PG Jadeja tells manufacturing today the initiatives the association has taken for the machine tool industry.
by Jayashree Kini-Mendes
A significant chunk of machine tools (about 56%) is imported into the country. How can India build capacities and reduce the gap between demand and supply?
India is a large consumer of machine tools. But the domestic machine tool industry holds only around 40% market share. This is due to user industries dependence on imports for several types of machine tools. Horizontal machining centres, cylindrical grinding machines, milling and boring machines and gear cutting machines are mainly imported due to the complex nature of these machines. The primary mission of the domestic industry is to arrest this erosion of market share which in turn will make the industry improve its other characteristics and help in strengthening its position globally.
India’s machine tool industry has a strong design and manufacturing competence for a wide range of products. As India’s machine tool industry becomes more tech savvy and uses the latest technologies to produce high quality end products, including manufacturing of critical mechanical and electronic elements that are the heart of CNC machines, at competitive prices the gaps with the ones manufactured overseas will be naturally bridged. The focus should be on technology, new products, and innovation. This will help strengthen our market position further in the future.
In the past, India’s machine tool industry had been subject to technology denials but as business relationships improve with other countries, there are high expectations. For the betterment of the industry, IMTMA is also batting for:
– Reducing excise duty on machine tools
– Exempting or reimbursing excise duty to small scale manufacturers
– Allowing higher rate of depreciation at 25% on Indian machine tools
– Treating machine tools as priority sector for financing
– Reducing the prevailing interest rates from 14-16%
– Helping the machine tool industry through soft loans/interest free long-term loans to acquire companies overseas which use advanced technology
– Adopting development contracts for advanced technologies for user industries such as defence, railways, aerospace, large public sector undertakings, etc. for reducing dependence and strengthening manufacturing technology security for
the country
– Including machine tools in the list of items for meeting offset trade obligation which will give thrust to export of machine tools, and
– Promoting the India engineering brand overseas for growing exports.
How can advanced manufacturing help the growth of this sector and how can this industry look at smart manufacturing to connect the various processes of business enterprises?
India has a decent demand for machine tools. The demand for goods and services is high. To serve this burgeoning population it is essential for manufacturers to adopt and adapt to internet and digital technologies. Internet has changed the way we lead our lives and manufacturing cannot remain untouched by it. Aided by digital technologies, manufacturing can see improvement in production process and supply chain. All such processes need data. Industry 4.0, for example, converts data into information and then into knowledge in real time. This makes the process more productive, flexible, and improves quality. Man, machine and material are inter-connected and can talk to each other through enablers such as internet of things. This will elevate our manufacturing industry to global levels. To address and understand the real-time benefits and applications of automation in Smart Manufacturing, IMTMA is organising a Symposium on Smart Manufacturing in February 2017.
Could you tell us about some of the policy initiatives by the government that has helped this sector become a global player?
Over the last couple of years, IMTMA has taken the following steps:
a. Creation of a fund under the Technology Acquisition Fund Programme in order to help the capital goods industry to acquire and assimilate specific technologies, for achieving global standards and competitiveness within a short span of time. The Fund can extend partial support to the industry to enhance their technology level, for achieving superior product quality/functionality, production capacity, safety and sustainability in performance.
b. Establishment of integrated industrial infrastructure facilities for the machine tool industry with an objective of making this sector more competitive for production. Establishment of a park will be a step forward in making the sector cost effective, enhance export capability and attract investment.
c. India has raised FDI from 26% to 49% in certain key industries like Defence and Railways to attract investments. Setting up new plants might see a rise in demand for machine tools in future. Make in India initiative is likely to provide a fillip to India’s manufacturing sector which currently contributes about 16% of the GDP. FDI into India touched the highest ever mark of $51 billion in FY16 according to DIP.
Considering that Skill India has made considerable inroads, how can an association like IMTMA that has already set up a finishing school look at increasing productivity standards and in all aspects of machine tools and production technology?
To focus on the skilled manpower requirement by industry – both the machine tool sector as well as users created IMTMA Technology Centres at Bengaluru in 2009, Pune in 2014 and Gurgaon in 2016. The centres are equipped with state-of-the-art training facilities including CNC turning and machining centres, metal forming presses, CAD/CAM/CAE, CMM and Metrology equipment, cutting tools and other accessories for imparting hands-on training.
IMTMA’s Design Institute in Bengaluru, Pune and Gurgaon imparts design training skills in machine tool and its components for fresh engineering graduates and industry fresh hires.
Design Institute runs very comprehensive training programmes on Machine Tool Design – Mechanical (8 weeks) and Machine Tool Design – Electrical (4 weeks) to make them industry ready. Earlier this year, IMTMA opened new Design Institutes in Pune & Gurgaon.
The Productivity Institute at Bengaluru runs a four-week Finishing School to give engineers hands-on training on CNC machines, CAD/CAM, Metrology Equipment, Tooling and work holding systems and related accessories. The course makes fresh engineers and new recruits to the industry ready with practical knowledge to take on production responsibilities.
Whereas the Tech Centre in Bengaluru focuses on imparting training in metal cutting, the Tech Centre in Pune focuses on metal forming technology.