Scheduled from January 23-28, 2014, IMTEX Forming will be held at BIEC Bangalore, now a permanent venue for the flagship IMTEX shows organised by IMTMA

To say that the fortunes of the Indian Machine Tools Industry are linked with that of Indian Manufacturing Sector is stating the obvious. This is universally true, as is the fact that no country in the world has grown stronger economically without gaining the manufacturing muscle. England, Germany and the USA are the early examples of this dictum and Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China the post World War II miracles.

It is one of those ironies of history that at the dawn of independence in 1947, India was in a much better position in the manufacturing stakes with liberal imports of contemporary machine tools from the UK and other European manufacturers. There was however a supply crunch during WW II, which in fact gave an impetus to the fledgling domestic machine tools industry machine in India which first, resulted in the formation of HMT in 1953 and simultaneously gave birth to a number of independent manufacturers. More manufacturers joined the segment during the 1980s as CNC machines gained in demand and popularity. But in the absence of a thriving manufacturing sector, there was simply no impetus for the machine tool industry to grow.

On the eve of IMTEX Forming 2014, the Indian machine tools industry remains cautiously optimistic, coming to terms with the slowdown in the automobile industry which remains its single largest customer accounting for 40 per cent of the consumption. This, after a decade of healthy growth has certainly been a dampener even as the industry remain upbeat on its near and long term future. The fact that the government has belatedly realised the importance of the manufacturing sector for a robust economy bodes well. Because no matter what is the contribution of the services sector, in a flat world, the exports have to ride on the back of a thriving manufacturing economy.

On the plus side, the Indian automobile industry is now globally competitive, and has witnessed investments from global manufacturers not only for domestic sales but also as a global manufacturing hub for select models. Clear of bottlenecks, the infrastructure sector is another force multiplier, as are the aerospace and aviation segments.

But apart from manufacturing woes, there is a serious case capacity constraints and lack of investments in high technology machine building. As a result, the Indian manufacturing sector depends heavily on imported machine tools, in both CNC and non CNC machines. As on date, roughly two-third of the requirement is met by imports, the major reason being the limited number of domestic players.

For the record, India ranks seventh in machine tools consumption globally in value terms and 13th in terms of production in value, with China, Germany and Japan dominating the top three positions in both the tables, amply demonstrating their technical prowess as well as manufacturing strengths.

IMTEX Forming 2014 is an exclusive business-to-business exhibition. For the last four years, the organisers, Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association (IMTMA), have split the show into Cutting and Forming, the two major classifications in the machine tools sector with the shows taking place in alternate years. The uniqueness of this IMTEX fair is about its focus: the exhaustive range of forming technologies in all engineering applications.

IMTEX Forming 2014 is a greatly expanded fair and includes all forming technologies predominantly in metals, plastics, ceramics, composites and exotic materials; manifestation of which has one ultimate objective: enabling manufacturing excellence through world-class productivity and cost-competitiveness.

The show as also flagship event of IMTMA, will layout the very latest machine equipment, processes, tools, accessories, software and raw materials as well as feed stocks required to manufacture formed parts in diverse engineering applications.

Forming technology forms an integral part of manufacturing in many industries and has contributed in the development of many new processing technologies, processing methods, machineries, tools and solutions to design and fabricate end products/finished goods.

To address the latest trends developments and research in forming technology, IMTMA is organising a one day "International Seminar on Forming Technology", on 22 January 2014 in Bangalore coinciding with IMTEX Forming 2014 exhibition. The seminar will focus on Sheet Metal Forming, Forging & Forming Technologies and Emerging Trends and will bring together the fraternity of forming technology on a common platform to discuss related issues.

Japanese company Murata Machinery Ltd is among the participants at IMTEX Forming 2014. The company is going to highlight its latest model, the Motorum M3048TG, a CNC servo motor driven ram turret punch press, among other exhibits. This new 30-tonne solution is based on the latest technology from the inventor of the electric turret punch press.

Prima Power, a new global brand born in March 2011 after the Prima Industrie Group of USA acquired the Finn-Power Group, of Finland, is a leading specialist in machines and systems for sheet metal working. The company now has a direct presence in India through a subsidiary and will be displaying some of its machines at IMTEX Forming 2014. It claims to have one of the widest offering in this field that covers all applications: laser processing, punching, shearing, bending, automation. Another global company coming to the exhibition is TGV, established in 2007 and led by European professionals with over 30 years of engineering and manufacturing experience. The company provides custom-made automation solutions, high-precision injection moulds, progressive metal stamping tools, and engineering and manufacturing services.

Concurrent with all the IMTEX events is Tooltech, India's premier exhibition showcasing trends in tooling industry, from all across the globe. Tooltech 2014 is the 16th International Exhibition of metal working Tools, Tooling systems, Machine Tool Accessories, Metrology & CAD/CAM at the same venue.

FARO Technologies Inc., is one of the exhibitors here, the company specialising in portable equipment that permits high-precision 3D measurement, imaging and comparison of parts and compound structures within production and quality assurance processes.

With more than 30,000 installations and 15,000 customers globally, FARO develops and markets computer-aided coordinate measurement and imaging devices and software. Oerlikon Balzers too will be introducing to the Indian market a new generation of wear-protective coatings called BALIQ, launched at the EMO 2013, the world's leading metalworking trade fair held in Hannover. BALIQ significantly outperforms current coatings in many ways and can be modified to create tailored, user-specific applications. Delhi-based Dynemech Systems will be showcasing their entire range of anti-vibration pads and vibration isolators. For the visitors, IMTEX exhibitions are not about products and trending technologies alone. It is a great opportunity for networking with peers and professionals on the one hand, and dealers/distributors and end users on the other.