CNC industry growing significantly

February 12, 2015 2:24 pm

The engineering industry in India has grown significantly across all segments. Let us explore how this growth is fuelling the demand for quality CNC machine tools
——————–The machine tools sector has been seeing revolutionary technologies now instead of the evolutionary technologies which were used earlier.
Keshav Khurana, Executive Director, Wohlhaupter India IntroductionIn earlier days focus of machine tool industry was mainly for mass production and automobile industries. However, in recent days the focus is being shifted to technological products like aerospace industries, boring machining, energy sectors like turbine machining, wind mill, railways crank cases. High speed machining with lot of accuracies possibilities with double ball bearing technology spindles has really created an interest for end users who really want to compete in this market with technological products.
The Indian machine tool industry has been able to meet the growing demand with a mix of local made CNC machine tools and imports.
Recent developmentsGlobal machine tool builders have now set up offices and manufacturing bases in India and this influx of technology and investment is driving the industry to newer heights.
“The machine tools sector has been seeing revolutionary technologies now instead of the evolutionary technologies which were used earlier. Robust designs, quick and precise machining these are all advantages which the customer hence gets,” says Keshav Khurana, Executive Director, Wohlhaupter India Pvt. Ltd.
 “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,” says Terrence Miranda, Managing Director, HAAS Automation India Pvt. Ltd. and also describes two major driving factors as follows:• CNC machine tools: Machining centres and turning centres are becoming faster, more accurate and capable of more complex machining tasks every day.
• Automation: The extensive use of automation can be seen nowadays. Rrobots 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 set-up is also growing. CNC turning centres with 3, 4 and 5 axes and CNC machining centres with 4 and 5 axes are contributing significantly to enhanced accuracy, reduced part handling and overall productivity.
Initiatives taken Wohlhaupter has come up with a fine boring head which covers boring range from diameter 6 mm to 128 mm. It can be adjusted in 2 microns diametrically. The body is serrated for a strong clamping and comes in through coolant arrangement; it is balanced at 12,000 RPM. This boring head comes in a cost-effective kit which ensures customers get the same Wohlhaupter quality at an enticing cost.
“The boring range covered by us of diameter 0.4 mm to 3,255 mm is the largest range in the industry. We also give servicing support at our Delhi head office, all tools can be serviced at the specially set up service facility,” informs Mr Khurana.
“Simple innovation and providing true value to our customers is a mantra at HAAS,” says Mr Miranda. “In line with this philosophy we have 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 centres in vertical or horizontal configurations to machine a range of complex components such as impellers, blades, cylinder heads, cylinder blocks etc. in a single set-up.
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, 12,000 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 provides high end options such dual spindles, C axis, Y axis and powerful live tooling, all at an affordable price.
Present challengesThe global business environment continues to be uncertain and this continues to challenge industrial recovery in India as well. Infrastructure in India continues to improve with major reforms in power, roads and rail sectors to name a few. This along with reforms in regulatory and tax framework needs to continue at a rapid pace if India is to be a manufacturing hub for the world.
“There are operational challenges in every business and we are no exception to this. We have focused on setting up a world class sales, service and applications team backed by infrastructure and the latest CRM systems and processes which all contribute to us providing unbeatable value for our customers,” says Mr Miranda.
HAAS Automation believes that it is its simple innovative products, its trained team and established systems and wide spread HFO network (Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Ahmedabad, Manesar, Ludhiana, Bangalore, Dharwad, Chennai and Coimbatore) which will help it build a sustainable brand advantage for HAAS products in every market in which we compete in India and deliver optimal machining solutions providing true value to customers.
“The Indian economy and manufacturing sector are seeing some hope in the new government and its policies, though they will take time to get fully implemented,” says Mr Khurana. “Keeping this in mind, the company has added manpower to cater to the growing demand.”
Wohlhaupter has had some good news lately: inflation eased sharply in October; industrial output for September saw a better than expected growth; and more recently, the decision to deregulate diesel prices, will convert to a more comprehensive economic revival in the coming months.
Market fluctuationsThe fall in retail inflation — an index which is watched closely by the RBI — to 5.5 per cent, along with the fall in wholesale inflation to 1.7 per cent, is worth celebrating as it is far better than the RBI’s target of 8 per cent by January 2015.
“It sounds great that our government has not compromised the interest of farmers and at the same time the Trade Facilitation Agreement, which seeks to make global trade faster, easier and cheaper, is likely to be a reality soon,” points out Mr Khurana. “If implemented, it will boost global trade in a big way, eliminating delays, uncertainties and high transaction costs in international trade to a great extent. The presence of local competitors who provide tools at throwaway prices is a challenge. Customers sometimes only see the cost associated with them and skip seeing the disadvantages of using a poor quality tool.”
Industrial production in India increased 3.80 per cent in November of 2014 over the same month in the previous year, beating market expectations. Manufacturing expanded 3 per cent; mining rose 3.4 per cent and electricity output went up 10 per cent. Industrial production in India averaged 6.58 per cent from 1994 until 2014, reaching an all time high of 20 per cent in November 2006 and a record low of (-)7.20 per cent in February 2009. However, production of consumer durables, an indicator of demand, fell 11.3 per cent. Drop in car sales, even during the festive session, is another area of concern.
According to World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.4 per cent in 2015, and going to beat China by 7 per cent in 2017. Also the India-US agreement on the WTO row, the finer details of which are still unclear, seems a welcome development.
Technology helpsTechnology is playing a big role as quick and stronger machines have enabled the cutting tools to reach higher cutting parameters. The quality of component thus produced with the help of these machines and the new high quality tools ultimately help the customer to stay ahead of competitors, who are still using the old technology and not adopting the latest innovation in similar industries.
Minimised part handling, reduction in part load/unload times, multi axis, multitask machining with auto loading are all examples of how advancements in machine tool technology are changing the way in which we plan, set up and machine components in a variety of industries.
This coupled with significant advancements in cutting tools and work holding have all resulted in increased efficiency, faster throughput times, higher consistency and accuracy.
“In line with the philosophy of going green, HAAS has incorporated several features which reduce running costs in terms of power consumption without compromising on speed or spindle, axis power/torque,” informs Mr Miranda.
Other solutions offered For precise machining Wohlhaupter offers a wide range from 0.4 mm to 3,255 mm boring tools in digital heads. In digital boring heads and bar, it is very easy to set the boring diameter and customers are really appreciating who need a consistent and precise performance. Its CombiLine tool (roughing and finishing by one tool) with range 24.5 mm-3,255 mm is a first choice in liner bore machining for cylinder block and other similar applications.
“We have a range of boring tools from diameter 0.4 mm to 3,255 mm. Our tool’s quality and the advantage of quick delivery, local servicing ensure customer has a peace of mind when he uses Wohlhaupter tools,” believes Mr Khurana. “The build quality of our tools and the technology involved in them give industry leading results.”
In this way, Wohlhaupter brings the innovative technology in form of boring kits, auto balance boring tools, digital boring heads, digital boring bars and CombiLine boring bars to support the metal cutting industries in line with the latest trends and need of the competitive world.
HAAS has also been at the forefront of automation technology, creating products such as the EC-400PP horizontal machining centre 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.
————-Simple innovation and providing true value to our customers is a mantra at HAAS.
Terrence Miranda, Managing Director, HAAS Automation India