Kaushik Bhattacharjee, Managing Director, Hurco India
Please tell us about some of your latest launches?
We showcased our new SR 5-Axis/ vertical/swivel machining centres for the first time in India at IMTEX. It was more of technology that we showcased than a machine…. we showcased the power of Hurco controller. Hurco controller helps to increase the utilisation of the machine. How? When batches of components are to be machined, CAM support is required for preparing the program of each type, but, by using a Hurco machine, output from CAM Station can be increased since many parts requiring 2D cutting can be programmed using Hurco controller adopting Conversational Programming by transferring the Auto CAD file…..that includes even Trochoidal Machining used for aerospace parts, especially Frame Machining or 5 Face Machining for actuators etc. or say Bone Plate Machining for Medical Implants company!!
Reducing the program preparation time increases the machine utilization & also the utilisation of the CAM.
What kinds of changes do you see revolving around the CNC technology in the near future?
I would say CNC controllers will be playing a more vital role than the machine per say. According to me, we can expect more innovation when it comes to the controller technology as compared to the machine. In terms of controller technology, people are working to make it better and intelligent continuously. Till what level it will grow, totally depends on the demand. At present, probably we are the only company showcasing this kind of technology, but unfortunately not everyone is able to understand its potential.
Apart from controllers, you can expect to see more number of axes coming in, but if you don’t have right programming capability you will not be able to utilise the machine properly. I feel, CNC Controllers are going to witness the maximum amount of innovation compared to the machine itself.
Do you see any demand for such technology in India? If yes, from where do you see the maximum demand coming from?
As I mentioned earlier, people are not able to understand the potential of this technology today. Having said that, I would also like to add that as we grow and create awareness about it, the scenario will be lot better. Today it is very difficult to find a person who knows how to use conversational programming, so we try to educate the customer…. I am sure it will be accepted in the market soon and show positive results.
For Hurco, we see our usefulness in the field of machining of Die Mold, Aerospace, Medical Implants & Devices & Precision Component of batch quantity
What are the challenges that you face in the Indian market?
We admit we are somewhat late to enter India, but we are trying our best to create the place in the Indian market. We have machines suitable for niche segments like aerospace, medical implants & devices, die & mould and we are competitive in terms of price and technology. Our biggest challenge is to build the brand and penetrate into the market.
We are investing a lot in manpower, facilities and infrastructure and with time we are seeing the difference too.
In recent time we see that south eastern countries like S Korea, Taiwan are getting stronger with their competitive pricing. Are they threat for companies like Hurco?
Every time when you have a new supplier, it is threat for the existing ones. We try to move into the areas where others cannot compete us. We try to offer the solution instead of just a machine….which may not be the case with many of the machine tool companies who are offering their product in Indian market….availability of local expertise in the area of customer’s use should make all the difference.
