The machine tool sector has been on edge for some time now. A critical sector to manufacturing, and one that is core to it, this sector needs a strong buoy to see it out of the depths. In fact, there are mixed feelings that emerge from the market. Last week, most four-, three- and two-wheeler manufacturers reported the highest ever sales in October. Looks like the market is bouncing back with a vengeance. And rightly so.
Praful Shende, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, BFW, says, “We have been seeing an uptick in sales since June. Though slow, it is better than April and May. I think this could be attributed to the resuming of operations in the automotive segment, especially in two-wheelers and tractors. In fact, we are quite close to pre-covid levels and that is a good sign.”
Besides automotive, times have shown the importance of investments in the healthcare infrastructure to meet contingencies, backed by the ability of the economy to sustain growth through other prominent sectors. Vijay Pratap Singh, Head, Motion Control, Digital Industries, Siemens, says, “Everything related to medical care is growing for obvious reasons and medical equipment segment is no exception. Automotive also seems to be growing. The inventories at automotive dealerships had risen during the early days of the pandemic. However, in anticipation of the festive season, they believe it is the right time for them to start maintaining good stocks.”
Recent reports suggest that the industry saw a 31% y-o-y growth in September and these are positive signs. A good monsoon is also driving farm sector growth and helping the economy in its own way. “I would also say there is an element of pent-up demand in the current situation. In fact, the general engineering sector is also witnessing good growth and electronics is an upcoming field. Machine tool, being the core of all industry, has a direct role to support the growing needs of these key sectors,” adds Singh.
Focusing on the ‘Make in India’ initiative, many manufacturers are making products locally that suit the Indian market needs and are primarily cost-efficient. Masaya Takeda, GM, CNC systems, Mitsubishi Electric India, says, “We have recently launched solutions that cater to electronics, medical equipment, die & mould and high-end turning. The professional packages for varied market segments aim at increasing production quality while focusing on making a self-reliant India. We have also reinvented the advanced solutions for our M80 series.”
The needs of manufacturing companies too have changed with COVID-19. Gururaj Patil, MD, EMAG India, says, “Earlier it was a labour-intensive work and this did well, considering the situation. Now, customers prefer automation and are willing to invest in areas that can be left to self-inspection, self-aligning and self-diagnostic machining lines. Customers are looking outward for business as automation is bringing in better quality standards and specifications and exports seem a better option due to weak domestic demand. The onset of BSVI domestically has boosted customers to invest in precision machinery where quality is guaranteed without human intervention and high productivity & throughput.”
At a time when most are positive about the revival in the auto sector, Rajesh Ghashi, MD, Chiron India Machine Tools, says, “We really do not believe that the automotive industry is picking up in sectors of automotive and medical. However, we have seen good sales in the agricultural sector because of good monsoon. The tractor industry has been doing well, while medical equipment provides a good opportunity for the machine tool industry. Today’s pandemic is providing the medical equipment industry with new opportunities.”
Vendors realise that the post effects of the lockdown are telling as much on customers as on them. Most have ensured continuous contact with customers and regular assistance. Pardeep Kumar Aggarwal, GM, Gleason Works (India), says, “In addition to customer services, we provide free “Gear Trainer Webinars” which we conduct on a weekly base as well as offering free support tools, such as the latest “Gear Calculator App”, a small little helper for daily gear calculation tasks. Our products, technologies and services are under constant development and adjustment to today’s production and manufacturing challenges. Closed Loop Manufacture, for instance, and production data analysis for the optimisation of workpieces themselves but also the whole process chain in a smart factory, have been developed and offered long before covid. The latest HFC-Hard Finishing Cell- is a great concept study which shows the benefits of an all integrated system, including efficient threaded wheel gear grinding, integrated automation and in-process inspection with the potential to certify the complete output for 100% quality.”
Fancier Tools
Among all the things that are ‘visible’ today among manufacturing companies is digitalisation. Singh of Siemens says, “Earlier, one saw a multiple-year gap between what was available as a technology in a developed world and India. These boundaries have disappeared. There is nothing that stops an Indian entrepreneur from using the latest technology and competes with anyone else. As one of the only organisations that can provide digitalisation solutions across the entire value chain, we see ourselves supporting the Indian manufacturing industry embrace this transformation to boost growth. We plan to scale up our digitalisation offerings for customers to realise the full potential of Industry 4.0 and also support our customers to develop new machine models for them to adapt to changing times and market dynamics.”
Many have also changed strategies. Takeda says, “We have reinvented the advanced solutions for the M80 series product and updated policies and services. We have revised and released a new extended warranty scheme for select CNC products. It includes the field support by our staff members, online support by our 24-hour service support team, provision for spare parts, and assurance of lifetime support.”
The lockdown meant that idle machines would also need to be looked at. Ghashi says, “Today, we provide plenty of digital solutions and remote diagnosis of machines. Also, online support where ever we are not able to be physically present and it’s working wonderfully. Online efficiency has also improved. On the marketing front, we are bringing in new technologies and innovative products to emerge stronger.”
Patil of EMAG is hopeful. He knows that medical equipment, government, agriculture, etc are growing segments and require high-end machining solutions. “While our presence with these sectors in India is quite low, we are optimistic as these sectors are looking at world-class manufacturing solutions that are reliable and quick in terms of seeking out volumes. We have special solutions for the power plants and refinery sectors which are most sought after in Europe, US and China markets. Definitely, we will deploy those solutions in India as well for the larger benefit of the infrastructure industry.”
There is much scope for machine tool vendors in the large infrastructure equipment market. Gleason sees this market strengthening at a good pace, in India and globally. Next to the KISSsoft design capabilities, Gleason has been building roughing and finishing machines and tooling for medium and larger gears for more than 100 years. “With the latest Power Skiving machines, we offer a highly efficient alternative for cutting and hard finishing of medium and large ring gears which are common elements in such drives.”
Say what may, the machine tool market will continue to dominate as projects get complex.