IMTEX 2017, a 7-day event for the machine tools and accessories sector had a very successful run reflecting the optimism and buoyancy of the Indian manufacturing sector.

T he morning of January 26, 2017 – a public holiday on account of Republic Day – wore a festive look at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC). It was a pleasant morning and the hint of a drizzle remained just that, which, had it not fizzled, could have been a definite dampener. This turned out to be that one exhibition in recent years with an overwhelming response – and hopefully, a turning point for the manufacturing sector in India.

Yes, we are talking about IMTEX – the flagship event of the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) – South East Asia’s largest exhibition on metal cutting technologies. IMTEX 2017 and the concurrent event Tooltech 2017 was formally inaugurated by Shri Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister of Karnataka, at the BIEC Convention Centre. Present on the occasion were government officials and office bearers of IMTMA: Girish Shankar, Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry, GoI; D V Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce & Industries Department, Government of Karnataka; Dr Naushad Forbes, President, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII); Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman – Exhibitions, IMTMA; P G Jadeja, President, IMTMA; P Ramadas, VP, IMTMA; and V Anbu, Director General, IMTMA.

With over 1000 exhibitors in 6 halls covering an exhibition area of around 66,000 sq.m, this was by far the largest event in the IMTEX series since inception in 1969. Twenty-two countries including India participated in the show with 7 group participations from China, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, Taiwan and the United States. Numerous technologies such as hybrid machines, 3D printing, Industry 4.0, and many more were launched and displayed at this edition of IMTEX.

Inaugurating the exhibition, Karnataka Chief Minister, Shri Siddaramaiah said, “It is well known that machine tools are the backbone of manufacturing and a strong machine tool industry propels strong manufacturing which in turn spurs the economy.

Speaking on IMTEX’s formidable stature in Indian Machine Tools sector Mr Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman, Exhibitions – IMTMA said, “two years from now we will be celebrating the 50th year of IMTEX. The main objective of IMTEX is to demonstrate and showcase different manufacturing technologies and innovations to enable the manufacturing companies and industries to take decisions on what they need to meet their current and future requirements.”

To further provide impetus to machine tools industry IMTMA is working closely with NITI Aayog and DHI in giving shape to the future technological initiatives and R&D efforts for the machine tool industry.

Speaking on opportunities for machine tools sector Mr P G Jadeja, President IMTMA said, “The Aero-Defence sector presents an attractive growth opportunity. To tap this IMTMA has launched an initiative and formed the Aero-Def Group to bring our members closer to this important customer segment and work out development and marketing strategies.”

The IMTMA-Premier Outstanding Entrepreneur Award in memory of Vinod Doshi was given in the inaugural function. Mr Milind Kelkar and Mrs Mohini Kelkar, from Grind Master won the award.

With dozens of machines ranging from small lathes to large machining centres and 5-axis machines, Bangalore-based BFW at the very entrance of Hall 1 welcomed the visitors with the launch of its latest Vertical Turning Centre – Sudarshan BVL-400H. The company with over 50 years machine tool building expertise, and one of the largest in the business in India with capacity to manufacture up to 2000 units a year, also launched the XTRON VMC-series with the X factor for machining. But the company is not resting on its laurels and announced a tie-up with GMTK Multi-Process Machining S.A, a Spanish manufacturer of high technology turn-mill centres (horizontal & vertical), to manufacture these machines in India under the Make in India initiative, for making India the manufacturing hub of the world. The company thus aims at filling up a crucial gap and develop machines for heavy-duty components typically being used in energy, defense, process plants, ship building and aerospace segments.

There was a spate of new launches. Renishaw, a world leader in precision engineering technologies, unveiled a range of new metrology and additive manufacturing equipment, in the presence of Dominic McAllister, the British Deputy High Commissioner, Bengaluru. Mr McAllister praised Renishaw’s long term commitment to India which has been hugely beneficial to both the company and the local economy. He said: “Renishaw has been doing business in India since 1983 and today it employs 350 highly skilled people across the country, including a wholly owned subsidiary here in Bangalore and a large facility in Pune.” The company has in June 2016 opened an Additive Manufacturing Solutions Centre at Pune. At IMTEX 2016, it introduced the RenAM 500M additive manufacturing system, which has been fully designed to be used for serialised production of complex metal components directly from CAD using metal powder fusion technology.

