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ITS 2019 - Underlines Opportunity in Indian Tooling Industry

ITS 2019: Underlines Opportunities in the Indian Tooling Industry

 

The fourth edition of International Tooling Summit (ITS) was recently held at Hotel Hyatt Regency, Pune on February 7 and 8. Organised every year by Tool and Gauge Manufacturers Association (TAGMA), it is India’s largest die mould gathering. This edition of ITS revolved around the theme, ‘Indian Tooling Industry: Forming & Moulding the Future’. The two-day event saw about 40 speakers sharing insights about the industry through four panel discussions and 16 technical sessions.
Overall, the event aimed to highlight the latest technology trends, business dynamics, opportunities, challenges and the future outlook of the Indian tooling sector.

The programme started with the National Anthem,followed by a traditional lamp lighting and inauguration by the dignitaries. Chief Guest Mr Sunil Kakkar, Executive Director (Supply Chain), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd; Guests of Honor Mr Saurabh Kumar, DGOF & Chairman, Ordnance Factory Board and Ms Laxmi Laxman, General Manager, PCK Buderus (present on behalf of Peter Vetter, Head, Quality Planning Tool Steels, Buderus Edelstahl; Mr N Reguraj, MD – NTTF and Founder President, TAGMA India; Mr D K Sharma, President, TAGMA INDIA and Mr D Shanmugasundaram, Vice President, TAGMA India conducted the lamp lighting ceremony in the presence of the attendees, speakers, panelists and sponsors


It was followed by a welcome speech by Mr Sharma. Welcoming over 400 professionals from around the world, he said, “I am delighted to share that in just four years, ITS has become one of the most important platform for the Indian Tool Room professionals for knowledge sharing, understanding global trends, and building acquaintances. Today, with an increase in demand from the automotive and consumer industries, the Indian tooling sector is witnessing rapid growth. The total tooling demand for FY17 in India was USD 2070 million and is expected to reach USD 2683 million by FY 2020 with the CAGR of 9%. This is a good time to be a tool maker in India, we must celebrate this occasion and gear up for the future opportunities

Sharing his views, Mr. Kakkar said, “At present, the Indian automotive industry contributes 7.5% to the Indian GDP and 49% in Indian manufacturing industry’s GDP. It is set to grow further thanks to the rising income, increasing population and better infrastructure. We all, everyone related to eco-system, need to work together and contribute towards this growth. To be competent, localisation is the key. Today, 75% of our tools are sourced from domestic suppliers and we want to increase this even further. We expect you to supply world-class tools and help us in saving cost and time.”

Ms Laxman addressed the gathering on behalf of Mr Vetter and delivered his message. She highlighted the changing dynamics of the automotive industry and how the usage of new materials in the future automobiles will pose challenges to tool makers. She also stressed upon the disruption happening in the automotive industry and why it is important for tool makers to be abreast with the trend.

It was followed by a speech from Mr Kumar who spoke about the current happenings in the Indian defence sector, activities of the ordnance factory and opportunities for tool makers. “We need a large number of tools for cold rolling, forging, plastic moulds, sheet metal, and fixtures solutions, among others. We are in a constant look out for technology providers. I invite you all to visit our factories and understand about our requirement” he said.

The inauguration speeches were followed by felicitation of Mr N Reguraj, the Founder President of TAGMA. He was presented the life time achievement award by TAGMA India. He founded TAGMA in 1990 along with Mr Anil C Kilachand, Mr P N Rao, Mr S Samu, Mr J N Godrej, Vijay N Kulkarni, Mr S C Kalyanpur and Mr A R A Shaikh.

Thanking TAGMA for the honor Mr Reguraj said, “With all humility I accept the honour given to me. I am happy to see what TAGMA has achieved over the years. Today, the need of the hour for the Indian tooling fraternity is that you have to come together, collaborate, cooperate and compete. Earlier there use to be feeling that you meet toolmakers in some forum and then they disappear for whatever reasons. But now the industry has matured and I see the same faces again and again, when I come for such conference, which shows that it is the survival of the fittest and they are all in the Hall today, so please congratulate yourself for being here as successful Tool and Die Maker.”

Further, Mr Ashim Sharma, Partner & Group Head, Business Performance Improvement Consulting (Auto, Engineering & Logistics), Nomura Research Institute India Pvt. Ltd. presented an overview of the tooling industry. He highlighted the current state of tooling industry in India. While talking about the current state of tooling industry in India, he said, “Sheet metal dies and plastic moulds comprises more than 75% of the domestic tooling demand in the automotive industry. Reduction in product lifecycle and increasing local design and development are key demand drivers for the Indian tooling industry.” Countries with highest vehicle production are also the ones leading in tooling production but India is an exception. He also stressed upon why tooling should be localised. “Localisation results in cost savings in the form of no import duty and cutting down on transportation costs. It also leads to faster delivery due to evasion of shipping time and port delays,” Ashim added.

