Plastics Machinery Manufacturers Association of India (PMMAI) believes in ‘co-opetition’ - a term denoting cooperation between competitors. It is true cooperation between all types of machinery manufacturers regardless of size, scale or given product portfolio. PMMAI works for plastics industry as a whole: including raw material producers, machinery manufacturers and plastics processors. It is a novel approach in India 

where industry can work together supported on three pillars of input materials, processing & converting equipment and processors & converters. In conversation with IPF, Mahendra N Patel, Chairman, PPMAI, elaborates more on co-opetition and importance of innovation & adoption of technology for the growth of the industry. 

 

How has been the performance of Indian plastics machinery industry? 

 

Indian plastics machinery industry is steadily growing at a rate of around 15 percent. However, there are presently new entrants that will expand and grow this industry dramatically over next 3-4 years. Many global players from Europe, Japan and China have set up or are in process of setting up shop with significant investments in manufacturing facilities in India. 

 

What are the key challenges before plastic machinery manufacturers in India?

 

Continuous improvement of quality is the first challenge to counter competition of global companies and for export markets. PMMAI is working closely with members to help. Besides traditional seminars and workshops, PMMAI is encouraging standardisation of materials and parts used across the industry which helps quality suppliers to have economy of scale for components that can improve quality of Indian machines. PMMAI is now represented on BIS standards for preparing national standards for plastics machinery which will further bring uniformity to plastics machinery specifications.

 

Second challenge is to invest in modern parts and component manufacturing and finishing facilities including latest production machines with flexible capabilities like materials handling equipment for preventing damage during assembly process; tooling for better reproducibility & interchangeability of parts; finishing processes for long-term surface protection with aesthetic value; and production technologies (including SQC, 5S etc) for consistent quality resulting in better efficiency. All these will lead to higher productivity. This will help to bring down costs and reduce delivery time of machines.

 

While ‘juggad’ may be useful for occasional problems requiring quick fix or overcoming resource constraint, it should never be the choice for quality manufacturing environment. Too often Indian manufacturers are guilty of celebrating virtue of juggad at cost of quality. Juggad mentality also distracts from devoting full attention to production practices that must be implemented, practiced and continuously monitored for consistent quality, reducing waste and avoiding delays. Faster delivery with consistent quality with high reliability is now most important competitive edge, surpassing machine price as decisive factor, especially for export markets.

Third challenge is to improve aesthetics of machines to match world class expectations. Paintwork, design of guarding, colour scheme, surface finish of components etc contributing to overall look of machines still need lot of attention.

 

Technology is not mentioned as a key challenge. Purely because it is a given, just like quality, to compete in modern age. While different levels of technology will have their respective market, there is only one standard for quality that must be met by any manufacturer to be successful.

 

Lastly, challenge is to train manpower for latest skills for parts manufacturing, machine assembly and troubleshooting to make right things at the first time, all the time.

 

What are the emerging trends in plastics machinery industry (globally & in India)?

 

Energy efficiency is the prime factor for evaluating machine economics. User-friendly machine controls interface, which integrates auxiliaries on a single screen is next important factor. There is the trend to use servo technologies for all motions to reduce mechanical components for easier control and better energy efficiency. There is a trend to focus on output speeds or cycle time for processing speed with consistent output quality, which leads to better productivity per unit of energy used and rupee invested for the customer.

 

Reliability of machine is equally important coupled with service and replacement part costs in case of an unlikely breakdown. There is a trend for more comprehensive warranties and to encourage AMC agreements for better up-time of machines.

 

What role does PMMAI play in fostering the growth of Indian plastics machinery industry?

 

PMMAI has created single platform for plastics machinery manufacturers including auxiliary equipment to share best practices and learn from each other. Term we use is ‘co-opetition’ - a term denoting cooperation between competitors. This is not industry cartel for output or price fixing. Simply because in today’s open economy that would never work. It is true cooperation between all types of machinery manufacturers regardless of size, scale or given product portfolio. 

 

It may surprise to many that PMMAI members regularly report their performance summary which is shared among members. This gives good indication of market trends, encourages dialogue within member companies for better performance - resulting in growth of all members in overall parameters of industry performance. It is better to navigate boat to a rising sea than to wait for rising sea to lift the boat!

 

We recognise that the government plays an important role in well-being and growth of any industry in India, regardless of liberalisation or ease-of-doing-business initiatives by the government. PMMAI has successfully petitioned government to recognise plastics machinery sector as an important, separate, stand-alone industry sector, independent of machine tools sector where it was earlier clubbed. We are thankful to IMTMA (Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association) for helping PMMAI to stand alone on own feet. This has lead to plastics industry specific policy formulation, better HS code definitions, rationalisation of import duties etc.

 

PMMAI is permanent invitee to all government-industry deliberation panels and meetings. This is not to say that we have got all that we want, but we constantly strive to represent industry issues so that they are not overlooked during policy making by government.

 

What is your outlook for Indian plastics machinery industry?

 

Outlook for Indian plastics machinery industry is positive given global growth prospects of plastics consumption. Acceptance of Indian plastics machinery is increasing globally as our machines are seen to offer better ‘value-for-money’, thus successfully competing with our biggest competitor - China.

Almost all our members are increasing their exports, besides traditional Africa markets, to more advanced markets like East Europe and beyond. 

 

Growth will be even better when Indian plastics processing industry recognises that it must expand its capacity more rapidly than so-called ‘Hindu rate of growth’ with exponentially higher investments. Regrettably, presently there is a trend for consolidation and mergers of processors rather than significantly large or green field projects introducing new products beyond traditional consumer items or capabilities. 

 

Further there is pressing need to build up product design capabilities to design and develop original products, especially suited to Indian culture and ethos than to adapt imported products. Hopefully efforts of the present government to encourage manufacturing of electronic items like mobile phones in India will inspire many processors to invest more aggressively in non-traditional products and processes. Plastics machinery manufacturers will of course have to develop processing equipment to make these new products. That is another avenue for faster growth of Indian plastics machinery industry. 

 

PMMAI actively interacts with plastics processors’ associations to promote this line of non-traditional thinking. With this Indian plastics machinery industry has no boundaries to its growth.