Lapp India, a 100% subsidiary of the Lapp Group Germany and a leading supplier of integrated solutions and branded products in the field of cable and connection technology in India, launched Epic® Smart, the industrial rectangular connector designed and manufactured in Asia for the Asian customers with the promise of high performance at a cost-effective price.

Showcasing its Integrated Engineering approach at IMTEX 2017, Siemens demonstrated how machine tool industry can respond faster to the needs of the market, increase their flexibility to meet the customer’s individual requests and also develop products efficiently. “Siemens follows a holistic approach towards digitalisation. In the machine tool space, we focus on three main areas through the lifecycle of the machine tool, which is build (during production), operate (during operation) and optimize (of the process/machine tool), said Ashish Bhat, Country Division Lead, Digital Factory, Siemens India.

The DMG MORI Group, one of the largest machine tool builders in the world producing around 10,000 units a year, and one of the largest suppliers of aerospace machines, introduced several new technologies at IMTEX including a completely redesigned, third generation of the DMC V series of vertical machining centres. Addressing the media on Day Two of IMTEX 2017, Mr Christian Thones, Chairman, Executive Board, said, “India has tremendous growth potential. We have had a good 2016 in India and expect 2017 to be better. I am quite happy we are having strong growth in India, perhaps the strongest worldwide, and having an installed base of close to four hundred 5-axis machines, are looking at a future where it is not just about products but solutions. Other areas of interest for the company are ultrasound machines, laser tech machines and precision tools.” Though the company has no manufacturing facility in India as yet, it has a Technology Centre at Bangalore, besides a complete spindle repair centre, a fixturing department and local technology and parts sourcing programme.

With 36 machines on display, the Ace Micromatic Group, the No. 1 machine tools player in the country with a turnover of Rs 1186 crore in 2016, had the largest booth at IMTEX 2017 under the theme ‘Technology Creating Value’. The group comprises of Ace Designers (CNC lathes, chuckers and special turning solution), Ace Manufacturing Systems (vertical and horizontal machining centres) and Micromatic Grinding Technologies (CNC and hydraulic grinder) – all three machine tool manufacturing companies; Pragati, which specialises in machine tool automation accessories like tool turrets; and Ace Manufacturing Intelligence Technology (AmiT), specialising in software and hardware products and solutions for production. “The Ace Micromatic Group is concentrated on small machines like auto lathes – the Jobber series being a real volumes business with standard machine, mainly used in the automobiles segment. India now has a complete eco-system for manufacturing small cars and is one of the leading players in this segment globally,” says T K Ramesh, CEO, Micromatic Machine Tools Pvt Ltd. At IMTEX 2017, the group launched two new machines, AMS HMC 400XL – a twin spindle horizontal machining centre and Micromatic Grinding IG-150, both armed with MachineConnect™, a LAN operated machine control software that was also formally launched during the exhibition, but which has already been in use for some time now. MachineConnect enables better production, machine uptime, and profits.

If the Ace Group had a massive display, Acumac Machine Tools Pvt Ltd, a company with over 50 years of legacy – it started in 1965 as a supplier to HMT – had a smaller display with spindles – an Acumac specialisation – and a high precision CNC internal grinding machine with oscillating job, an innovative feature. “Our spindles are supplied to OEMs around the world. The customised CNC grinding machines manufactured by us have attracted significant attention and in this segment we are competing with top machines from Europe,” said C S Patil, Managing Director. With two manufacturing sites, it has a small dedicated customer base from sectors as diverse as automobiles, aerospace, wind power and railways, among others, who keep the company firmly on the growth path.

When the FFG Group of Taiwan, one of the fastest growing groups in the business, acquired the MAG Group in 2015, FFG-MAG became a global conglomerate ranked No. 3 in the world in the machine tool business with revenue of USD 2.5 bn. With over 50 factories across the world –Taiwan, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, China, Switzerland, India and the US – and 39 brands, the group has an eclectic mix of products from well-known brands such as Germany’s Huller Hille, Hessap and VDF Boehringer; Ikegai (Japan); Jobs and Rambaudi (Italy); as well as Fair Friend and Feeler (Taiwan). No wonder the company had several machines on display at IMTEX 2017. “We try to offer the best solutions to the industry, mainly the automobile sector, but also aerospace and railways, and have three plants in India where we are mainly into developing parts for the machines,” says Dr Manfred Berger, Executive Vice President, Global Business Development. “The company also assembles Feeler and Leadwell machines in India and will soon manufacture a couple of models exclusively in the country for the global market,” he added.

