Machining industry scales up to match production needs

India’s ambitious drive for `Make in India’, depends heavily on the availability of world-class machine tools at competitive prices. This can be made possible only by manufacturing them in India. Hence it is necessary to `machine in India’ before ‘make in

Recognising that heavy engineering equipment and machine tools industry are the backbone of the entire manufacturing sector, the Union Department of Heavy Industries, has constituted Councils for the development of machine tools, textile machinery and construction and earthmoving machinery.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Government has announced plans to set up the country’s first Integrated Machine Tool Industry Park in Tumkur district at a cost of Rs 447 crore. The project at Hosa Narsapur, a joint venture between the Central and State governments, will come up on 500 acres with a Central grant of Rs 125 crore. The park will be a cluster of machine tool builders, makers of accessories, components and foundry, among others, and will help small and medium-scale enterprises to expand their manufacturing capacities. According to the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers Association, with emphasis on Make in India and manufacturing growth, for which the machine tools sector serves as the mother industry, the country is set to become a key player in the global machine tools industry and is likely to see substantial high-end machine tool manufacturing.

The Indian machine tool industry has around 1000 units in the production of machine tools, accessories/attachments, subsystems and parts. Of these, around 25 in the large scale sector account for about 70% of the turnover and the rest are in the MSME sector of the industry. Approximately, 75% of the Indian machine tool producers are ISO certified. While the large organised players cater to India’s heavy and medium industries, the small-scale sector meets the demand of ancillary and other units. Many machine tool manufacturers have also obtained CE Marking certification, in keeping with the requirements of the European markets.

Global production of machine tools during 2015 is estimated to be worth US $80.1 billion. Top five machine tool producing countries are China (27.6%), Japan (16.8%), Germany (15.5%), Italy (6.6%), and Korea (5.9%).

The leading 3 countries account for 61% of the global output. China, which installed about $ 27.5 billion worth of machine tools in 2015, is also the largest machine tool consuming country in the world. On per capita consumption basis Switzerland, Germany, South Korea, Slovenia and Austria topped the list.

Based on the 2016 Gardner Business Media survey report on world machine tool consumption, which comprised of 60 countries, India ranks 13th in production (0.9%) and 10th in consumption.

At present the Indian industry meets most of its machine tool requirements through imports. In 2015-16 India imported machine tools worth Rs.5945 crore All types of machines CNC, non-CNC, metal cutting, metal forming, used and new machines are imported to India from various countries. India also exported machine tools worth Rs 296 crore during 201516.

There is a huge gap between demand and supply of machine tools in India. The growing demand from India’s major industrial sectors like automotives and components, consumer durables, aerospace, offers tremendous opportunities for investment. As the industry is moving towards increasingly sophisticated CNC machines, driven by demand from the major user segments, technological upgradation also becomes an imperative.

There is a good scope for machine tool manufacturing in India by developing new capabilities making substantial investments, and by going for joint ventures and collaborations.

In the Cover Story of this edition, Auto Components India is taking a close look at some of leading players in the machine tool manufacturing and distribution sectors in the country that have scaled up to match the changing manufacturing needs.

The Germany-based EMAG Group covers the entire spectrum of machining processes in the metalworking industry. The companies under the EMAG umbrella offer the latest technological advances to optimise a manufacturing solution for every customer’s requirement. Active in the automotive, oil field, power generation, aerospace and large equipment industries, EMAG is a trendsetter in the field of vertical turning centres and multi-functional production machines. In India EMAG has bases in Noida, Pune and Chennai.

Another German machine tool company Gehring Technologies offers honing solutions for the automotive industry. With over 90 years of experience, the company manufactures and supplies machine tools in varying dimensions from diameter 0.8mm to 1000mm.

DMG Mori KTIENGESELLSCHAFT, one of Germany’s largest manufacturers of cutting machine tools and a leading global manufacturer of CNCcontrolled lathes and milling machines, has introduced a slew of new technologies in India. It has installed about 400 machines in the country so far. The company plans to increase its penetration levels. Towards this it had showcased a host of new machines at the recently conducted IMTEX.

Ace Micromatic Group is a large machine tool conglomerate in India with market presence in several other countries across Asia, Australia, Middle East, North and South America and Europe. The company which provides its customers

a one-stop shop for all machining needs specialises in the manufacturing of CNC controlled turning, milling and grinding machines along with subsystems like tool turrets, ATC etc. Ace Manufacturing Intelligence Technology (AMIT), the Ace Micromatic Group’s software company, has been bringing the power of automated IT solutions and IoT to manufacturing. Their products synergise the Group’s deep manufacturing domain knowledge and IT expertise.

Renishaw, a world leader in precision engineering technologies, has launched new range of metrology and additive manufacturing equipment recently. The new products announced are designed to meet the requirements of the advanced manufacturing sector in India; from the need to produce parts with increasing complexity and tighter tolerances, to the drive to reduce costs, to increase speed of operation and the requirement to improve the ease-of-use for new technology.

Bright Burnishing Tools Private Ltd. is a leading manufacturer and exporter of roller burnishing tools and machines. It is ISO 9001: 2000 quality certified for design, manufacture, marketing and service of all types of burnishing tools for the automotive and other industries. By 2020 the company wants to be a market leader and in line with that it is modifying its product range.

SMK Turnkey Solutions Private Ltd, the solutions provider for metal cutting machine technology, caters to the domestic and export markets with the work-hold systems, tool-hold systems and CNC peripherals.

SKB Machine Tools, a leading machine tool agency, represents companies like Nissei (Japan), IMM Maschinebau (Germany) and Kataoka (Japan) for sales and service of machine tools in the Indian market. The range of machines includes double disc grinding machines, centreless grinders, profile grinding machines, gear hobbers, gear grinders, cam grinding and milling machines and entire line of piston rings. They are high precision machines and are used for highly specialised operations.