2015. It has been like most of the years in this century so far - turbulent, tantalizing and transformational. Of course, there has also been the hint of growth and policy reforms.

And yet, it has also been a different year. The Machinist spoke to representatives from a cross-section of the industry to find out what really sets 2015 apart and what the shape of things in 2016 will be like - both from their company perspective as well as from the industry's point of view.

The year that was
Dr. Andreas Wolf, Executive Vice President, Manufacturing & Quality, Bosch Ltd., India, shares that in 2015, Bosch in India saw quite a few developments. "There were some positive sentiments in the market as passenger cars and commercial vehicles registered growth on account of new model launches, pick up in replacement demand, currency stabilisation, reduced fuel prices and interest rates.

However, there was de-growth in the tractor segment due to weak rural demand." In spite of the weak overall situation Bosch India's automotive market grew about 4 percent compared to 2014 and its domestic sales of mobility solutions was at around 9 percent." We registered a 5.7 percent increase in net sales in Q2 over the comparable period of the previous year," adds Wolf.

Aravind Melligeri, Chairman & CEO, Aequs, describes 2015 as an excellent for the aerospace vertical where his company grew more than 50 percent YoY. "In our automotive vertical we are seeing steady growth with new part development and adding new customers in our new plant in the Aequs SEZ, Belgaum."

The Oil and Gas industry is going through a severe downturn but Aequs has continued to secure certain level of business due to its unique local-global delivery model. "During this period we have also continued to expand capability in this vertical and prepare ourselves for the inevitable recovery in the industry," he adds.

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