Mr Shanmugasundaram delivered the vote of thanks with warm greetings to the dignitaries present during the event. “This is such a beautiful gathering of industry people from all over the world. It is good to see everyone come together under one platform to discuss opportunities and challenges in the die mould industry. The turn out here clearly shows the positive mood in the Indian manufacturing sector. I thank all the dignitaries, sponsors, speakers and panelists, attendees and most importantly the organising team member who have been working day and night to make this event a reality,” he said.

 

Proceedings of Day 1

 

It was followed by the First Panel discussion on ‘OEMs and Tooling Suppliers - Collaborative Approach’. The panel discussion was moderated by Ashim Sharma while the panelists were Mr. Ramani Krishnan, Head, Projects, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd; Mr Marc Weinmann, Founder CEO, VEM Tooling (India) Private Limited; Mr Günther Prunner, Regional Innovation Manager, Voestalpine, Mr Kannan Venkatraman, Managing Director, Milacron India Pvt Ltd (Mold-Masters Division). During this discussion, the panelists unanimously agreed to have a better collaborative approach for the future growth.

The first-day witnessed seven thought provoking technical sessions. Speakers from the world had made their presence to ITS 2019, updating the audience with current trends in global tooling industry.

 

Day one ended with a thought provoking panel discussion on ‘Subtractive & Additive Technologies – How Will The Coexistence Emerge In Future?’. It helped delegates to understand the way both additive and subtractive technology will collaborate and enhance the productivity. It was moderated by Mr Gauba, the panel included Mr Gourav Ray, Senior Sales Director, South Asia, GE India Private Limited; Mr Sunil Rao, Deputy Managing Director, DMG Mori; Mr Prakasam Anand, Country Head, Electro Optical System and Mr Akshay Kalyanpur, Director, Sridevi Tool Engineers P Ltd. The panel was a mix of 3D Printing technology providers to hybrid manufacturing solution manufacturer and users of Subtractive & Additive Technologies. They highlighted the benefits of additive manufacturing and also confirmed that a combination of additive and subtractive will be the future of manufacturing.

 

Felicitation of Industry Stalwarts

Day one came to an end on a positive note as TAGMA felicitated four industry stalwarts for their contribution to the industry
  • Mr Naresh Raut
  • Mr P Goyal
  • Mr Anand Seth
  • Mr Surendranath P N
 

Proceedings of Day 2

Day-two began with a focus on the futuristic technology, the 2K mould technology. Lately, the technology is gaining acceptance and has garnered interest of the tooling fraternity around the world. Mr Alan Cecco, Design Director, Silver Basis Group highlighted some important aspects of the technology and highlighted its benefits.

 

70% of world’s tools are used in the automotive industry. However, there are sectors that are generating enough demand and creating business opportunities for the tool makers. The first panel discussion of the day was on the topic ‘Emerging Sectors for Indian Tool Makers’. It was moderated by Mr Ramesh Krishnamurthy, Director, Inquizity, the panellists included Mr S M Vaidya, EVP, Business Head Aerospace Division, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co.Ltd; Mr Jonathon Azzopardi, Chairman, Canadian Association of Mold Makers and Mr Tapan Tripathy, General Manager, Switchgear Design & Development, Larsen & Toubro. The panel highlighted the opportunities available for tool makers in other sectors. They also encouraged tool makers to look beyond automotive and grab the opportunities in other sectors. As we are aware that disruption is happening very fast, biggest consumer of die mould industry, automotive, is going through various changes. Electric vehicles, weight reduction and autonomous cars are taking becoming real faster than expected. Time-to-market for automotive OEMs have come down drastically.

 

The last panel discussion focussed on ‘Changing Dynamics in Auto Sector - Impact on Indian Tooling Industry’. Moderated by Mr Sumantra Barooah, Executive Director, Autocar Professional, the panel included Mr Venkat Krishnan R, General Manager, Purchase Division, Toyota Kirloskar Motors Private Limited; Mr. Sachin Kulkarni, Head of Direct Purchase – VW Procurement, Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd, Mr. Sandeep Gupta - General Manager of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

The second day of ITS 2019 saw 10 technical sessions highlighting various trends and technologies in the industry.

Lucky Draw

The two-day event helped the professionals present at the event understand the latest in technology, customer expectations, opportunities and the challenges in front of the Indian tooling industry