Haas Automation, the largest machine tool builder in North America, has maintained a consistent philosophy since its inception in 1983: to produce high-quality CNC machines at competitive prices. With a manufacturing facility exceeding 1 million square feet and a production capacity of over 1,200 machines per month, Haas is committed to meeting the global demand for its products. The company emphasizes quality and customer service as foundational elements of its success and aims to adapt to industry changes by leveraging knowledge and innovation.

1. HAAS
AUTOMATION
INDIA
C
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I
F
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2. The largest machine tool builder in North America grew from a simple idea. In 1983, Gene Haas
developed the first programmable rotary indexer to position parts for machining in his own shop. From
that first product through the more than125,000 Haas CNC machines installed today, our philosophy has
remained consistent:
HAAS
AUTOMATION
Build the best products possible for the broadest market, and offer them at competitive prices. We have
built on this concept for more than two decades. Our 1-million-square-foot design and manufacturing
facility is evidence of the Haas commitment to our customers’ success.
Haas Automation builds an extensive line of CNC (computer numerical control) machine tools, including
vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers and rotary tables. Every American-made
Haas machine is the direct result of a strong product vision, an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for
design innovation.
To control costs and component availability, while providing our customers with the best value in the
industry, we manufacture all critical components in-house. By taking full advantage of today’s
sophisticated state-of the art manufacturing
technologies, we deliver machines that
A Few Words...
consistently exceed our customers’ expectations
for productivity, reliability and affordability.
The Haas manufacturing facility currently
exceeds 1 million square feet, with a production
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish all of our customers in India much success in your current and future business ventures. Haas Automation, Inc., has
always been driven by the needs of our customers, and this has formed the foundation of our business model. By focusing our resources on providing quality
products and unmatched service and support, we offer our customers a level of value they cannot find anywhere else.
capacity of more than 1,200 machines per month.
To meet the growing worldwide demand for Haas
products, production levels will continue to grow,
with a goal of building 1,300 machines per month
In today’s highly competitive marketplace, companies must find ways to differentiate themselves if they are to maintain an economic advantage, and offering
superior customer service can provide a distinct edge. What works today, though, may not work tomorrow. The industry and the world are continually changing,
and it is evident that we must draw fresh perspectives from the knowledge and information around us if we are to adapt to that change. The next important step is
to share that knowledge: It is the only way to bring together the successful achievers of today with the innovative ground breakers of tomorrow.
We are pleased to present this CNC Technology Trends booklet highlighting how some leading engineering companies in India are using Haas CNC technology
in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to produce high quality products designed for a worldwide marketplace.
For more information about Haas Automation, please contact us at: haascnc@HaasCNC.com.
Robert Murray
General Manager, Haas Automation, Inc.
by the end of 2008.

3. VERTICAL
MACHINING CENTERS
VERTICAL
MACHINING CENTERS
Office Mills
40-Taper Standard VMCs
50-Taper Standard VMCs
Large-Capacity VMCs
VMCs with APC
Gantry
OM-1A
8" x 8" x 12" (xyz)
203 x 203 x 305 mm
VF-1
20" x 16" x 20" (xyz)
508 x 406 x 508 mm
VF-3YT/50
40" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
1016 x 660 x 635 mm
VS-1
84" x 50" x 50" (xyz)
2134 x 1270 x 1270 mm
(Automatic Pallet Changer)
SR-100
OM-2A
12" x 10" x 12" (xyz)
305 x 254 x 305 mm
VF-1YT
20" x 20" x 20" (xyz)
508 x 508 x 508 mm
VF-5/50
50" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
1270 x 660 x 635 mm
VS-3
150" x 50" x 50" (xyz)
3810 x 1270 x 1270 mm
40" x 20" x 25" (xyz)
1016 x 508 x 635 mm
100" x 52" x 8" (xyz)
2540 x 1321 x 203 mm
GR-510
VF-2
30" x 16" x 20" (xyz)
