Kindly brief us about your company.
We are the Indian subsidiary of the global leaders in workholding, clamping and fixture automation for the shopfloor especially related to CNC machines, presstools, robotics etc. AMF-Germany has been in existence from 1890 in Fellbach, close to Stuttgart in Germany. In India we do not have a manufacturing facility but have been distributing and servicing the industry and our customers for more than a decade with the latest products and solutions from our parent companies in Germany.

How was your performance in FY23? What were your standout achievements in FY23?
Our business has been growing YoY steadily amongst all CNC machine users in India who choose to maximise output and reduce downtime in their manufacturing set-ups, thus increasing productivity dramatically and significantly decrease production costs. We have executed satisfactorily many major projects amongst the key machine tool manufacturers from Europe, Japan, US and also from India and SE Asia.

What is your current assessment of India's manufacturing industry?
The Indian manufacturing industry has a very bright future and outlook as it is complemented with a highly trained technical workforce who is rich in software experience as well as in hardware output. A lot of the "majors” have shifted their R&D bases to India and will continue to cash in on the high degree of sophistication in the skill levels available within the country. Engineers , technicians and an environment structured to boost trade skills is widespread and many of the global manufacturers have started to realise the amazing depth of our infrastructure in these areas.

How can India become more competitive globally?
Our industrial outlook and ease of doing business needs to be reviewed along with labour law reforms to enable us to develop the full potential of our capabilities.

Are the government policies such as Make in India, PLI schemes, etc to boost the manufacturing industry's growth, working on the ground?
Government policies are certainly the catalysts for our growth in the last decade, however greater incentives, transportation infrastructure, manufacturing hubs, etc along with a robust revision and updation of our industrial infrastructure systems and practices would certainly aid in propelling growth and capabilities.

What steps has your company taken to address issues related to adoption of sustainability and modern technologies?
We would be in the forefront of these practices as being an international leader we already are familiar with these initiatives in our facilities in Germany.

What kinds of trends are you seeing in the market at present? How is your company gearing up to tap these trends?
Greater automation, additive manufacturing, complete solution engineering, use of robotic technologies, electrically powered prime movers, green technologies etc are becoming commonplace and AMF is sensitive to adapt to these advances right in the initial phases itself.

What are your expectations and growth plans for FY24?
We are adding greater value in our product and system offerings in the country and will increase the quantum of local content in the future plus ramp up our service and sales capabilities significantly.