While the sentiments had started to improve with the new government's various initiatives, overall it has been quite challenging for the metal cutting industry in the last few months. Do you think things have started to get better with automotive industry getting back on track?
The automotive industry is getting back on track and this definitely seems to be a positive situation. This is on account of seasonal impact and due to launch of few new models. From manufacturing capacity perspective - there is enough capacity with the OEMs and therefore it needs to be seen how this would get translated into substantial machine tool orders and spur the growth of the industry.
On the commercial vehicle segment, there has been a good growth .There are several factors that would conducive to the growth of the industry, chief among them being supportive govt and trade regulations, festival sales, and investments on state transportation network and its infrastructure. Overall, we need to watch for some more time for it to convert in investments. BFW is adopting a measured approach in view of the industry developments as well as the developments in the external environment.
What are the challenges and how are you dealing with them?
With the overall global economic situation and especially the current situation in China - we expect that competition from imported machines will be higher in the Indian market. Competing with them on technology features and gaining confidence of clients against these brands will be a challenge.
For more innovative and flexible machine tools capable of handling production of increasingly complex parts - balancing speed with precision, compactness with flexibility at the same time confirming to domestic and international statutory requirements is also a challenge. We have brought in high performance product platforms in HMC and VMC families and we are continuously engaged in bringing newer products to meet above needs of clients and to make their manufacturing more competitive.
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