762 x 406 x 508 mm
VF-5/50XT
60" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
1524 x 660 x 635 mm
40" x20" x 25" (xyz)
1016 x 508 x 635 mm
121" x 61" x 11" (xyz)
3073 x 1549 x 279 mm
GR-712
145" x 85" x 11" (xyz)
3683 x 2159 x 279 mm
VF-2YT
30" x 20" x 20" (xyz)
762 x 508 x 508 mm
VF-6/50
64" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
1626 x 813 x 762 mm
VF-2TR
30" x 16" x 20" (xyz)
762 x 406 x 508 mm
VF-5TR
38" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
965 x 660 x 635 mm
VF-5/50TR
38" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
965 x 660 x 635 mm
Toolroom Mills
TM-1
TM-2
TM-2P
w/Toolchanger
TM-3
TM-3P
w/Toolchanger
VF-3
VF-7/50
30" x 12" x 16" (xyz)
762 x 305 x 406 mm
40" x 20" x 25" (xyz)
1016 x 508 x 635 mm
84" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
2134 x 813 x 762 mm
VF-3YT
VF-8/50
40" x 16" x 16" (xyz)
1016 x 406 x 406 mm
40" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
1016 x 660 x 635 mm
64" x 40" x 30" (xyz)
1626 x 1016 x 762 mm
VF-4
VF-9/50
40" x 16" x 16" (xyz)
1016 x 406 x 406 mm
50" x 20" x 25" (xyz)
1270 x 508 x 635 mm
84" x 40" x 30" (xyz)
2134 x 1016 x 762 mm
VF-5
VF-10/50
40" x 20" x 16" (xyz)
1016 x 508 x 406 mm
50" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
1270 x 660 x 635 mm
120" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
3048 x 813 x 762 mm
VF-5XT
VF-11/50
40" x 20" x 16" (xyz)
1016 x 508 x 406 mm
60" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
1524 x 660 x 635 mm
120" x 40" x 30" (xyz)
3048 x 1016 x 762 mm
VF-6
64" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
1626 x 813 x 762 mm
VF-12/50
150" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
3810 x 813 x 762 mm
VF-7
TM-1P
w/Toolchanger
30" x 12" x 16" (xyz)
762 x 305 x 406 mm
5-Axis VMCs
VF-3APC
VF-3SSAPC
VF-4APC
50" x 20" x 25" (xyz)
1270 x 508 x 635 mm
VF-4SSAPC
50" x 20" x 25" (xyz)
1270 x 508 x 635 mm
84" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
2134 x 813 x 762 mm
VF-6TR
VF-6/50TR
VR-8
VR-11
64" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
1626 x 813 x 762 mm
64" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
1626 x 813 x 762 mm
64" x 40" x 30" (xyz)
1626 x 1016 x 762 mm
120" x 40" x 30" (xyz)
3048 x 1016 x 762 mm
VM-2
Super-Speed VMCs
VF-2SS
30" x 16" x 20" (xyz)
762 x 406 x 508 mm
VF-2SSYT
Mini Mill
16" x 12" x 10" (xyz)
406 x 305 x 254 mm
VF-8
VF-3SS
40" x 20" x 25" (xyz)
1016 x 508 x 635 mm
VF-3SSYT
40" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
1016 x 660 x 635 mm
20" x 16" x 14" (xyz)
508 x 406 x 356 mm
VF-9
84" x 40" x 30" (xyz)
2134 x 1016 x 762 mm
Super Mini Mill
16" x 12" x 10" (xyz)
406 x 305 x 254 mm
VF-10
VF-11
150" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
3810 x 813 x 762 mm
50" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
1270 x 660 x 635 mm
120" x 40" x 30" (xyz)
3048 x 1016 x 762 mm
VF-12
50" x 20" x 25" (xyz)
1270 x 508 x 635 mm
120" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
3048 x 813 x 762 mm
Super Mini Mill 2 20" x 16" x 14" (xyz)
508 x 406 x 356 mm
VF-4SS
64" x 40" x 30" (xyz)
1626 x 1016 x 762 mm
Mini Mill 2
30" x 20" x 20" (xyz)
762 x 508 x 508 mm
VM-3
40" x 26" x 25" (xyz)
1016 x 660 x 635 mm
VM-6
64" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
1626 x 813 x 762 mm
30" x 20" x 20" (xyz)
762 x 508x 508 mm
VF-5SS
Mini VMCs
Mold Machines
VF-6SS
64" x 32" x 30" (xyz)
1626 x 813 x 762 mm
Machines shown with optional equipment. Specifications subject to change without notice. Machines not shown to scale.
Mill Drill Center
MDC-500
20" x 14" x 20" (xyz)
508 x 356 x 508 mm
Drill/Tap Center
DT-1
20" x 16" x 15.5" (xyz)
508 x 406 x 394 mm

4. TURNING
MACHINING CENTERS
Office Lathe
Toolroom Lathes
OL-1
TL-1
16" x 29" (max cap)
406 x 737 mm
TL-2
16" x 48" (max cap)
406 x 1219 mm
TL-3
20" x 60" (max cap)
508 x 1524 mm
TL-3B
Big Bore
30" x 60" (max cap)
762 x 1524 mm
TL-3W
Wide Swing
HORIZONTAL
MACHINING CENTERS
30" x 60" (max cap)
762 x 1524 mm
12" x 8" (xz)
305 x 203 mm
6" Chuck Machines
ST-10
ST-10Y
11.25" x 14" (max cap)
286 x 356 mm
9" x 14" (max cap)
229 x 356 mm
8" Chuck Machines
ST-20
ST-20SS
15" x 21" (max cap)
381 x 533 mm
Servo Control
Single Axis
Dual Axis
HA5C
HA5CS
HA5C
HA5C2
HA5C3
HA5C4
HA2TS
Compact HMC
ES-5
40" x 18" x 22" (xyz)
1016 x 457 x 559 mm
Extra-Large-Capacity
HMCs
35" x 71.5" (max cap)
889 x 1816 mm
TL-4L
35" x 133" (max cap)
889 x 3378 mm
10" x 21" (max cap)
254 x 533 mm
HS-3
150" x 50" x 60" (xyz)
3810 x 1270 x 1524 mm
HS-3R
TL-4
150" x 50" x 60" (xyz)
3810 x 1270 x 1524 mm
Several configurations available.
