Shailesh Prabhune, President, Sandvik Coromant India
Tell us in brief about the current market scenario and the latest trends in the industry?
The last couple of years have been tough for the industry in general. But, now we see a good movement in the industry, we are optimistic about the future. In fact, we witnessed better foot falls in our stalls during the recently concluded IMTEX as compared to the last edition (2013). This is clearly a good sign, it shows that customers are positive and are ready to make investments.
We also have expectations from the ‘Make-in-India’ campaign. Also, the current aim of the government to raise the manufacturing industry’s share in GDP to 25% from the current 16% will further propel the growth of the machine tool industry. I would say, I am cautiously optimistic about 2015, but I am sure 2016-17 will be a period of growth.
Challenges in the Indian market…
The market has to improve and that is actually the biggest challenge for everyone for the last couple of years. Also, as customers are looking for a complete solution, we believe we are very much competent to fulfill their needs.
Are Indian SMEs adopting high-end technologies from companies like Sandvik Coromant?
Today no one wants just the product, everyone is looking for solutions. If you know how to utilise your product in the right way you can get a good return and SMEs are gearing up for that. I would say SME’s make a very important market for us and will continue to be. We are well equipped to provide them solutions as per their requirements.
How was your experience at IMTEX 2015?
Sandvik Coromant has been associated with IMTEX since a long time. We feel IMTEX is not only for showcasing products, but also a place to share and transfer knowledge. The metal cutting edition of IMTEX comes once in two years and as a company we introduce 2500 new products every year. So after two years one can expect an addition of around 5000 products to our portfolio.
For us, IMTEX is the platform where we share with our customers about our new products and innovation that we worked on during the year, hence it is a knowledge sharing event for us. Apart from this, we also share with our customers about the new trends in the metal cutting industry.
This year’s stall design said a lot about your focus industry i.e automotive…
Yes, this year we focused on the automotive and auto component industry. This edition we showcased a range of products that helps the auto industry. We also showcased our value added services under ‘My 25th hour’ campaign that will prove helpful for our customers. In short, we displayed the full component solution be it engine block, transmission, or any other key component. We invest generously in R&D to develop these solutions for our customers.
Can you please tell us about ‘My 25th Hour’ campaign?
The industry is facing a lot of challenges such as availability of skilled manpower and awareness about the latest technologies. In the present scenario, getting access to competence is becoming difficult.
Let’s say, if I have a machine and want to make a component and don’t have the right resources to know how to make this component? We can help our customers battle such challenges and help them throughout the process.
While we help the customer tackle his problem, the customer can sit back, relax and get some extra hours. Our yellow coat specialist is always there to help and deliver those extra hours. With ‘My 25th Hour’ campaign we aim to help our customer utilise his machines and toolings so that he can get that extra hour.
You mentioned that you introduce 2500 types of products every year. Tell us what’s new in the industry and where does the cutting tool industry stand today?
After interacting with our customers, we can say the most important factor is speed. Customers want fast machines and highly reliable tools to reduce the cycle time and these demands will always be there. Today customers expect a complete package from a tooling solution provider.
Looking at the evolving demand, we have also developed a tool library called ‘Adveon’. So it’s much easier for the CAM programmers to select tools which eventually helps them in enhancing productivity and reduce the cycle time.
How do you see the future of Sandvik Coromant India?
We believe the manufacturing industry will improve, so we will continue to introduce new products looking at the customer requirements. We see a bright future ahead, hence we are going forward with our investments to prepare ourselves better for the future.
