Technavio sees support from government initiatives
Source: Indian Brand Equity Foundation. Indian machine tool market to grow at 13% in 2016-2020.
Machine tools market in India is set to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of about 13% during 2016-2020, according to a report by London-based Technavio.
Bharath Kanniappan, a lead analyst from Technavio, specializing in research on the automation sector, says, “The initiatives taken by the Government of India have encouraged manufacturers to enhance their production capacity. For instance, the Make in India policy has attracted FDI from Siemens, Foxconn, and Samsung Electronics into India’s manufacturing sector.”
The top three emerging trends driving the machine tools market in India according to Technavio industrial automation research analysts are:
• Emergence of optimized machine tools
• IoT-connected machine tools
• Increased use of plastic as a substitute for metal
Emergence of optimized machine tools
The machine tools manufacturing industry needs to increase productivity, offer better quality, and enhance cost saving measures to stay ahead of the competition. These improvements are necessary to help end-users enhance the production rate.
Machine operations may be optimized by installing control systems such as the computer numerical control (CNC), that monitor cutting conditions in real time. The control system can also monitor the wear and tear and the work piece material characteristics. Technavio analysts expect the installation of these systems to result in a significant reduction in cycle time and prevent damage to tools, parts, and machines.
IoT-connected machine tools
The latest technology available in the machine tools market is the CNC. Though this device is considered highly efficient and productive, its user manual is a bulky tome. Thus, vendors have come up with mobile-based applications and other Internet-based functions that let users access virtual manuals.
Similarly, R&D programs have allowed manufacturers to design desktop CNC systems that can perform specific functions, such as drilling or milling, on a small scale. While these compact CNC differ in functions performed by an industrial CNC, they are helpful because they perform a single function efficiently.
Moreover, smaller CNC devices also reduce investment costs.
An online monitoring and remote access to diagnosis systems was created by using IoT technologies. The multi-channel online acquisition system helps end-users monitor CNC machine tools in real-time.
The remote fault diagnosis system helps experts to manage the devices and calibrate data uploaded from acquisition systems. The real-time information provided by this system can prevent or reduce machine downtime.
Increased use of plastic as a substitute for metal
Industries worldwide are increasingly using plastic as a substitute for metal in various product components. Plastic is lightweight and its corrosion-resistant properties make it a preferred choice across industries. The adoption of plastics in the automotive industry has significantly boosted the key components of a vehicle. Plastics are also widely used in the nuclear power, waste management, and healthcare industries.
With the advantages of low cost, low maintenance, low weight, and reduction in noise and vibration, plastics are expected to have a higher prominence in the replacement of metals in the automotive industry.
Plastic components with Teflon coating are primarily replacing the metal components due to the increased resistance to heat and friction. These factors enhance the possibility of metal components being replaced with plastic components. fii-news.com
