Laser cutting technologies for better quality and accuracy

March 7, 2020 10:32 am

With the advent of newer technologies, we can foresee plenty of opportunities in the Indian manufacturing industry ensuring accuracy, quality and efficiency.
Vasant B Vibhute, Managing Director, Givi Misure Pvt. Ltd.

Discussing about the increased domestic manufacturing in India, Vasant B Vibhute, Managing Director, Givi Misure Pvt. Ltd. talks about the newer opportunities created under the banner of technology.

How was IMTEX 2020 for you?
The exhibition was well-organised and managed as it always is. We saw a good amount of participation from exhibitors. This year’s exhibition was much better in terms of the participation, say, about 20 percent more than last year. The response was also excellent. We even got a good stall location, so we enjoyed a good presence at the exhibition.

What kind of products did you display and launch at the event?
Givi Misure is a 40-year-old company which started its operations from 1979, with the design and development of optical steel sales headed by Pierluigi Guerra. Owing to the impeccable quality and other reasons, the optical steel scale thereafter became popular amidst the consumers and the industry. Later on, they further developed difference models in the same, along with a wide range of magnetic scale and optical glass scale.

The company in due course achieved a remarkable market share not just in India, but across the world. We mainly deal with the machine tool industry, and particularly we are more into metal forming and metal cutting. Other than metal scale and metal cutting, we also have non-machine tool obligations. For example, in China, we supplied a magnetic tape and other products for the control of solar panels. We are also suppliers of encoders for space applications. Our products have different applications in different industries. We develop devices and supply, and also develop customised solutions as required.

What measures can be taken by the industry for increased domestic manufacturing in India?
The Indian market is valued at about `20,000 crore, of which 60 percent of the market segment is contributed by imports from Italy, Germany, France, the UK, America, Taiwan, China, Japan, etc. Now, if we want the export market to grow from 40 percent to 60 percent, Indian machine tool manufacturers must focus on high-precision machines, high-productivity machines, and high-quality machines. Only if we produce such machines can we cover the gap and boost domestic manufacturing.

With the advent of automation, robotics and IoT, what kind of growth opportunities do you see in the Indian industry?
Automation and IoT are in the stage of infancy in India. Every company is now wishing to adopt them. Although there are a lot of advantages adjoined to it, but because these technologies are new and require quite a good amount of investment, people are quite sceptical to adopt it at large. Nonetheless, there are plenty of opportunities that can be seen in the Indian industry because of these technologies. They have been developed for the manufacturing sector, and machine tool is an important manufacturing sector. Automation and IoT will help machine tool companies meet customers’ obligations and manufacture products as per their specifications.

What is your view on laser cutting technologies?
Laser cutting technologies are beneficial as they consume low energy and have high efficiency. The quality and accuracies provided by these technologies are much better than conventional cutting technologies such as flame cutting and plasma cutting.

What kind of growth potential do you see for the sheet metal forming market in the near future?
The sheet metal forming industry grew well right from 2005 onwards. The early demand was very less, but today it has grown. Now, even young entrepreneurs are into sheet metal forming. Sheet metal as of now has a low profile, but it will soon see a jump as it is required in several industries such as automotive and electronics, among others.

What are your plans and projections for your company’s growth for the next three to five years?
We plan to introduce new products, new marketing strategies and work harder in the next three to five years. I am interested in new developments and new technologies and that’s what I aim to bring to the market.