Pallet-Changing HMCs
ST-20SSY
Y axis
HS-4
12" x 21" (max cap)
305 x 533 mm
EC-300
20" x 18" x 14" (xyz)
508 x 457 x 356 mm
150" x 66" x 60" (xyz)
3810 x 1676 x 1524 mm
HS-4R
10" x 21" (max cap)
20" x 20" x 20" (xyz)
508 x 508 x 508 mm
150" x 66" x 60" (xyz)
3810 x 1676 x 1524 mm
Dual-Spindle Machines
EC-400
HS-6
DS-30
ST-20Y
Y axis
EC-400PP
w/ Pallet Pool
20" x 20" x 20" (xyz)
508 x 508 x 508 mm
84" x 50" x 60" (xyz)
2134 x 1270 x 1524 mm
HS-6R
EC-500
32" x 20" x 28" (xyz)
813 x 508 x 711 mm
84" x 50" x 60" (xyz)
2134 x 1270 x 1524 mm
HS-7
84" x 66" x 60" (xyz)
2134 x 1676 x 1524 mm
HS-7R
84" x 66" x 60" (xyz)
2134 x 1676 x 1524 mm
254 x 533 mm
10" Chuck Machines
21" x 26" (max cap)
533 x 660 mm
ST-30SS
16" x 26" (max cap)
406 x 660 mm
18" x 23" (max cap)
457 x 584 mm
ST-30SSY
Y axis
16" x 26" (max cap)
406 x 660 mm
DS-30Y
Y axis
DS-30SSY
ST-30Y
Y axis
18" x 26" (max cap)
457 x 660 mm
DS-30SS
ST-30
18" x 23" (max cap)
Large-Capacity HMCs
457 x 584 mm
16" x 23" (max cap)
EC-1600
16" x 23" (max cap)
406 x 584 mm
Y axis
406 x 584 mm
EC-1600YZT
64" x 50" x 32" (xyz)
1626 x 1270 x 813 mm
64" x 50" x 40" (xyz)
1626 x 1270 x 1016 mm
25.5" x 80" (max cap)
648 x 2032 mm
High-Productivity Turning
Servo Bar 300
(Available on all lathes except Toolroom Lathes)
Machines shown with optional equipment. Specifications subject to change without notice. Machines not shown to scale.
HRT
HRT110
HRT160
HRT210
HRT210M
HRT310
HRT450
HRT600
HRT Dual
HRT160-2
HRT210-2
Indexing Table
HIT210
HRT320FB
HRT SP
HRT160SP
HRT210SP
HRT310SP
25.5" x 44" (max cap)
648 x 1118 mm
ST-40L
T5C
T5C
T5C2
T5C3
T5C4
High Speed
HRT160SS
HRT210HS
HRT210SHS
15" Chuck Machines
ST-40
ROTARY
SOLUTIONS
Trunnion
TR110
TR160
TR160Y
TR210
TR310
Trunnion Dual TR160-2
HRT A
HRTA5
HRTA6
TRT
TRT160
TRT210

6. Sidebar: The Logic of FDI - As recently as just 20 years ago, it was extremely difficult for an Indian technology company to source precision
manufactured parts from a non-national company. Buying from a U.S. supplier, for example, meant paying in dollars, and since the Indian government
had very small reserves of the currency, a bureaucratic and time-consuming approval process would often hinder or even scupper the transaction.
Indian OEMs were frustrated, not least by the dearth of indigenous companies who could supply the high-quality parts they needed. This in turn
prevented them from designing and creating products they could sell overseas, which meant, of course, they couldn't accrue reserves of valuable
foreign currency. It's a problem common in developing nations, and one that held back India's economy for many years.
Turbocam India
One way for a country to break this kind of circular economic deadlock is for its government to encourage Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). By allowing
foreign firms to open a fully owned, local factory, national manufacturers no longer need to buy parts from abroad, which circumvents the need for
foreign currency. If the investing company also brings long-term vision, there are many other advantages, too – for the investor, the employees, and the
host community.
Turbocam India- In the early 1990s,
U.S. precision engineering firm Turbocam Inc.
was being urged by a customer in India to take
advantage of new, more relaxed FDI legislation,
and open a factory in the country. The reasoning
was that the Indian company would have access
to the high-quality parts it needed, but would no
longer have to pay with foreign currency. In
exchange, Turbocam could gain a foothold in one
of the world's fastest growing economies. It was a
long-term investment with a degree of risk, but the
customer assured Turbocam he would keep the
new factory busy.
Subsidiaries are usually set-up in the image of the
parent company. Turbocam Inc. is a successful
and highly respected organisation, serving some
of the biggest and best-known names in the
aerospace, automotive, industrial, and marine
sectors with bladed production parts for turbo
machinery. When it established Turbocam Pvt.,
the factory was equipped with a make of
CNC machine tools the group's senior managers
knew and trusted.
“Back in the early days, we were very much
guided by the head-office in the U.S.,” says
Savio Carvalho, Director at Goa-based Turbocam
Pvt. “This included our choice of capital
equipment. However, I think a turning point came
in 2001, when we got a large order through
Turbocam Europe for 5-axis insulator segments
for the Large Hadron Collider, in Switzerland. We
eventually made about 60,000 parts, after which
I think we 'grew-up' in the eyes of our American
principal. They saw that we could do a lot here.”
The order from CERN (the European
Organisation for Nuclear Research) was worth
over $1 million. Once the final parts were
delivered, the Indian subsidiary found itself with
the resources it needed for better and newer
CNC machines.
“We were already in contact with the local Haas
distributor, who told us about a local company
using a Haas machine – a VF-3,” notes
Mr. Carvalho. “We went along and had a look at it.
We asked the owner his opinion of the machine,
and he was very enthusiastic. Personally, I was
impressed with the spindle power and the control.
I compared it to other machines, I talked to other
people, and the Haas seemed like a very a good
price for a machine with its features.”
In 2004, the company bought a VF-2SS: the first of
what would eventually turn out to be many Haas
CNC machine tools. But, Mr. Carvalho
remembers, it was hardly used for the first year.
“Most of the work we were doing around then was
5-axis. We didn't really have the work for the 4-axis
Haas,” he says, “but we took the opportunity to
learn how to get the most out of the machine, so
we used the time well.” *
Before long, Turbocam Pvt. was using the Haas
machine to rough-cut the turbines, and then
finished them on their 5-axis machines. “We used
the Haas to rough in two setups,” says
Mr. Carvalho, “and as a result, our roughing times
decreased substantially. We saw that the Haas
machine was fast and reliable; it passed that test,
but we really needed to start using it to finish
machine the blades.”
