Renishaw India : Beyond the technology excellence
Q. Can you brief us about RENISHAW’s global network & activities?
Renishaw is a UK based company that was founded in 1973 and from its humble beginnings of a handful of people it has grown to over 3000 staff globally, over 1,900 of which are located in the UK, primarily at its five sites in Gloucestershire.
We have direct Renishaw offices and staff in 32 Countries around the World. We have manufacturing facilities in the UK, Ireland, and India where we machine and assembly the majority of our products before shipping around the World.
Last July we reported record turnover of £330 million for our financial year ending June 2012, powered by strong growth in all its key geographic markets, including impressive sales growth in India. To meet both manufacturing demand and to advance new R&D projects for both its metrology and healthcare businesses, the company currently has over 150 vacancies Worldwide.
The company also continues to invest heavily for the future, in new product development, manufacturing capacity and service operations. For the year ended June 2012 Renishaw spent £48 million on R&D and engineering, and at the start of 2012 completed the purchase of the former Bosch alternator manufacturing site at Miskin, near Cardiff in the United Kingdom, making a clear statement of its commitment to UK manufacturing. This 193 acre site with 461,000 sq ft of existing buildings will service the manufacturing needs of the company for many years to come, and refurbishment of 63,000 sq ft of the facility is now underway to increase assembly and machining capacity.
Q. RENISHAW has gain credible market share in computerized measurement technology industry, how did Renishaw India managed this significant growth?
In India we recently opened a 4,875 square metre extension to our Pune facility. This expansion represents a near trebling of space at the Pune site, which is intended to meet the long-term growth needs for the company’s Indian operations in terms of product assembly, software development, sales & marketing, and customer support.
The newly expanded facility, which now totals some 7,500 square metres, will include additional space for Renishaw’s Indian customer demonstration and training centre, which was first opened in 2008. With a rapidly expanding customer base and network of local offices, the extended space will be used to house larger numbers of CNC machine tools and co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs) to aid pre-sales demonstrations and product training. To ensure the best conditions for metrology performance, one of the new demonstration rooms will also be tightly temperature controlled to 20 degrees Celsius, plus or minus 0.5 degrees.
Renishaw Metrology Systems Private Ltd was set up in Bangalore in the year 2000 and subsequent regional offices opened thereafter in Delhi (Gurgaon), Pune, Chennai and Vadodara, supported by resident sales engineers in other important industrial centres.Total Renishaw employee numbers within India are now approaching 250 with 50+ working in our sales & marketing division.
Q. How about RENISHAW’s initiatives in measurement technology space? Which are your focus areas?
Offering innovative solutions that addresses today’s manufacturing problems is our focus. We pride ourselves in having a broad product portfolio covering metrology sectors and medical and all lines are equally as important to us.
Q. What are the market opportunities for RENISHAW products in India? How do you plan to position these products?
As I have mentioned earlier, we have been providing our solutions to the Indian market directly for over twelve years and we continue to offer existing and new products and technologies as they are developed and available.
As our new technologies and products are introduced we set the appropriate strategy to introduce them to both the Indian and global arena.
Take some examples of two new exciting products we have recently introduced:-
In 2011 the company announced its first move into the gauging market, with the launch of its Equator™ versatile gauge, positioned as a radical alternative to dedicated gauges that significantly cuts the costs of purchase, maintenance and fixturing. The company also highlights that the new gauging system can be pre-programmed for multiple parts and takes just a few minutes to be re-programmed for any component design changes; a significant benefit over existing custom gauges.
Equator™ is capable of high-speed comparative gauging for the inspection of high-volume manufactured parts and was developed and proven on the shop-floor in collaboration with industry-leading companies in multiple industries and applications, including automotive, aerospace and medical. The company therefore believes that the result of all this testing is a lightweight, fast and highly repeatable gauge that operators can use with ‘push-button’ simplicity. The company also says that users of Equator can switch between parts in seconds, which is ideal for flexible manufacturing processes or accepting parts from multiple machines. The new system is available with two levels of software, a programmable version for production engineers to create DMIS programs and a lower price, shop floor system which allows those programs to be executed but prevents operators from making modifications.
The Equator’s innovative and highly repeatable gauging technology is based on the traditional comparison of production parts to a reference master part. Re-mastering is said by Renishaw to be as fast as measuring a production part and immediately compensates for any change in the thermal conditions of a shop-floor environment. The company also says that the Equator system can even be used in factories with wide temperature variations through a simple re-mastering process, which ‘re-zeroes’ the system ready for repeatable comparison to the master.
Renishaw also says that Equator can be integrated into automated cells, using an optional I/O interface to connect it to a robot, or by outputting the gauging results to an SPC package. Some SPC packages are also said to offer the ability to connect to certain machine tool controls to update offset values, for true automated process control.
Additive Manufacturing –
A surprise move
Whilst the move into gauging may not have been a major surprise to industry observers, Renishaw’s decision to purchase additive manufacturing systems supplier MTT Technologies in April 2011 did raise a few eyebrows. Yet, for those close to the company, the decision to enter this emerging market seemed very logical.
