Text & Photos: J Srikant
The 9th edition of Asian Machine Tool Exhibition (AMTEX), which concluded recently in New Delhi, surpassed the expectations of all the exhibitors who were present at this annual event. Organised by Triune Exhibitors, AMTEX 2014, signalled a change in the mood of the manufacturing industry with most of them now ready to invest in better technology. The 4-day event attracted many players from the industry who exhibited their present and next generation products. The event also had good international representation with companies from many countries.
The event was inaugurated by Union Minister for MSME, Kalraj Mishra. Addressing exhibitors and visitors, the minister said that India, at present, is at the 12th position when it comes to the manufacturing industry and at 6th place in the tools industry. “If both work together, India can really make a name for itself in the field, and exhibitions like AMTEX play an important role in this direction.” He added that be it civil aviation, automotive or infrastructure development, tool industry has an important role in all of them. Going forward, like our new prime minister has promised, India will become the manufacturing hub of the world and will soon be known as a developed nation. This will only happen when MSMEs begin contributing to this.
AMTEX is an important exhibition for tool makers as this gives them an opportunity to showcase their latest products to numerous auto component manufacturers who form the biggest client base for the industry. North India, with Maruti and Hero MotoCorp (erstwhile Hero Honda) has India’s first automotive hub in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt which is still among the largest in India. The region has added many global auto players like Honda Cars, Yamaha, Suzuki two-wheelers, SML Isuzu and Ashok Leyland to its tally.
Exhibitors in the show included prominent manufacturers of lathes & CNCs, Electric Discharge Machines (EDM), hydraulic, mechanical & pneumatic presses, shearing and bending machines, metal forming machine tools, drilling and boring machines, milling and grinding machines, gear cutting and finishing machines, laser cutting machines, assembling systems & industrial robots, special purpose machines (SPMs), welding, cutting & gas cutting machines, Motors, CNC systems, sensors/automatic voltage regulators/encoders, instrumentation & controls, electrical & electronics, measuring and testing Instruments, CAD / CAM Solutions and software technology. There was also a strong focus among the companies towards low-cost high-precision equipment as growing global competition has brought world class quality to their doorstep.
Almost all exhibitors who Auto Components India spoke to unanimously said that this year’s exhibition has been much better than previous editions. The improved interest in the exhibition was attributed to better sentiment which has permeated into all industries with the coming of the new government. “We participate in AMTEX because it really offers a platform to showcase the latest apps we are developing for the customers in terms of new areas where customers are doing R&D and are looking for improvements,” said Sachin Bansal, Regional Sales Manager, Mahr Metrology India. “This time around our focus, apart from showcasing our machines, was also to feel the pulse of the market. Till now we had a feeling that it still is a little slow but this show really has changed our outlook and that it is time to gear up.” Mahr is a German company which is into Metrology and provides fine and precision measurements. In automotive industry, the machines are used for checking form and dimensional parameters.
Sahajanand Laser Technology Limited, a Gujarat-based company which specialises in machines for laser cutting, marking, welding and micro-machining, had one of the most prominent displays at the exhibition. At AMTEX, the company’s focus was primarily laser cutting machines. Sahajanand informed that till last year they had machines up to a speed of 220 metres per minute. As for the accuracy of the machines, it has gone up from 100 micron to 50 micron. At this year’s exhibition they are showcasing machines with speeds up to 280 metres per minute. It also had on display its new 3D marking machine which it is showcasing for the first time. The machine is used to mark different periphery of the component in a single setup unlike Laser which has the limitation of working on the principle of focus. It also had on display welding machines and high-speed laser marking machines.
Bharat Fritz Werner (BFW)
displayed its range of milling machines. The proud position at the company’s stall was occupied by one of its earliest VMC milling machine models which, according to the company representative, is in operation since 1961. One of the other major companies which chose AMTEX to showcase its new machines was Cosmos. V Nagesh, Director, Cosmos Impex India was present at the stall and said that Cosmos has got fairly good response from the exhibition,
especially since they were launching new products. “We felt that people are now ready to make decisions at the exhibition itself which generally happens only at good times,” Nagesh said. Cosmos has launched its own machines with palette changes which make for faster production, primarily meant for the auto component industry. The Gujarat-based company also launched a machine for small jobs which is the first machine in that range in India. It showcased a Japanese machine for the first time in Northern India,
focused on orthopaedics and the dental industry.
There were also first time exhibitors who found the experience really rewarding. Telios Automation and
Engineering services is a first-timer at the show, which specialises in supply of world class machinery for aluminium & UPVC profiles processing, end-to-end solutions for plant setup, state-of-the-art controllers for mills & lathes, CNC controlled SPMs and
fenestration software. “We have received well over 100 queries in the 4 days at AMTEX. We have had big players visit our stall but the participation of MSME sector has been more interesting,” the company representative said.
