With machine tools industry going through change with new tooling needs due to the new BS VI regulations, exports can help stablise by the time automotive industry adapts to the situation. Jatin Shah (JS) and Rohit Shah (RS), Partners, Bhavya Machine Tools discus about machine tools industry demand from various industries and potentials of the export market.

 

How big is the machine tools industry of India?

 

RS: India is set to be a key player in the Machine Tools Industry. The fragmented industry, with a presence of several small, medium and large scale suppliers, is expected to grow at a rate of six per cent in 2020, with increasing demand from other developing countries. The industry is growing at an exponential rate and is presently estimated at around 6000 crore. Indian manufacturers, will need to develop capabilities to cater to the demand and investments in this area which will yield to long 

term benefits. 

 

Which industries show higher demands for machine tools?

 

RS: Machine tools are considered a strategic industry segment. It is part and parcel of manufacturing, particularly discreet manufacturing segments such as automobiles, defence, railways, plastic machinery, medical electronics and white goods. Any industry cannot achieve a high level of excellence without the machine tools segment being strong.

 

JS: India is looking at getting into high-end manufacturing in sectors like railways, defence and aerospace. Automotive will become bigger, while medical electronics is also expected to grow. All these would require machine tools playing an important role in productivity. There is also the need to deal with larger-sized components and higher accuracy. Imports play a major 

role in today’s manufacturing technology requirement. 

 

Automotive industry contributes highest revenue to the machine tools market. Rapidly increasing usage of various tools in the automotive manufacturing sector and increasing demand for wheels, gearbox cases, piston rods and engine locks will boost the growth of the market. As per the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, more than 9,50,00,000 vehicles were manufactured in the year 2018. Moreover, the production is estimated to increase in future. The evolution of electric vehicles will also contribute to the growth of the machine tools market. Apart from the automotive sector, the aerospace & defence sector is also expected to boost the growth of the machine tools market as a result of large amounts of air-crafts and weapons manufactured worldwide.

 

RS: The automobile industry runs in a repetitive mode so it requires batch production. There is a need for an automated system in such an industry that can produce bulk products at a regular interval and all these products have to be the identical. Such recurring processes require automated machines and the example of such machines in the automobile industry is CNC milling. This machine works on metal piece parts by parts until the final product is obtained. Gearbox cases, engine cylinder heads are the parts manufactured using lathe machines which are used by automobiles.

 

Tell us how new technology will help develop overall improved performance?

 

JS: Our constant endeavour is on how emerging technology can be brought to India. Being innovative and catering to the unfulfilled gaps. There is a strong correlation between machine tools and manufacturing globally. If you lose your power in machine tool, you lose power in manufacturing technology and vice versa.

 

We believe in providing machinery that is efficient yet economical such that it gets the job done in the shortest time with least human interference hence increasing productivity of the customer. Using advance technology, attaining precision and specialised jobs becomes easy. It also increases speed of manufacturing. Machine tools being one of the popular industries, there are more tooling parameters and requirements while machining different set of requirements can be a daunting task. Here, automated workflows will help eliminate time to manually transfer machine from one end to other, speeding the process. 

 

Tell us about export potential of the machine tools?

 

RS: Sheet metal machines are devices used to cut, drill, and press and mold the hard metals into specific forms. Metals like aluminium, steel, copper, iron, brass or nickel required to be forged into sheets before they can be used.

 

There are seven Arab states of the Persian Gulf, which are Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, who have shown promising growth in the segment. 

 

There is a growing demand for lathe machines in several from in the countries located in the MENA Region. Several lathe machine manufacturers acoss the globe have been exploring it. India should take advantage of machine tools demand in Gulf.

 

The gulf countries have a several industries that use lathe-machine tools. For example, in United Arab Emirates, the oil & gas industry is massive. This industry drives the demand for machine tools in UAE. Since there are no local manufacturers, UAE depends on import for lathe machine tools. Firms in UAE do care a great deal for the cost of the machine; they stress on quality good quality machines. We are now going global with an office in Dubai.