Powering manufacturing with innovations
Highlight the current landscape and growth prospects of Machine Tools industry in India.
The Indian Machine Tools Industry is estimated to have an annual turnover of a little over INR 7000 crores, according to IMTMA’s recent annual report, with a growth of around 26% over last year. These numbers are very encouraging and I’m positive that we are yet to go higher to hit the peak. Domestic consumption is at least twice as much, and we can gauge that imports account for at least 50% or more – considering that we also export machine tools from India. Government policies in the recent past look encouraging on the long term and are bound to increase manufacturing in the country. In line with ambitious initiatives such as Smart Cities, Make in India, Defence Privatisation, Aerospace and Automotive parks, amongst others, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see significant growth in machine tools manufacturing and consumption in the next decade or so.
How are your products/services geared up to be in line with recent trends, such as Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing?
We are working with leading Industry 4.0 initiatives to enable e-manufacturing solutions. For example, Searching for up-to-date, accurate tooling data can be a tedious, time consuming task for CAM programmers. A myriad of websites, catalogs, and other sources are available for the task, but typically require manual entry methods that may result in data inaccuracies as the NC program takes shape. Every tooling manufacturer offers their own approach to making their product data available. It’s not only up to the user to find out if a tool is in stock, but equally important to ensure that its associated data files are comprehensive enough to get the job done right in the CAM system.
The Machining Cloud application in Mastercam 2019 streamlines the entire experience, letting one quickly sift through its own cloud-based, digitized manufacturer catalogs with the latest inventory availability. Participating tooling manufacturers offer their product data through Machining Cloud, taking advantage of its dynamic search capabilities to narrow down tooling possibilities according to a product’s specifications. A growing list of manufacturers are already onboard. With Machining Cloud’s native, cloud-based CAD and 3D viewer capabilities, users can review 3D models, build digital tooling assemblies on-the-fly, and package them into a single source, readable file format for use in Mastercam. Everything from the latest tool geometry to feeds & speeds data is ready for import and continuously updated by Machining Cloud. Machining Cloud acts as an automated, intelligent advisor that compares manufacturer recommended product data to your machine’s specifications, alerting users to tool fitting and mounting, projection lengths, and more. Both Machining Cloud and Mastercam work together simultaneously, resulting in a new, transformative approach to handling tooling data.
What is your vision for your company (in terms of new product launch, innovation/collaborations)? How do you see your brand growing by 2020?
Mastercam as a brand has been celebrating its 35 anniversary. CIM Data has ranked Mastercam #1 in Installed Seats Worldwide and “Most Widely used CAM Software” for 23 years in a row. We expect to keep the growth momentum high and ensure that we retain our top position.
We also would like to emphasize on our USPs of being a CAM centric company, offering the best possible solutions to our customers in the manufacturing domain. We also intend to focus on customer-friendly policies & the fact that we are a debt-free company. This will help us ensure both our customer’s and our progress.
We will be focusing on the following in the next five years –
- Listen to the customer voice
- Embrace newer technology while maintaining quality and reliability
- Provide solutions that will help customers win
- Be ready for tomorrow’s possibilities, yet flexible for today’s needs
- But most importantly, be there for the customer when they need us the most.