Renishaw’s laser melting is a pioneering additive manufacturing process capable of producing fully dense metal parts direct from 3D CAD using a high-powered fibre laser. Parts are built from a range of fine metal powders that are fully melted in a tightly controlled atmosphere layer by layer in thicknesses ranging from 20 to 100 microns. The current range comprises the AM250 and the AM125 laser melting machines, both of which feature vacuum technology and low gas consumption. The machines have been designed by Renishaw for ease of use within a manufacturing environment and feature a touch-screen interface and various menu options for machine preparation and clean down. Machine robustness has been given high priority, adopting a ‘machine tool’ approach to use and serviceability.
Renishaw says that this technology is already widely employed for the manufacture of custom medical implants, lightweight aerospace and motorsports parts, efficient heat exchangers, injection moulding inserts with conformal cooling channels, and dental copings and crowns. The Renishaw laser melting process is also said to give designers more freedom, resulting in structure and shapes that would otherwise be constrained by conventional processes or the tooling requirements of volume production. So as I said, two very different product offerings for two very different industries and applications highlighting where strategy and market positioning is all important.
Q. Brief us about the quality policy for the business?
Renishaw has a very clear and simple global quality policy which is detailed in its Renishaw mission statement: “Renishaw will design, manufacture and supply metrology systems of the highest quality and reliability to enable customers worldwide to carry out dimensional measurements to traceable standards.
Our product offerings will enhance quality and productivity, and we will strive for total customer satisfaction through superior customer service. Our aim is to provide leading-edge technology by encouraging innovation to address our customer’s needs.
We are committed to sustained growth through continued investment in product development and manufacturing methods. Renishaw wishes to be recognised collectively and individually as leaders and contributors in our field and our community.
We wish to achieve our aims in a way that is caring, open and honest. Renishaw is an environmentally conscious and responsible company. We will strive to ensure that all aspects of the business have the least harmful effect on the environment.”
Q. Can you please elucidate the contribution of R&D in the success of RENISHAW products?
For a company that invests so heavily in R&D, the launch of new products is a regular occurrence, but the past year has been significant for Renishaw, with the launch of not one, but two wholly new product lines.
The company has always followed the strategy and ethos that innovation is the key to continued long term success and Renishaw has and continues to invest heavily for the future, in new product development, manufacturing capacity and service operations. For the year ended June 2012 Renishaw spent £48 million on R&D and engineering, and at the start of 2012 completed the purchase of the former Bosch alternator manufacturing site at Miskin, near Cardiff In the United Kingdom, making a clear statement of its commitment to UK manufacturing.
This 193 acre site with 461,000 sq ft of existing buildings will service the manufacturing needs of the company for many years to come, and refurbishment of 63,000 sq ft of the facility is now underway to increase assembly and machining capacity.
Q. Brief us about the quality policy for the business?
Renishaw has a very clear and simple global quality policy which is detailed in its Renishaw mission statement: “Renishaw will design, manufacture and supply metrology systems of the highest quality and reliability to enable customers worldwide to carry out dimensional measurements to traceable standards. Our product offerings will enhance quality and productivity, and we will strive for total customer satisfaction through superior customer service. Our aim is to provide leading-edge technology by encouraging innovation to address our customers’ needs.
We are committed to sustained growth through continued investment in product development and manufacturing methods. Renishaw wishes to be recognised collectively and individually as leaders and contributors in our field and our community. We wish to achieve our aims in a way that is caring, open and honest. Renishaw is an environmentally conscious and responsible company. We will strive to ensure that all aspects of the business have the least harmful effect on the environment.”
Q. What do you think are the strengths of Indian measurement technology industry & How it is positioning itself against the global market?
I have been travelling to India for the last eight years regularly and I have seen a marked change in the market and more generally in the mindset of manufacturing companies. Technology and automation are definitely high on the agenda of Indian companies and there is a genuine willingness to invest in value adding technologies and products. This is one of the key reasons why India is a target market for overseas manufacturing companies.
Q. Please highlight Global perspective of measurement technology industry and what is the differentiating factor?
The World is becoming a smaller manufacturing arena with globalization, every company in every Country wants to remain competitive and offer the best products, at the right time, at the best price, so generally this means technology plays a big part in allowing this to happen.
Twenty years ago it was not so common to see probing systems fitted to CNC machines whereas nowadays it is very common to have a spindle and tool setting system installed on them. Companies recognize the importance of controlling process and reducing variation and waste much more in the last five years.
Q. What are the key technological trends that are driving computerized measurement technology industry?
Most companies are striving for increased output, whilst reducing costs and reducing wastage. Renishaw has the product portfolio and metrology solutions to allow this to happen. From experience we know that companies are willing to invest in new technologies if they see a real benefit from doing us. The technologies of today are rapidly changing the ways that customers think and adapt their manufacturing processes.
Q. According to you what is the forecast for the automation industry?
Interesting question! I see a general slowing of the automotive industry in differing regions around the globe. India showed the first signs some six months back with four wheeler output being reduced between 30-50% and then Europe showed signs with production dropping off in various regions and countries. I would hope that this is a short term slowing and the automotive sector does tend to have 2-3 year production output cyclic patterns, again, depending on region and type.
Q. According you what are the factors affecting to your business?
As a metrology solution provider we are fortunate that our products offer benefits for both existing manufacturing and measurement equipment and new. We find that when companies reduce spending on new capital equipment they are keen to maximize output and performance on existing assets and this is where we can offers our solutions to allow them to benefit and add additional value and output.