By coincidence, some of the orders the company
received at that time were for less complex
turbines that could be machined using just four
axes. From this point onwards, the Haas was a
fully-fledged production machine. “In 2005 we cut
some test parts for Cummings,” says
Mr. Carvalho. “A little later, they gave us the green
light, saying: 'We are planning to go into
production in a year, and want you to produce
10,000 parts per month.' We needed to tool up, get
some more machines quickly.
But, I'll be honest, I really can't say that everyone
voted to go with the Haas machines at that time.”
on the westward side, the warm Arabian Sea laps
at beaches of white sand, where north-Europeans
come to escape the frigid winters of home.
Between them, the twin blessings of tourism and
mining have made Goa the wealthiest state on the
Asian subcontinent, with a per-capita GDP at least
twice the national average. For Turbocam, it's an
idyllic home, but the state's success also brings
challenges.
By early 2006, the company still hadn't decided
what machine tool to buy. Turbocam Pvt. was
convinced it should invest in the Haas machines,
but the head office in the U.S. had different ideas.
To build his case, Mr. Carvalho travelled to
Hannover to visit the Haas Automation Europe
booth at EMO, the biennial European
manufacturing show. From there, he flew on to the
U.S. headquarters in New Hampshire, where he
met with his colleagues and presented his
argument in favour of Haas machines. They
resisted.
“I told Terrence Miranda, Managing Director of
Haas India, that he had to convince the American's
to buy the Haas machines,” Mr. Carvalho says.
“So, he arranged with Haas Inc. to fly our technical
director, Keith Bainbrook, and our main machinist,
Elliot Wilkins, to the factory in Oxnard, California.”
Whatever their reservations, the visit changed
their minds. The company management
returned to New Hamshire with a very different
point-of-view.
“They were really impressed with how the factory
was set-up. They saw how Haas builds its
machines; they saw how many Haas machines
the company uses on its own production line; they
were impressed with the spares and inventory
system, and the general philosophy at the
company. We resubmitted our proposal to the
head office, and they decided to give us the goahead. We placed an order for eight Haas
machines – two lathes and six mills. Incredibly, our
American office promptly followed suit and also
bought eight Haas machines!”
A few years later and Turbocam owned sixteen
Haas mills and four lathes, all busy making up to
14,000 of the Cummings turbine parts every
month.
“Originally, we turned this part from bar,”
Mr. Carvalho explains. ”But it wasn't very cost
effective, and created a lot of waste. Now, we ask
the customer to manufacture the forgings and
send us the components once they are rough
turned, so we can do the final turning. We check
every single component – the guys on the lathe do
this – before we move it up to the milling process.
Finally, every one finished component in eleven is
checked 100% in our air-conditioned CMM room.”
Quality control is vitally important. Turbocam's
customers are automotive companies like
Chrysler, Volvo, and other well-known names.
“They want to be sure that every part can go
straight to the production line,” says Mr. Carvalho,
“so our machining processes need to be robust
and stay within the CPKs, the control parameters.”
At the time of this writing, the company is
expecting another delivery from Haas India. By
April 2011, it will have 23 Haas mills: 22 VF-2SS
and 1 VF-3SS. Plus, of course, the four Haas
lathes. In a typical week, the machines are
switched on at 6.30 am Monday morning and
switched off at 10.30 pm Saturday. Sundays are
set aside for preventive maintenance, and a wellearned break for the company's xx employees.
The southern state of Goa is surrounded by
treasure: Inland, there are the hills of deep red
earth, rich in minerals and ore deposits. Opposite,
“There are many growth industries here,” says
Mr. Carvalho, “so it's not that easy to get the
people you need.” Those Goan workers who are
skilled often can't earn enough locally to keep up
with rising living costs, so they look overseas for
opportunities. It's well known that much of the
labour that built Dubai's skyline came from South
Asia. But the streets in the United Arab Emirates
are not always lined with gold. The work is
notoriously hard, and appalling safety and living
conditions have caught the attention of
organisations like Human Rights Watch. If they
had better options, perhaps some of these
workers could stay home and still provide for their
families.
“Turbocam is dedicated to investing in the people
and communities here. Of course, we want
employees to be loyal to us,” says Mr. Carvalho,
“but the firm was founded on Christian principles
and the company's mission statement reflects its
values.” In an open letter on its website, founder
Marian Noronha reflects on Turbocam's mission to
“give(s) generously to help those in need, locally,
nationally, and internationally.” The company's
philanthropic attitude is fundamental to the
way it does business, but it is also, fortuitously,
self-serving.
Conditions in India are changing fast. As salaries
and living conditions increase, inflation and costs
do so, too. Success, therefore, depends not only
on having access to the latest technology, but also
to a large extent on the education, skill level, and
well being of employees and their communities.
With its strong sense of corporate responsibility,
Turbocam is proving that FDI doesn't only make
good business sense, but can also help a
developing economy overcome more than just a
shortage of foreign currency.

7. There aren't many conglomerates left in the world that are as successful in so many disparate market sectors
as Mumbai-based Godrej. From humble beginnings in the late 19th century, this well-regarded company,
with its ubiquitous tricolour logo, is probably one of the best-known brands on the Indian sub-continent,
making everything from engineering products to vegetarian soap to refrigerators.
Godrej
Godrej employs most of its 10,000 employees at
moulds and dies used to manufacture countless
says Mr. Nayak, “until we discovered Haas. We
its expansive headquarters in Mumbai. The
die cast aluminium parts for its myriad products.
couldn't believe how capable they are; we have no
campus is home for much of the company's
Godrej owns 18 Haas CNC machine tools, five of
problems regularly achieving tolerances of 10
microns.”
multifarious manufacturing activity and looks
which are used in the tooling department, an
more like an immaculately maintained suburb of
operation overseen by Mr. S. M. Nayak,
the country's second most populous city than the
General Manager of Engineering Services.
