{"id":11851,"date":"2021-02-18T09:08:29","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T09:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/?p=11851"},"modified":"2022-07-23T09:11:10","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T09:11:10","slug":"martin-pinto-executive-director-shapers-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/martin-pinto-executive-director-shapers-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Pinto, Executive Director, Shapers India."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Q.\u00a0Please give us an overview of the challenges\u00a0currently faced by toolmakers during the COVID-19 pandemic and their significance\u00a0in hampering growth and business\u00a0prospects?<\/strong><br \/>\nIndeed it has been a very challenging period\u00a0for the industry, especially tooling, which is\u00a0consider people\u2019s business. In tool rooms,\u00a0people always work in teams. And so, it\u2019s difficult\u00a0to manage toolmaking with social distancing\u00a0and without regular follow-up meetings. At\u00a0Shapers, the situation was challenging too.\u00a0But we managed it well, as we received good\u00a0support from our team. The first priority was\u00a0given to our staff\u2019s health, the next priority was\u00a0managing the business and dealing with our\u00a0customers\u2019 urgencies.<br \/>\nAlso, due to COVID-19, business targets were\u00a0disrupted. The repercussions will be felt in\u00a0the 2020-21 financial year. Toolmakers, who\u00a0invested recently, will face a greater impact. It\u2019s\u00a0going to take some time for them to recover\u00a0their initial investment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q.\u00a0Will campaigns such as \u2018Atmanirbhar\u00a0Bharat\u2019 and Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme in the electronics sector help\u00a0domestic toolmakers in the long run?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Well, there are changes for sure. The\u00a0government seems to be serious about doing\u00a0something to help the manufacturing industry.\u00a0They are putting in efforts to understand the\u00a0toolmaking business. With increasing demands\u00a0in India, toolmaking can contribute significantly\u00a0to our country\u2019s GDP growth and create many\u00a0job opportunities for both mid-scale and small-scale industries.<br \/>\nI feel that there\u2019s a need to focus more on\u00a0understanding the toolmakers\u2019 problems\u00a0and constraints. Having said that, increasing\u00a0localisation from many OEMs to meet \u2018Atmanirbhar\u00a0Bharat\u2019 will create many opportunities for<br \/>\ndomestic toolmakers in the long run.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q.\u00a0As per the tooling report prepared by\u00a0<\/strong><strong>TAGMA in association with NRI, the market\u00a0<\/strong><strong>size of the tool room industry in India is\u00a0<\/strong><strong>estimated to be ~INR 18,000 crore with\u00a0<\/strong><strong>~70% of demand being met domestically\u00a0<\/strong><strong>and ~30% through imports. What can Indian\u00a0<\/strong><strong>toolmakers do to reduce imports?<br \/>\n<\/strong>I think that there are some good opportunities\u00a0for toolmakers to enter areas where we can\u00a0create options for imports. At least 30% (around\u00a0INR 6,000 crore) of tooling business will have its\u00a0own challenges owing to complexity of tooling,\u00a0local infrastructure, poor supplier base and high\u00a0demand for shorter lead time. There\u2019s a need to\u00a0work on investments, developing supplier base,\u00a0and skill building, among other fronts. This is\u00a0similar to what is already happening in China\u00a0and Korea. There\u2019s a need to make strong efforts\u00a0to develop the existing tool rooms and also build\u00a0new ones where it will be possible to deliver\u00a0quality moulds in shorter lead time.<br \/>\nTo meet these demands, there\u2019s a need to\u00a0strengthen our capability and capacity. We also\u00a0need to invest in technology and the latest\u00a0equipment to improve our efficiency, which is\u00a0quite poor at this stage, to shorten the expected\u00a0mould lead time. Toolmakers also need to\u00a0upgrade their knowledge to develop complex\u00a0and large tooling in India. Currently, a major part\u00a0of large tools is imported from China and Korea.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q.\u00a0The industry is currently facing many\u00a0<\/strong><strong>challenges regarding availability of adequate\u00a0<\/strong><strong>finance, availability of skilled manpower,\u00a0<\/strong><strong>lack of industry-friendly policies and export\u00a0<\/strong><strong>incentives. Have the government and\u00a0<\/strong><strong>associations taken up any initiatives to help\u00a0<\/strong><strong>the industry?<br \/>\n<\/strong>As I mentioned earlier, the government is making\u00a0some good efforts to strengthen our industry.