Indian Machine tool market is poised to grow rapidly

Mr. Terrence Miranda – Managing Director, Haas Factory Outlet, Mumbai, India.

Q. How did machine tool industry performed in 2014 ?
The machine tool industry in India witnessed a high in 2011 but in 2012 and 2013 the pace of growth was relatively slow. In 2014 there has been steady growth and the momentum is building towards a strong performance in 2015. This growth has fuelled the demand for quality CNC machine tools. The Indian Machine Tool Industry has been able to meet this demand with a mix of local made CNC Machine Tools and imports. Global Machine Tool Builders have set up offices and manufacturing bases in India and this influx of technology and investment is driving the industry to newer heights. The business environment in India is also being simplified with a clear focus from the government to reduce duties and taxes and bring these in line with global norms. This is also helping both Indian and foreign machine tool builders looking to grow in the Indian market.

Q. What are the future technology trend of the industry ?
CNC Machine Tools: Machining Centers and Turning Centers are becoming faster, more accurate and capable of more complex machining tasks every day. The extensive use of automation: robots loading / unloading parts or automatic pallet systems or barfeeding systems is a clear trend that is being seen in India. The need to machine a complex component in a single setup is also growing. HAAS offers a range of high performance 5 axis machining centers in vertical or horizontal configurations to machine a range of complex components such as impellers, blades, cylinder heads, cylinder blocks etc in a single setup. The new ST series from HAAS offers high end options such dual spindles, C axis, Y axis and powerful live tooling, all at an affordable price.

Q. What are initiatives carried out by your company ?
Simple Innovation and providing true value to our customers is a mantra at HAAS. We at HAAS truly believe that the HAAS VALUE Proposition: a wide range of high performance, quality products, backed by a strong HFO HAAS FACTORY OUTLET network providing service, applications and parts support within 24 hours: all of this at an affordable price, is designed to do exactly this. In line with this philosophy HAAS has launched a number of new products recently which provide simple, innovative solutions to the machining needs of our customers. HAAS offers a range of high performance 5 axis machining centers in vertical or horizontal configurations to machine a range of complex components such as impellers, blades, cylinder heads, cylinder blocks etc in a single setup.

The new UMC-750 five-axis Vertical Machining Centre offers a generous capacity of 762 x 508 x 508 mm in the X, Y and Z axes respectively. It features a two-axis, 630 x 500 mm integrated trunnion rotary table with +110 and -35 degrees of tilt and 360 degrees of rotation to provide excellent tool clearance and large part capacity up to 300 kg. Also featured is a 40+1 side mount tool changer and a 40-taper, 22.4 kW, 12000 rpm direct drive spindle.
The new ST series CNC Turning Centre from HAAS set the standard for quality and affordability in complex CNC Turn Mill applications and provide high end options such dual spindles, C axis, Y axis and powerful live tooling, all at an affordable price. HAAS has also been at the forefront of automation technology, creating products such as the EC-400PP Horizontal Machining Center with 6 station Pallet Pool System and its unique RRI Robot Ready Interface which makes interfacing part loading robots on a HAAS, simple and cost effective.

Q. What will be the future of the industry ?
The machine tool market in India is poised to grow rapidly as the emphasis on manufacturing in India grows. There are several industry sectors which provide tremendous opportunity for business for machine tool builders. The construction equipment industry is one of the fastest growing sectors and as infrastructure growth peaks this will definitely creating lot of demand for machine tools. One more sector to look for is the aerospace industry, which is growing at a fast pace in India. Apart from these, medical, defense, telecommunication, precision export components etc, too, are generating demand for machine tools. The automobile and auto component industry remains the biggest customer of machine tools. I think in next 2 years these industries will provide impetus to machine tool builders and will drive demand for the latest generation of CNC machine tools.