Several of the company's other Haas machines
“Three of the Haas vertical machining centres are
they operate 24 hours a day in a production
are employed in its lock-making division, where
base of a prolific manufacturer. Along its wide
streets are its factory blocks, each dedicated to a
different product or engineering service. Some of
being used to make electrodes for our sinker EDM
configuration for a line of products that Godrej has
them are unremarkable looking concrete buildings
machines,” he says. “The other two, VF-3s, are
been making in one form or another for all of its
of three or four stories. One or two are cavernous,
used to make conventional moulds and
114 years. The division uses four Haas VF-2s,
100-foot-high hangars with gaping doors that look
dies in steel.”
two VF-2SS Super Speeds, and two SL-10 lathes.
big enough to swallow an airship.
Between them, they make pin cylinder locks in
brass and stainless steel. Tolerances are typically
In one particularly neat enclave is the company's
glass-fronted showroom, where visitors can see
is to do the right over the expedient, but without
20 to 50 microns and batches are 200 to 1000
units per shift, depending on the component being
sacrificing opportunity. Being privately owned
means Godrej can make its own judgement call.
an example of each of the many domestic and
machined. The VF-2 machines are fitted with two
“We chose the Haas because we are always
small-scale industrial products made nearby. In
rotary tables on each table, with different types of
looking for the top machines: good quality CNC
addition to DVD players, washing machines,
fixtures to accommodate the wide-variety of part
machine tools that are cost-effective, reliable, and
microwave ovens, and kitchen tables, there are
shapes and sizes.
easy to operate,” says Mr. Nayak.
walk-in safes, vending machines, office chairs –
“Our company provides its employees and their
families with extensive social support,” says Mr.
D.K Sharma. “On our Mumbai campus there is a
purpose-built school, and a memorial hospital with
even hospital beds. Products that aren't suitable
In the company's Precision Engineering Systems
110 beds and a fully equipped intensive care unit.
for display or won't fit in the showroom – animal
(PES) division, Haas VF-3 machining centres are
There's also housing and accommodation for all
feed, edible oils, satellites, India's largest radio
used to make critical components, such as the
levels up to senior management, and even a hill-
telescope, and components for the country's
stator ring, hub, carrier arm, and disc rotor for wind
top country club.
space program, are represented graphically or
Electrodes for EDM (electrical discharge
turbines, one of Godrej's latest and fastest-
using detailed scale models. It's a breathtaking
machining) sinker machines create an imprint or
growing manufacturing activities.
array, by any standard.
cavity in a machined workpiece. Electrode holders
“The future of our country depends on the
intellectual capacity and the learning capability of
clamp the precision-machined, tungsten carbide
Our distinguished host for the day is
“Haas machines are reliable, user-friendly, and
the young India,” concludes Mr. Sharma. “Twenty-
electrodes in place to ensure a high degree of
flexible,” says S.M. Nayak. “We're already
five percent of our company's shares are owned
by the Pirojsha Godrej Foundation Trust, which
Mr. D K Sharma, Vice President Tooling Division
accuracy and repeatability. The process is
achieving 65 to 70% cutting time, and we are
Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd. “Godrej is well-known
typically used when the surface finish of a
always looking for ways to make our operations
provides communities around the country with
in many different industries,” he says. “It is vitally
component and the dimensions of intricate
more efficient. We're also adding more capacity,”
schooling, medical treatment, education, and
important that we choose our technology partners
features are critical, which means the electrodes
he adds. “Later this year we will order two more
disaster relief.”
very carefully. We have several Haas CNC
themselves have to be very finely machined.
Haas VF-8 machines for our tooling division, and
machine tools, which I'm glad to say are versatile,
reliable and capable machines.”
one for the MHE division.”
“Given the complexity of the electrodes and the
Godrej's investment, relentless innovation and
wide-reaching philanthropy mean that it will play a
accuracy we need to achieve, we originally
The founding family and the senior managers
very important role in the socio-economic and
A short walk from the showroom is the company's
thought we would have to buy high-end,
at Godrej know that the company's future depends
industrial development of India for at least another
busy tooling machine shop, where it makes the
expensive European or Japanese machines,”
on helping India's disadvantaged. The challenge
100 years.

8. Appasamy Associates Group
For the past few decades, the Indian
government's National Programme for the
Control of Blindness has been working to reach
those afflicted with cataracts, all over the
country. Mr. R.V Ravichandran is General
Manager for Operations at Haas customer,
Appasamy Associates Group. “Thanks to the
government programme,” he tells me, “once
someone with cataracts is in the system - even
someone in a very remote location, they may only
have to wait a week or two for an operation to
restore their sight. In the UK, by comparison,
I gather it can take up to several weeks.”
Cataracts, he explains, are common in India for
many reasons. “Ultraviolet radiation is a principal
cause,” he says. “People spend a lot of their lives
outside in very bright sunshine, so by the time they
are elderly, many need surgery.” Poor diet is also
a cause, affecting all age groups, not just seniors.
Diet for a great number of people in India varies
little from the national staples of Roti bread and
rice. Seafood is a principal source of Iodine, but in
inland areas where fish is scarce, Iodine
deficiency is common and as a result, even the
very young can develop the milky, opaque clouds
that reduce to nothing their view of the world.
The company also has an office and lens
manufacturing facility in New York City - Ellis
Opthalmics, near JFK airport, the output from
which is almost all imported back into India.
“Indian doctors want US made, imported lenses,”
says Mr. Ravichandran, “even though they cost
more.”
