Leveraging technology to spur innovation in metal cutting

Highlight the current landscape and growth prospects of Machine Tools industry in India.

India stands 12th in production and 8th in consumption of machine tools in the world as per the survey. The India machine tool industry is projected to grow roughly by 6% annually through 2019. With presence of several small, medium and large industries, including international and regional players, the companies engaged in machine tools manufacture compete in product differentiation, service and pricing. Industry 4.0 is gaining its importance in India Machine Tool Industry, additive manufacturing, process automation are the core trends.

How are your products/services geared up to be in line with recent trends, such as Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing?

Now everyone is talking about green machining and Industry 4.0 and technology like IOT. We are working closely on Industry 4.0. Our recently introduced Tangential Evoline Thread Rolling System is manufactured using the 3D printing technology. The roller head hinges are produced using 3D printing methods to optimize the volume flow and distribute from the adjustable cooling and rinsing nozzles. The structures are also more precisely oriented to the force flow, which optimizes the break resistance of the tool. In addition, the rolling head is fitted with a sensor for force measurements, which continuously supplies data for more efficient tool use.

Our Self-adjusted fine boring tools (Line Boring Bars) are digitally advanced. The line boring bar can be connected wirelessly to a measuring machine that measures all finished bores and uses the results to decide whether wear compensation is required at the cutting edges of the tool. These adjustment processes are fully automatic. They are driven by “actuators”, which are located at each individual cutting edge and which operate with micrometer precision. This is how we provide you with highly efficient, self-adjusting fine boring tools: for consistently high component quality and minimized machine downtimes with an optimized cost per unit. Alternatively, the cutting edges can be readjusted by remote control or laptop.

What is your vision for your company (in terms of new product launch, innovation/collaborations)? How do you see your brand growing by 2020?

LMT Tools has been recognized as Best Metal Cutting Brand 2018 by The Economic Times. We have been growing consistently year on year. We have the latest technology products in the market, this year we have introduced couple of our innovation at the IMTEX 2019 and some are in pipeline. We will continue our success journey, we plan to increase our manufacturing capacity at Chakan, Pune plant and by 2020 we will have more products to offer from our local plant.