Indian die and mould industry has been a major contributor to the Indian economy since long. The industry supports immensely to the manufacturing sector, especially to industries such as auto components, machine tools, electronics, packaging, plastics, and healthcare. The die and mould industry is growing consistently at 15% (CAGR) every year and according to the Indian tool room manufacturing forums, the domestic average market size of die and mould industry is expected to reach Rs 30,000 crore worth by 2021.
With rapid globalisation, competition within the Indian industry is intensifying. In this situation where customers expect enhanced value creation from newer technologies and efficient products, organisations are upping the ante to respond to market expectations. Sushil Aggarwal, chairman, AMPL, India says, “Globalisation is synonymous to intensification. While the government of India aims to promote Make in India as the main driver, our company AMPL focuses on continuous innovation taping growth prospects possible with government’s focus on the manufacturing for the Indian die and mould industry. Also, we aim at meeting customer’s expectation abiding technological innovations with latest designs of plastic furniture to beautify their living spaces and serving the best quality standards. Our goal is to achieve excellence through customer delight at large, for India itself has enormous potential in the coming years. Talking about our company AMPL India, high quality and high precision are the two pillars which we strongly abide. While the changing technology trends in the vertical, integrated approach in the overall production, improved tool room management systems are the key factors for speeding up the growth status of this industry.”
Manav Kapur, managing director, Steelbird International, says, “The company has diversified its product portfolio and is continuously increasing its market penetration in domestic as well as international markets with its innovative auto components, and Steelbird’s tyres and tubes are already doing well in entire north India, including UP, MP, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi-NCR, Kerala and Northeast. Also, Steelbird International already complies various quality standards such as ISO/TS 16949:2009; OHSAS 18001:2007; ISO 14001:2004; ISO 9001:2008, now, it is working in collaboration with Japan’s leading manufacturer of rubber components and industrial materials, Fujikura Rubber. As Fujikura is competent with R&D facilities, marketing and sales is the core strength of Steelbird, which mean the two brands are the best fit for each other. This strategic partnership is a big boon for the market as well.”
Research & Development
In the past decade, there has seen substantial growth of Indian companies not just nationally but also globally. Products made in India are not only technologically advanced but also made of good quality. “Currently we at AMPL India do not have a formal R&D setup, while through R&D we firmly believe that great products are created. We are focusing to develop a state-of-the-art R&D setup in house in the company itself to turn up more progressively to consistently deliver the right kind of product at right price while scaling up the production and meeting the expectations and delivery for our customers. Additionally at this point of time, we do follow standard parameters such as 5S, 6 Sigma, Kaizen, and various other lean management parameters to ensure that we do the right justice with our customers serving them premium quality plastic furniture,” adds Aggarwal.
Moiz Gabajiwala, CEO, Zephyr Toys, avers, “We do not have a period-specific budgeting mechanism on the R&D part but instead focus on a product and product line based budgets for R&D. Certain periods demand higher revenue pumping into the R&D team over others. To reach an R&D budget we consider the value per unit and units of expected sales along with the sales channel and the competition. Another factor that comes in play is the gut feel. A product and numbers might not support the budget provided but instead, the expectations and length of product life cycle might be a bigger factor. Rounding off we first decide a certain value that we want to spend on a product/range or and then go ahead from there.”
Costing cues
Cost competitiveness through shorter run times and productivity improvement are key deliverables. Geared toward continuous improvement, the agile methodology can greatly increase prospects for cost competitiveness and success. Increased flexibility, productivity, transparency and higher quality deliverables through better technology always kicks in to deliver the best results in the shortest amount of time. Citing examples from AMPL India, high tech driven machines efficient in terms of electricity consumption as well as productivity enhancement, right kind of mould, skilled labourers give benefits of better and timely output, cost effectiveness and a quality product so that they can sustain and grow meeting their customers’ expectations. “Shorter runs have now become the norm. This is due to the fact that today we have a lot of options and alternatives. With shorter runs, the production becomes more expensive and ultimately this impacts the cost to the end consumer. Thus the product has less value and the cycle continues. In our industry the run lots or the pieces per production lots are small, that is why the similarity of products is extremely important. Of course, economies of scale reduce the cost, but when markets demand a larger variety then the production lots are smaller,” explains Gabajiwala.
However to keep costs down and to gain the benefits of economies of scale, they focus on keeping the production process similar. There is a quick and as minimalist change as possible to a production line for a changeover. This gives them a little bit more productivity for a slightly lower cost over a complete change of production style and process. For example, they have multiple sets of MECHANIX, like MECHANIX 1, MECHANIX 2, MECHANIX Basic etc. Each share similar parts and similar production process, this enables us to make smaller lots of each set and still be able to make multiple sets. And we manage to retain the benefits of Economies of scale purely due to the fact that the inventory is interchangeable and the production process is either extension or reduction of another item with almost no change.
Make in India
Today, India’s credibility is stronger than ever as the country has a huge density, demographic dividend, huge consumption capacity and increasing market demand etc. Initiatives in alignment with GOI’s agenda towards the push for ‘Make in India ‘ initiative encourages private initiatives and MSME Entrepreneurs to deliver sustainable products that are inclusive of meeting the global standards and make globalization a positive force to tentatively move and encourage the capital-goods imports.
In the coming years, there is visible momentum, energy and optimism. Make in India will surely open investment doors and according to me world’s largest democracy is well on its way to become the world’s most powerful economy. Manufacturing currently contributes just over 15% to the national GDP. The aim of this campaign is to grow this to a 25% contribution as seen with other developing nations of Asia. In the process, the government expects to generate jobs, attract much foreign direct investment, and transform India into a manufacturing hub preferred around the globe. “The make in India campaign will lead to an increase in exports and manufacturing.
An increase in exports will improve the economy and India will be transformed into a global hub of manufacturing through global investment using the current technology. It will lead to the creation of many job opportunities. It will welcome more FDI. Since the government had promised to improve the ease of running businesses in India, it is going to attract many FDI. Through Make in India more companies are looking to set up factories, a unit known as “Invest India” is in the process of being put to place. This unit will be under the department of commerce and will be available any time to make it easy to carry out regulatory clearance within the shortest time possible ensuring that businesses are run in India easily,” says Gabajiwala. With industries looking at CNC machining, rapid tooling, high speed machining and super smooth surface technology in manufacturing and focusing on quality it certainly seems that the future of this industry is indeed bright. And therein lies India’s competitive edge.