How would you analyse the cutting tools industry's performance over the last one year in India?
The cutting tools industry is affected by the slowdown in Indian economy as well as Global economy. Situation has worsened due to COVID-19. Some segments which are major consumers of cutting tools are adversely affected like automotive, aerospace etc. Indian cutting tools market has also got seriously affected due to this and most of them had a degrowth.
How did your organisation fare in comparison with the rest of the industry last year?
Ceratizit Group had major acquisitions in past few years. Under the Ceratizit umbrella, four brands - Ceratizit, Komet, WNT and Klenk, with a large range of 100,000 products served our customers well. However due the economic conditions we were are also affected to some extent.
How has the Covid-19 outbreak affected your business?
COVID-19 has affected our business to a certain extent. Automotive industry is seriously affected, and we are majorly dependant on that sector. However with our large range, we are supporting customers in medical, aerospace, defence and other sectors. We are also supporting manufacturers and OEMs engaged in producing ventilators in such tough times.
With concepts like Industry 4.0, Smart Factories and Digital Machining, customers today are demanding technological advancements. How are you helping your customers on this front?
We offer complete machining solutions to metal cutting industry including Industry 4.0 solutions. We offer ‘ToolScope' a monitoring and control system, which continuously records signals from the machine that are generated during the production process. This data is visualised and used to monitor and adjust the machine. It offers a wide range of apps like Process monitoring, Tool wear monitoring, Adaptive feed control, Collision detection, Machine condition monitoring, Tool change log, Machine data analysis & Quality documentation. Users of this system have experienced reduction in cycle times of up to 15 percent, increase in process security of up to 25 percent and, increase in tool life of up to 30 percent. It has stopped machine damages and has been very helpful in preventive machine maintenance.
We offer Boring bars with "Bluflex technology", precision boring head with integrated high-contrast OLED display and Bluetooth low-energy wireless technology for connecting to all common Bluetooth-compatible smartphones from Android 4.4 and iOS 10. We are in touch with customer digitally/through electronic media attending to their requirements.
Many cutting tools players are today supporting customers through a well-equipped technology center. Tell us about your initiatives in this regard.
Ceratizit Group has four plants in India. At our head office in Bangalore, we have a fully equipped, state of the art ‘Technical Center' with dedicated machines for demonstration of tools as well as a dedicated team to conduct training programs for our customers, channel partners and new recruits on a regular intervals.
Your outlook for the year ahead?
We are sure that the market will improve in near future, but it may take few months to reach the earlier levels. Also, there is uncertainty due to COVID19. People have to get used to New Normal. However, we are equipped and ready to serve our customers.
END