Other than lenses, almost all of the company's
milestone products and innovations over the
years have been those that met a local need at a
cost far lower than imported equipment. Formed
33-years ago, the company is still chaired by its
founder, P. S. N Appasamy. In the 1970s he
worked in the USA for a contact lens manufacturer
and soon began his own company making a lowcost product to freeze the nucleus of an eye, ready
for removal. At that time, a European company
made the only similar machine capable of doing
the same job. The European machine was too
expensive for doctors in India. Mr. Appasamy
simplified the design and was able to sell a more
suitable product for a far lower price. The new
machine became very popular in India and made
cataract removal a much more viable procedure,
particularly for peripatetic doctors taking their
services to patients in rural and remote areas.
Appasamy employ's over 2500 people: 1380 at
the Puducherry factory, with most of the others
based at plants in Calcutta, Chennai and Dehli.
The company's current annual sales are more
than US$2billion, and many of its mainstay
products are made on a line of twenty Haas CNC
machine tools as its Puducherry factory.
Appasamy makes 80% of the interocular lenses
used in India to treat patients with cataracts. A
replacement, interocular lens is a flexible, plastic
insert with positioning and holding struts called
haptics. The patient's own lens is removed –
usually after it is cryogenically frozen, and the new
one is implanted inside the capsular bag of the
eye. Often, especially where the patient is elderly,
the resulting vision is better than the natural lens
before it became diseased. Appasamy produces
300,000 lenses a month, as well as the disposable
syringes used to inject them into the eye and an
enormous range of other instruments and
equipment used in eye clinics and hospitals.
A single Haas Mini-Mill, eleven VF-1 vertical
machining centres and eight SL-10 turning
centres, make, between them, the parts for1800
different surgical instruments and pieces of
equipment in the Appasamy catalogue; products
such as microscopes and slit-lamps used in clinics
and operating theatres, and tonometes, for testing
the pressure of an eyeball.
“The tonometer is one of our best-selling products
and is our own design,” says Mr. P. Prakash,
Deputy Manager CNC. “All of its 45 different parts
are made on the Haas MiniMill. We make 150
finished units a month.”
Another successful, home grown Appasamy
product is a YAG laser. After a cataract is removed
and replaced with an interocular lens, it
sometimes happens that the capsular bag
becomes thicker and 'frosted' behind the lens,
causing light to scatter before it reaches the retina.
To alleviate the problem, a laser is used to
perforate the opaque area of the capsule, allowing
light to penetrate more readily. For 20-years,
German optical company, Carl Zeiss, made the
only YAG laser available in India, until Appassamy
designed and built a lower-cost version.
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. In India,
cataracts are the most common cause of preventable blindness, and one company in particular makes the equipment
the country's ophthalmologists need and rely on to treat the afflicted.
Appasamy counts more than 10,000 Indian
doctors as its customers, all of who are looking for
lower-cost and simpler alternatives to imported
products, such as ultrasound machines that used
to cost $200-300,000, but that Appasamy now
supplies for just $10,000.
The Appasamy Slit Lamp alone has 60
components, some turned, some milled, made
from aluminium, stainless steel and brass. The
company completes 350 assemblies a month, and
aims to increase production to 500 a month. The
optical assembly for the operating microscope is
made on the Haas VF-1s. There are two models of
the finished product: one with continuous
magnification, the other with step-magnification,
the drum of which is machined in aluminium to 5
microns on the Haas VF-1s. The Appasamy
Keratometer, for measuring the curvature of the
cornea, used to be made by a Japanese supplier
and imported into India, but is now also made by
Appasamy. EdgeCAM software.
The company's less-invasive system for replacing
interocular lenses eliminates the need for surgical
stitches, since the hole made to insert the lens is
smaller than 5mm. The replacement lens is furled
and injected into the eye, where it unfolds, like a
ship in a bottle. By eliminating the need for
stitches, the procedure is quicker and easier and
there's less chance that the eye will deform and
lose its shape. As well as making the lenses,
Appasamy also makes the single-use syringes,
whose moulds are machined on a Haas VF-2
Super Speed.
With so many parts and products, it's not
surprising the company spends a great deal of
time and effort designing quick-change fixtures
and fittings. Batches are often as small as 2-5
components, and some of the machines are setaside for development work, proving programmes
- generated by its EdgeCAM software, and
reducing cycle times. On the day of my visit, a long
line of new Haas machines, still wrapped after
their journey across the North Pacific, were
waiting in an unused part of the factory to be
unpacked and installed.
“The YAG laser is another Appasamy success
story,” says Mr. R.V Ravichandran. “Carl Zeiss
only ever sold around 1600 YAG lasers. In the
eight years since we launched our product, we
have sold 1000 examples.”
“We have sixteen new Haas machines here this
week,” says Mr. Ravichandran, “ten VF-1s, and six
ST-10s. Eighty percent of our employees on the
production line are female and they like the Haas
machines because they are easy to operate and
maintain. The Taiwanese machines we had before
were big, complex and intimidating.”
Many Appasamy products contain fine, small
parts made on the Haas machines.
Mr. Ravichandran claims the women machine
operators have good manual dexterity, but the
main reason why they populate the lines during
daylight hours is so they can be at home with their
children during the evening, night and early
morning.
“The women work the day shifts and the men work
the single night shift,” he says. “Many of the
women join our company directly after school or
college and work here for three to four years, until
they marry. Some return and continue, many stop
work to have children.”
