Hoffman plans to replicate European model in India
The Hoffmann Group, Europe’s leading system partner for quality tools, is seeing a promising future in the Indian market. With this in mind, the company is building its team and developing the infrastructure here. Known for its reliable and quality tools for machining, clamping, measuring, grinding and cutting tools, the group is present in India through its own subsidiary, Hoffmann Group India.
“It has grown to 50 employees in 2 years and that is a sign we are investing greatly in the country. Headquartered in Pune, we are currently in the first phase of our growth in tier-I cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi while simultaneously expanding the second phase of being present in tier-II cities like Coimbatore and Ahmedabad,” Hoffmann India, Director, Ulrich Magnus Öfele, said. “We have a sustainable growth over here and we want our tool catalogue to be accessed by customer at every shop in India just like in the European market. We also have a huge support from our head office,” he added.
Just at the start-up phase in India, the company is a €1.2bn company, globally. In India, they also supply hand tools and workstations and storage along with machining consulting expertise for the manufacturers. For the price-sensitive Indian market, the Hoffmann Group offers premium quality tools in an outstanding price-performance ratio and consulting services to enable the customers to use the tools longer and more efficiently. The group entered the Indian market in 2016 and had quite a successful journey, so far. As Europe’s leading system partner for quality tools, the Hoffmann Group combines commercial expertise with both manufacturing and service competence. To more than 135,000 customers, this combination guarantees reliability in supply, quality and productivity in the tooling sector, the workstations and storage sector and also in the personal protective equipment sector. Alongside tools for machining, clamping, measuring, grinding and cutting, the portfolio also comprises hand tools, protective work-wear, workstations, and storage and workshop accessories. Customers include major listed companies as well as medium-sized and small companies in more than 50 countries. Including GARANT, its own premium brand, the Hoffmann Group offers 80,000 quality tools from the world’s leading manufacturers.
New trends
About the new trends they witness in the market, Ulrich said,” There is a lot of niche
development in our home market in Germany. Some of them are digitalisation, Industry 4.0 etc. Digitalisation is there in the market and it is also changing the structure in the procurement of tools in the tooling market. Industry 4.0, is also led by digitalisation. These are the mega trends in the market. The other major changes we see is at the pattern how customers, think about production, layout production and how they layout generic tools supply. In India, we are planning to serve the customers the same way as we do in our co-markets. We are playing to our strengths, where we offer a comprehensive selection of our own products combined with a distribution model. Because, Hoffmann believes in giving the customer a choice, they can build around them. The service model and dimension we provide will be an example of that. In our co-markets, our customers sit with the experts in cutting tools, e-business process etc., to bring in the product that they require.”
Latest technologies
With new technologies like the 3D printing coming into the market, the director said that they are aware of this and have seen those trends. He feels 3D printing is connected to another megatrend, EVs. According to him, electric vehicles will not come overnight and it may take some time. The possibility here is to combine 3D printing and machining. Though this might involve less machining, this could prove to be more optimistic. The company spoke to its customer on how they can offer tools in each new technologies and in a reliable way to them. Electric motors require components and there is more space to participate in them through digitalisation, Industry 4.0 in terms of connectivity.
Recently, using Parabolic Performance Cutting (PPC) from the Hoffmann Group, Koller Formenbau reduced its finishing operation time by 85%. With PPC, Koller has not only reduced the finishing operation time for tool moulds and mould plates by 85%, but it has also improved the surface quality. In the tranquil Altmühltal, between Ingolstadt and Nuremberg, Koller Formenbau GmbH develops and manufactures tools, injection tools and lightweight components. Speaking about this, the director said, “This is actually how we literally reduce time by cutting tool strategy, PPC. This helps them to have a perfect finish and the moulds can be used longer. This is a special application where it can increase the process of the machining.“
About the competitions they face in the market, he said, “We have competitions across the globe. It is not something we have only in India. We have been successful for 100 years now and our approach is unique. This is because, we do not think of ourselves as a distributor or a manufacturer, or a service provider. We combine them uniquely and give customers as one strong system. The customer relies on us, as we deliver quality products. This makes us unique over here in the Indian market too.”