UCAM, a pioneer in indigenous manufacturing of rotary tables and indexing tables, had a large display of these in standard and special models, in direct drive and cantilever tables, which have a global market. UCAM also offers 4- and 5-axis solutions. The company has a subsidiary in Germany that caters to the European market with its high end range. UCAM also has two other business units – Nimble Electric for torque motors and Nimble Machines that manufactures high precision gear hobbing machines in the Noah Series, which have been well received in the market. “All our products are developed indigenously based on the efforts of pour in-house R&D unit, which is recognised by the Department of Science & Industrial Research,” says Indradev Babu, Managing Director.

As the name makes if amply clear, United Grinding is all about grinding, and the group has 8 specialised brands – Mägerle, Blohm and Jung for surface grinders; Studer, Schaudt and Mikrosa for ID/OD and cylindrical grinding; and Walter and Ewag for tool grinding and measurement machines. With a variety of models on display, the company is a solutions provider for all grinding needs as also eroding, laser finishing and combined finishing. “We are present in the Indian market with all 8 brands and have a Tech Centre at Bangalore with several demo machines,” says Winfried Przybyl, Director, India and Russia. At United Grinding, the customer comes first and the emphasis is on training and educating the customer and convincing the benefits of investing in high precision and reliable machines, where the cost is higher than the competition. The fact that all its machines are imported adds to high taxes and the company hopes the GST roll out will bring in some rationalisation. “In India the concept of automation is a little different. Unmanned machining is not yet popular as it is elsewhere, but automation is gaining ground,” says Philippe Selot, Manager Marketing-Communication. All machines from the company are Industry 45.0 compliant.

The resurgence in Indian machine tool industry was evident at the booth of HMT, the pioneer in machine tools in India and also the first to introduce CNC machines. The company had three new machines on display – Stallion 200, a turning centre with C-axis for high precision turned parts; GGM 250, a first of its kind gear grinding machine for which the company has applied for a patent; and VTL 1000 – a vertical turning lathe and machine. In addition, the company also showcased it CNC system package HMT-NUM, manufactured under technical collaboration with NUM AG of Switzerland.

At the booth of EMAG India, the focus was on higher flexibility in mass production. The company had on display several machines, including the modular VL series built on a common machine base but with a wide range of technologies, similar to the modular platform systems seen in the automotive industry. This series has machines for turning, gear hobbing, and chamfering processes, among others. “We have machines cover a whole lot of applications including laser machining, electro-chemical machining as well as heat shrinking, besides end-to-end turnkey solution in gears,” said Ashok H S, National Sales Manager.

Meiban Engineering Technologies showcased the MW40 twin gantry model MW40, a highly precise turning machine in a compact size to accommodate high precision components in automotive and electrical industries. “These machines are made in Japan, assembled in India, and provide complete turnkey solutions, says A V Srinivasan, CEO. The Kennametal Group had a large display area divided between three brands – Kennametal and Widia in cutting tools and Widma for machines. Widma had on display the Ecogrind Crystal, a 5-axis CNC tool and cutter grinding machine, a 3-in-1 unit for grinding of PCD/CBN tools + insert grinding + carbide tools. “We are the largest manufacturer of cutting tools in India in for turning, milling and metal working, and the manufacturing plant here is a totally integrated facility, a version of the plant in Germany,” says Prashant Shetty, Director – Commercial, Widia India at Kennametal India Limited.

Machine tools also need a lot of peripherals and here U-Tech Associates had in interesting product mix of automatic tool changers, coolant management products and peripherals like CNC rotary tables, automatic pallet changer, turrets, telescopic covers, chip conveyors, etc. An innovative, indigenously designed chip compactor called Briketto was on display at the U-Tec booth. “The hydraulic compaction process in this machine removes up to 90% oil from the chips, making the briquettes suitable for further processing directly for feeding into the foundry,” said Anant U Deshpande, Executive Director.

As the even came to an end, IMTMA released some important figures pertaining to the exhibition, which attracted a footfall of 75,440 visitors, making it an average of over 10,000 per day for the week long show. Orders worth Rs 1,670 crore and enquiries to the value of Rs 18,989 crore were generated during the exhibition.