Brett Allard, Acting Director of Sales – Renishaw India, on Renishaw’s high productivity machining cell and how measurement data and connectivity can enable highly automated accurate manufacturing.

What are the products you are bringing at IMTEX 2017?

Renishaw are bringing products from the full range of our Metrology offer, from calibration products to machine tool probing solutions and CMM equipment. Of particular interest will no doubt be our metal Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) solutions, in which we are showing our latest technology, the RenAM500 platform which promises to deliver a step change in using additive technology in serial production environments. In total we are showing products from the following product lines: Encoder, Calibration, Machine Tool probing, CMM, Equator gauging system, styli & fixturing as well as the additive manufacturing systems mentioned previously. As is traditional, we are using IMTEX to launch a number of products into the Indian market.

We will be launching the SPRINT machine tool probing system (which brings exceptional, high-speed, high-accuracy scanning to CNC machine tools); non contact vision probes for our REVO® multi-sensor CMM system; Modus 2 metrology software suite brings new levels of clarity and efficiency to the programming and operation of CMMs; the VIONiC digital encoder range, which has been designed to reduce overall system size to the minimum achievable for a high-performance system and finally, the new XM-60 multi-axis calibrator at IMTEX. The XM-60 is capable of measuring all six degrees of freedom from a single set-up, in any orientation for linear axes.

Additionally, we are demonstrating a closed loop future production cell, combining a number of our products into Renishaw’s high productivity machining cell. This will use the machining of an enclosure housing to show how measurement data and connectivity can enable highly automated accurate manufacturing with low overall labour costs to be realised.

The cell will demonstrate the effects of machine tool performance on the quality of parts produced, and show how manufacturers can monitor and control their machines to ensure they are capable of producing good parts. Renishaw will also demonstrate rapid automated setting of tools and workpiece location using standard user-programmable cycles. So, in summary it would be fair to say that we are launching a lot of products and concepts to the market which makes IMTEX 2017 an exciting prospect for us to further demonstrate our capability and expertise in helping Indian manufacturing improve quality and productivity.

The global machine tool industry is now adopting the concepts of Industry 4.0. Is the Indian industry ready for this?

Absolutely – in fact I believe that now is the best time to be adopting these more advanced manufacturing techniques. With living standards and costs increasing in India, and a desire to be a global player in manufacturing the focus will need to shift towards more automation and productivity in order to remain competitive with lower cost economies. If we wait until business is being shifted away from India then it is too late, so better to act now and maintain the competitive advantage before it becomes eroded. Industry 4.0 is spoken about a lot, but in my experience no two people are able to give the same description of exactly what it means to them. At Renishaw we interpret this to be mainly about data driven and closed loop manufacturing process – applying data to improvements in the manufacturing process through connectivity. Our closed loop production cell at IMTEX will demonstrate this perfectly, and show just how much benefit can be obtained through applying techniques using standard equipment that many Indian companies already have invested in.

What is the demand status at the moment? India is also a large importer of machine tools.

For us at Renishaw we still see India as a significant growth market. Much of our product is imported into the market having already been fitted to machine tools at time of manufacture, so being able to exactly quantify the growth isn’t possible. However, it is fair to say that our direct sales channel has seen significant growth over the past few years, and that present demand is at record levels. We are seeing increasing confidence in the manufacturing sector, helped in no small part by the Make in India strategy, and also increasing demand as a result of a desire to improve quality and productivity in the market. It is true though that many machine tools remain imported into India – particularly at the higher end of the market, however, recent discussions I have had with a number of the Indian manufacturers give me confidence that they will move to close this gap. The biggest challenge here may be persuading the western automotive manufacturers and supply chain to change their brand loyalty – as they often stick with their preferred manufacturer of choice from their home market where the production process is proven.

Has the government initiative of Make in India resulted in any increase in demand?

Yes, as per the point I make above, it has unified industry and as a result has improved confidence. Confidence tends to improve investment, and investment improves output – so it is definitely having an impact. The wider government strategy of investing in infrastructure projects, defence and aerospace (to name a few) are also seeing a requirement for investment in more advanced manufacturing capacity. All of this is good news for the industry in general. Renishaw is fortunate to both benefit directly from this and contribute, as we have a manufacturing facility based in Pune, so increased India demand means that our facility becomes busier, meaning we have to invest more directly in India.

What are the problems machine tool manufacturers have to face?

Well, as Renishaw are not a direct manufacturer of machine tools, my view on this is one of being a key technology supplier into the machine tool industry. I would suggest that the biggest single issues in the Indian market at present are price pressure and coverage – many companies are looking to India as a major growth market, and as a result competition is fierce. Whilst this offers consumers excellent value presently, it may erode service levels if companies have to adjust their cost base to keep up with price expectations. The ability to cover such a large geographic area within acceptable timescales to customers also demands quite a dense regional support structure, as presently the infrastructure does not allow for rapid interstate travel. I believe that as infrastructure investment improves, and manufacturing productivity and margins increase then both of the issues will subside.

What are the expectations from the government?

I can’t say that I have had any direct discussions on this subject, but the message I take from all of the Make in India work is pretty clear – keep doing business in India, continue to invest and have confidence that the government is committed to making it easier to do business and increase the demand and capacity in the marketplace.

I’m confident that Renishaw has already played it’s part with our long standing manufacturing facility in Pune, and our ongoing investment and commitment to the market. This point was reinforced with the recent references to Renishaw made by the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May during her Trade mission visit, and the visit of the UK Business Secretary, Dr Liam Fiox to our Pune Manufacturing facility in the same week.