\u00a0In fact, we can see some positive actions with\u00a0respect to \u2018Make in India\u2019. The government\u00a0policy for localisation is also pushing OEMs in\u00a0India to promote local manufacturing, thereby\u00a0trying to reduce imports of finished moulds, and\u00a0promoting exports from India. Skill development\u00a0programmes are being undertaken at various\u00a0levels. One major decision to bring more\u00a0industries under the MSME umbrella has proved\u00a0to be a game-changer, as the move is likely\u00a0to benefit most tool rooms in India. At the\u00a0same time, we also expect more support by\u00a0increasing the import tax on finished moulds,\u00a0and simplifying the process to import steel and\u00a0mould elements so that tool rooms can get raw\u00a0materials faster.<br \/>\nWhen talking about associations, I think\u00a0TAGMA is already working positively under\u00a0the leadership of Mr. D. K. Sharma and it can\u00a0specifically play a big role in taking steps with\u00a0government bodies to improve the situation for<br \/>\nthe toolmaking industry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q.\u00a0Most major global auto manufacturing\u00a0<\/strong><strong>countries have a strong domestic tooling\u00a0<\/strong><strong>industry. India is an exception, as a\u00a0<\/strong><strong>significant part of the tooling demand is still\u00a0<\/strong><strong>met via imports. What are the reasons for the\u00a0<\/strong><strong>same? How can we overcome this situation?<\/strong><br \/>\nCompared to China and Korea, our tooling\u00a0industry has many limitations due to lack of\u00a0adequate industrial support. We also depend\u00a0on imports for mould elements. So, we\u00a0need to build a strong supporting industry<br \/>\nto avoid heavy investments and to reduce\u00a0lead time. We also have limitations in\u00a0processing post-moulding requirements (like\u00a0special laser cutting\/ complex assemblies,\u00a0special graining, etc.), which we need to develop<br \/>\nin India.<br \/>\nToolmakers need to purchase many mould\u00a0elements from Europe, Japan and China by\u00a0paying in advance. This makes it difficult for\u00a0many toolmakers against long receivables from\u00a0customers. Besides, the tooling payment terms\u00a0are not attractive to increase business. There\u2019s\u00a0a need to improve these payment terms, as\u00a0huge investments will otherwise be required to\u00a0develop those tools.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q.\u00a0The automotive industry is going through\u00a0<\/strong><strong>an uncertain time. In the light of this, what\u00a0<\/strong><strong>other emerging sectors could toolmakers\u00a0<\/strong><strong>explore apart from automotive?<\/strong><br \/>\nI think medical equipment, aerospace, defence,\u00a0railways, real estate (changing need for interiors)\u00a0and packaging industry can create additional\u00a0business opportunities for toolmakers.\u00a0However, to promote such business, we need to\u00a0create a strong platform where toolmakers can\u00a0get to understand the needs of these segments\u00a0and prepare accordingly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q.\u00a0Industry 4.0 and hybrid manufacturing have\u00a0<\/strong><strong>been around for a long time now. Do you\u00a0<\/strong><strong>think companies will opt for automation\u00a0<\/strong><strong>post COVID-19?<\/strong><br \/>\nYes, automation post COVID-19 will be a\u00a0major focus considering our experience with\u00a0the lockdown. We need to prepare ourselves\u00a0for any possible pandemic or crisis in future.\u00a0This will also ensure safety of people as it will<br \/>\nreduce physical contact and create a safer\u00a0working environment. As said by many experts,\u00a0the toolmaking business will go through big\u00a0changes in the next few years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q.\u00a0What short and long-term opportunities\u00a0<\/strong><strong>do you see amid the COVID-19 crisis and\u00a0<\/strong><strong>growing geopolitical situation?<\/strong><br \/>\nIn the short term, we can see some opportunities\u00a0due to the disturbed supply chain. Now,\u00a0toolmakers can support each other to come out\u00a0of this crisis and strengthen our current supply\u00a0chain. There is also an opportunity to develop\u00a0mould elements and mould base parts to\u00a0avoid imports.<br \/>\nIn the long term, we should strongly work on,\u00a0automation, adopting the latest technology\u00a0in our industry and increasing localisation\u00a0to maintain enough control to support the\u00a0growing demands due to the potential<br \/>\ngeopolitical situation. We can also observe\u00a0the changing market demands and expect\u00a0more demands for exports to Europe, US and\u00a0other countries.<\/p>\n<p><em>This interview was first published in TAGMA Times newsletter\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q.\u00a0Please give us an overview of the challenges\u00a0currently faced by toolmakers during the COVID-19 pandemic and their significance\u00a0in hampering growth and business\u00a0prospects? Indeed it has been a very challenging period\u00a0for the industry, especially tooling, which is\u00a0consider people\u2019s business. In tool rooms,\u00a0people always work in teams. And so, it\u2019s difficult\u00a0to manage toolmaking with social distancing\u00a0and without [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11851"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11854,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11851\/revisions\/11854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfgtechupdate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}