With a seemingly inexhaustible demand for
clinical equipment and instruments, and with such
an enormous, customer base of indigenous
ophthalmologists, it's no surprise that Appasamy
has enjoyed uninterrupted growth for the past two
decades. Business is brisk, in no small part due to
the company's relentless development of
innovative, lower-cost products. Doctors in India
are free to undertake their own private practice, so
it is essential that equipment is affordable, which is
also why Appasamy runs a scheme to help
doctors buy the equipment they need to undertake
cataract surgery.
But the company also exports its products, and
regularly attends trade shows in the USA and
Europe. By doing so, it qualifies for lower taxes on
imported machine tools, under a government run
incentive.
“Because we export a large part of our production,
import duties on the Haas machines are less,”
says Mr. Ravichandran. “Our company has also
been recognised and awarded for exports, by the
Indian government. We received The Engineering
Export Promotion Council of India award
for the best performance under the category small
scale industries.”
A lot has been written in recent years about the
surge of technology that's swept across India, but
authors are usually referring to the Internet and
broadband networks, which have permitted locals
to access business opportunities that originate
thousands of miles away. Call centres in India
have transformed the customer-interface of every
cost-cutting insurance company and ticketing
agency in the UK and the US. As a result, Indian
college leavers can hold a white-collar position
with a western company without leaving their
native cities.
What's less documented is how engineering
companies in India like Appasamy are taking
advantage of the best-available manufacturing
technology, and in so doing are not only
addressing the country's pressing social and
health issues – such as helping the blind to see
again, but are also quietly establishing innovative
Indian products in growing, Western markets.
What's good for eye patients in rural India,
it seems, is also good for eye patients in the
rest of the world.

9. Bharat Forge Limited
Passing through the imposing gates of
Pune-based Bharat Forge Ltd. (BFL), the roads
become smooth and well tended. Immaculate
lawn edges and trim hedges border the long
driveway leading to the car park, where small cars
and scooters form orderly lines.
As a company, BFL has grown from its origins as a
humble hammer manufacturer 40 years ago, into
one of the largest, most accomplished and
technically advanced forging operations in the
world. It is the flagship company of the $1.25
billion (US) Kalyani Group, and describes itself as
a “full-service supplier” of engine and chassis
components. BFL is also India's largest exporter
of automotive components, and has
manufacturing facilities spread across six
locations: two in India, three in Germany and one
in North America.
“We needed to prove that the Haas machines
could produce a die within the cycle times and
quality requirements we expected,” he says. “At
that time, we wanted to machine a connecting rod
die from H13 tool steel (50HRc), so we passed the
challenge to Haas. The result was really
impressive. In fact, it was no different to a set of
benchmarking tests we had done on a Japanese
machine that cost several times the price.”
The turning point for BFL came in the late 1980s,
when management at the company (then only
selling to the market in India) decided to replace
the ageing plant it originally bought second-hand
from a U.S. supplier, with modern technology that
would be the envy of forging shops the world over.
The investment included new presses, new
automation and the adoption of new
manufacturing techniques, such as 5S and
Kaizen. It was a bold strategy designed to make
BFL a world leader in forging production.
Mr. B.P. Kalyani – a relative of the company's
chairman – was given the task of implementing the
new practices. To tackle the challenge effectively,
BFL created a Forge Modernisation Division, and
today Mr. Kalyani is its Senior Vice President.
Over the years, BFL has invested to create stateof-the-art facilities and world-class capabilities,
such as fully automated forging and machining
lines comparable to the best in the industry. The
company's customer base includes virtually every
global automotive OEM and Tier I supplier,
including: Daimler Chrysler, Toyota, BMW, GM,
Volkswagen, Audi, Renault, Ford, Volvo,
Caterpillar, Perkins, Iveco, Arvin Meritor and
Cummins. Annual turnover of the 4,000employee, publicly traded company is in excess of
$600 million.
Business and industry journalist Matt Bailey took the short flight from Mumbai to Pune recently to visit one of India's
– and the world's – most successful forge manufacturers.
“Our biggest challenge was to absorb the
technology,” he says. “It was all very new to us, but
somehow we had to learn how to get the most from
it – fast.”
Word soon spread about the company's
investment, and new customers sought the
company out. One such company was U.S.-based
axle assembly manufacturer Arvin Meritor, which
duly placed an order for 1,000 forged axle beams
per month.
“We were able to offer them a product 20 percent
cheaper than their previous supplier,” says
Mr. Kalyani. “All of a sudden, the hard work and
investment began to pay off.”
Over the subsequent decade, the influx of orders
accelerated, but despite the success, a problem
began to surface: The die machining shop was
struggling to keep pace with the forging lines.
“We knew we had to start looking at high-speed
CNC machining centres,” explains Mr. Kalyani.
“At first, we only looked at various Japanese,
German and Swiss models – the ones we had
heard of. But the quotes were very expensive. We
thought that must be the going rate, but then we
came across Haas.”
Mr. Kalyani admits he had not heard of Haas
previously, but says the machine specification-toprice ratio was a real surprise. Only company
policy, which demands that benchmarking tests
take place between prospective supplier
products, prevented him from placing an order
immediately.
That was in 2001. Today, BFL owns 23 Haas
machine tools: 16 VF-4 CNC vertical machining
centres (the five most recent delivered in
September 2005); two VF-7 machining centres;
two VF-2 models; one EC-1600 horizontal
machining centre; one Toolroom Mill and one Mini
Lathe.
All of the Haas machining centres are fitted with
10,000- or 15,000-rpm spindles, as well as
through-spindle coolant and high-speed
machining options. In fact, BFL claims to have
specified all of the available options on every
machine it has purchased. The machines even
have air conditioning units fitted to the control
cabinets to counter exceptionally high in-shop
temperatures.
“We work the Haas machines very hard – 24 hours
a day, seven days a week,” says Mr. Kalyani.
