can expect from them, Jay Shah, MD, Tungaloy India, says, “TunGforce range of products for accelerated machining will be on display at IMTEX 2019. We are also going to display many new grades and geometries for increased productivity and longer tool life for difficult-to-cut materials.”
It plans to showcase the new AH8000 grade for turning heat resistant materials and AH3000 series grade of milling, the Nano multilayer PVD, which delivers superior coating adhesion and improved wear resistance at higher cutting parameters, besides the T9200 series turning inserts for steel machining, and an outer titanium ceramic coating, which helps in improving surface hardness and also offer good hot hardness resistance. Shah says that Tungslot’s six cutting-edge insert for slotting as thin a width of 4mm, gives great advantage to customer for both accelerated machining and reducing the cost per component. “Deep Tri Drill is our new indexable Gundrill from Dia 14.0mm-Dia 28.0mm and shortly will get expanded to 12mm-40mm. This puts an end to faulty regrinding of gundrills and also has a great control on chip formation and accelerated feeds,” he adds.
IMTEX is a platform to introduce new products and services offering improved productivity and cost efficiency. L Krishnan, MD, TaeguTec India, says, “It is a part of our TaeguTeconomics agenda too. Continuing with the tradition, TaeguTec will display new products, trends and ideas in the areas of turning, milling, grooving, threading, holemaking and tailormade solutions to help customers manage their manufacturing goals.”
Grand Master Group plans to display two breakthrough technologies, says Sameer Milind Kelkar, CEO & R&D Head, Grind Master Group. “One will be our next generation microfinishing machine which is highly flexible for finishing automotive powertrain components. This will have ultra-user friendly NANOFINISH control system which is IoT and Industry 4.0 enabled. It will have modular configuration with flexibility of various parts. It will have automatic changeover between crank, cam, and gearbox shafts. Our NANOFINISH range of machines are sold worldwide,” he adds. The second technology on display will be robotic automation for foundry, particularly for aluminium, cast iron, and steel casting foundries. There are several advances in this technology like adaptive grinding, automatic path correction, IoT and Industry 4.0 enabled NANOSMART Controller and compact design on this robotic cell.
Speaking about how LMT Tools had launched several tools in 2018, Ramakant Reddy, MD, LMT Tools India, cites some examples such as line boring bars with electronic wear compensation and a coolant controlled back countersink with automatic position monitoring. The EVOline Tangential rolling system which comes with the new EVOline tangential rolling head and contains parts made of 3D-printed tool steel and sensor technology that make it ready for the smart factory of the future. Then there is the HPF Max Indexable taps which are modular LMT Fette HPF thread formers that enable high cutting speeds and maximum tool life in mass production.
Faro Technologies’ QUAH Beng Chieh, head of marketing (Asia Pacific), says that his company will be presenting the best-selling FaroArm product line. The recently released 8-Axis Quantum FaroArm is the world’s only eight-axis portable metrology arm solution. When used in conjunction with the FAROBlu or Prizm Laser Line Probe, the resulting solution is a comprehensive, contact and non-contact metrology solution that allows users to speed up and simplify their measurement and scanning activities.
WHAT ONE CAN EXPECT
Over the last decade, manufacturers’ measurement needs have grown to become increasingly complex as the designs of their products have become more complicated. This will likely continue to be true as manufacturers push boundaries in the product development process, according to consumer demand. Effectively, there is an expectation that customers will require even more innovative, advanced technologies that meet their sophisticated measurement needs.
Pankaj Gauba, country manager, advanced manufacturing segment India & SAARC, Autodesk, says, “It’s critical to think about customisation and specialisation during the up-front product development stages. Products are becoming connected in the age of IoT giving designers and manufacturers more information for future product updates and upgrades. The future of making things lies with digital manufacturing, which drives collaboration and exchange of data across the entire product lifecycle from design, testing, and manufacture to the sourcing of materials, distribution, and customer use.”
Industry 4.0 is the buzzword today. “Companies are moving from BS IV to BS VI. Our plan is to show live smart factory set up at IMTEX which is the future factory. In line with this, Renishaw will showcase a complete automation cell, demonstrating to manufacturers how intelligent process control is key to the operation of a successful smart factory. We will also launch new products to address the industry’s need for automated process control,” says Samina Khalid, marketing manager, Renishaw Metrology Systems.
Different sectors in manufacturing are seeing changes in their machining requirement. “Lightweighting in automotive sees more machining of aluminum components in place of cast iron. The Die Mold industry is now machining more of hardened materials to save process time. Due to growth in aerospace & power sector there will be increased machining of difficult to machine materials like stainless steel, titanium, Ni Cr alloys, etc.,” says Reddy.
Growth in electric vehicles could increase machining of plastic & composite parts. The customers can see newer and newer technologies in cutting tools to meet these machining requirements.
The decision to produce high quality goods using high end machines is driven by market demand. If the manufacturer gets value for his quality then he will be interested to produce high quality goods. The buyers for high quality goods will be available only when economy is strong and that is where the government can play a major role. Also such high value, high quality goods will have more demand in developed countries and export promotion activities to boost export will motivate manufacturers.
Going forward, customers can look forward to innovative solutions, says Pardeep Kumar Aggarwal, GM, Gleason Works India. “They could be closed loop and smart loop systems that connect to each other, including automatic feedback, creating a seamless value creation chain, from gear design to the finished product. Predictive maintenance supported by smart sensors and analytics to keep machine uptime at maximum levels, and smart equipment that communicates with each other,” he adds.
NUDGE FROM THE GOVERNMENT
The Indian government is already putting in concerted efforts to encourage users to adopt new-age machines and equipment for design, engineering and production. With its tech-savvy population, skilled labour, robust legal and IPR regime, and a strong commitment to calibrated liberalisation, India is poised to become the next global manufacturing destination. The government is supporting the sector with various incentives such as: R&D incentives; investment allowances to enable manufacturing companies to invest in new plants and machinery; and steps to improve the quality of technical education in the engineering sector, says Gauba.
“As of now government has schemes for MSMEs, promoting new product development and for developing new high-end machinery. Here partial R&D cost is taken care by government which is an excellent initiative,” says Kelkar. In Europe and America, if machines are Industry 4.0 compliant, they get subsidies of up to 50% of the machine value. This encourages manufacturing industry to invest in high end IoT and Industry 4.0 compliant machinery and automation. “Some of the common approaches include raising awareness for technology adoption through initiatives undertaken by the associations; encouraging investment in advanced technology through grants and tax incentives to boost performance; and investing in infrastructure (whether physical or digital) to enable businesses to level up in their journey toward economic progress, he adds.
Demand for timely delivery of engineered solutions, has replaced mere delivery of quality tools. Process improvement, which would bring in a big change in productivity, is another demand from customers. They are looking for a partner who can contribute in implementing the best process, with the available setup. It is about exchange of knowledge and experience with the customer, says Shah. As cutting tools form the major support to the manufacturing industry, it would be help the industry if the GST is reduced to 5-8%. It will offer an impetus to the SME segment, he adds.