The die and mold industry in India has been experiencing significant and consistent growth over the years. As indicated by researchandmarkets.com, the Indian market alone is expected to grow by more than $1 billion from 2021 to 2025, progressing at a compounded annual growth rate of 9 per cent. The driving force of this expansion is not only pent-up demand in the automotive sector but also substantial growth in sunrise sectors, including healthcare, electronics and electricals, and plastics. With respect to India, the adoption of aluminum metal injection molding and automation in die casting, increasing construction activities and the push to ‘Make in India' are expected to contribute to the growth of this industry.
Within the automotive market, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) encounter the challenge of inflation and productivity. There is a growing demand for large-scale machines capable of handling sizable and complex die and mold. The evolving die and mold requirements are more complex, and necessitate higher levels of machining accuracy.
WIDMA™, a machine tool building division of Kennametal®, based in Bengaluru, India, is assisting OEMs to optimise their production by facilitating them with deep-hole drilling technologies that adhere to industry's increasing standards of accuracy, reliability, and performance.
The WIDMA UGC Series Deep Hole Drilling (DHD) machine is designed for high-accuracy machining, multi-axis positioning, and deep-hole drilling in a single setup. During the design phase of the UGC Series, consideration was given not only the variation in materials to machine but also the size and complexity of the component. The UGC Series can be configured with up to seven axes including a CNC rotary table and spindle tilting feature. This combination allows customers to drill complex angles and structures in a single clamping setup.
Providing customers with the opportunity to optimise machining time and resources, UGC Series machines also have the flexibility to perform milling, tapping, and boring in addition to deep hole drilling, with minimal set-up changes. Along with options to customise, the UGC Series offers drilling depths up to 2000mm and 40mm diameter, with the capability to support up to 30 tons of weight.
"At WIDMA, our priority entails anticipating our customer's needs and helping them in overcoming manufacturing challenges. Our team is dedicated to design high-performance machines that not only offer efficiency and productivity but are operator-friendly and require low maintenance. In addition to linear glass scales and wireless probes, WIDMA machines also feature adaptive machining technology that defines values of torque to maintain operating levels and standards for accuracy," said Mathews John, Sales Manager, WIDMA™.