“Temperatures in the factory often can exceed
40°C (104°F). We can't afford to take any
chances, so we use cooling systems. Some of our
Japanese and German machines are also cooled,
but none cope as well as the Haas machines.”
Working around the clock, the Haas machines,
run by five operators, produce a total of
approximately 550 dies per month for forgings
weighing up to 350 kg. Typical end products
include crankshafts, connecting rods, front-axle
beams, rocker arms, steering knuckles,
transmission parts and hubs. In fact, BFL claims to
be the largest manufacturer of crankshafts in
India, and the second largest worldwide, with
annual production well in excess of 100,000 units.
“We are immensely pleased with the performance
of our Haas machines,” says Associate Vice
President Mr. S. Rangan. “Before they were
installed, the cycle time for a typical crankshaft die
was 40 to 50 hours, now it is 14 to 15 hours.
Similarly, a die for a connecting rod was machined
in 40 hours, whereas now it takes just four. Add to
this the fact that there is no bench or polishing
work, no tool marks or cracks, and it is easy to see
why we are so pleased. The days of separate
roughing and finishing are also behind us. All of
our dies are now machined complete in a single
setup on a single machine.”
Mr. Rangan states that two further forging lines are
planned for next year, which will subsequently
require yet more die-machining capacity. The
company is also considering the acquisition of two
more plants, one in Europe and one in China. He
says that this ambition is targeted toward
improving “speed to market.” A decade ago, the
time taken from receipt of drawing to delivery of a
hard-forged sample was around two months.
Today, it is a couple of weeks. BFL's two-year
target is to reduce it to just three days!
In the company's training division, a Haas
Toolroom Mill and Mini Lathe are used daily by
roughly 30 BFL trainees undertaking one-and-ahalf year apprenticeship programs.
“We've never been afraid to invest,” says Mr.
Kalyani. “From the very beginning, the chairman
invested the majority of profits back into the
organisation. It's become a culture at BFL. Every
company has the ability to define its own culture,
and this is ours.”

10. Capiq Engineering
There are many points of view concerning the
perceived threat to Western manufacturers posed
by their Eastern counterparts. Perhaps the most
commonly aired of which focuses on the apparent
cost advantages they appear to enjoy.
Mr. Bipin V. Chemburka, co-founder and director
of Capiq Engineering, Vadodara, India, is direct
and to the point when offering his counterargument:
“It's not enough for Indian companies to compete
on cost alone,” he states, emphatically. “Those
that do so are living in a fool's paradise.
“If, for example, a U.S. company is doing the same
job as us, on the same machines, using the same
number of people, we can't compete. Any
economic advantage we have is wiped out by
shipping costs and India's relatively high interest
rates.”
In fact, claims Chemburka, the only way we
Indian manufacturing companies can compete
effectively with the rest of the world is to
do a better job.
Broker
Mr. Chemburka and a business partner
established Capiq in 1991, and have built the
company on a cultural bedrock of innovation and
hard work. Originally a machine setter and
operator for Crompton Greaves, a manufacturer
of fans, transformers and motors for domestic
products, Chemburka established Capiq as a
broker, negotiating manufacturing contracts for
others. Shortly after, he discovered a sizeable
market for the production and supply of precision
components and assemblies, and quickly began
manufacturing operations to meet the demand.
Since those early days, Capiq has pursued its
stock in trade relentlessly, and with an
indefatigable passion for quality. In the process,
the company built a strong order book
for bespoke, high-value components and
assemblies. Thanks in large part to its overseas
business, the company is now an ISO9001:2000
accredited, $2 million turnover organisation
employing more than 90 people, many of whom
are English-speaking skilled engineers,
technicians and machinists.
Capiq Engineering is one of a growing number of similar, privately owned companies in India proving that when it comes
to global business, almost no one is excluded, providing you invest in the latest technology and best practices.
U.S. Machine Tools
Like many of the manufacturing companies I met
during my visit to India, Capiq's machine shop
works 24 hours a day, six-and-a-half days a week.
The components it makes range from relatively
small metallic parts weighing a few grams, to
assemblies weighing up to 25 kilograms.
One way the company has prospered is through
maximising the productivity of its available
machining capacity. It's not rocket science, but it's
surprising, says Chemburka, how few companies
actually make the most of their existing machine
tools.
“We like to mount as many fixtures on a machine
as possible,” he says. “It's not unusual for us to cut
several different parts on the machine at the same
time.”
To meet growing demand, Capiq has recently
invested in several high-quality CNC machine
tools, including a Haas SL-10 CNC turning centre
with high-pressure coolant system and bar feeder;
a Haas VF-2 CNC vertical machining centre;
a VF-2SS CNC high-speed VMC; another SL-10
(with Haas servo bar feeder); an SL-30
big-bore CNC turning centre and a Haas TM-1
CNC Toolroom Mill.
The Haas VF-2SS high-speed vertical machining
centre has made quite an impression at the
company. Capiq uses the machine to produce
aluminium medical-assembly components,
reducing cycle times by approximately 70 percent
over previous methods, and improving surface
finish in the process.
“Haas machines are very good value for money,
as they are very capable,” Mr. Chemburka says.
“By taking care with tooling, fixtures and coolant,
we can consistently achieve tolerances as tight as
±2 microns. It just takes a little TLC (tender loving
care).”
Capiq's Haas SL-10 is currently employed
producing complex flow valves that control the
movement of robotic arms, manufacturing some
15,000 per month for one of the company's
U.S. customers.
The Haas SL-30 turning centre produces leadedsteel valve casings, machining a blank weighing
9.2 kg down to a 2.1 kg, finished component.
At present, this is machined in three setups on the
SL-30, plus a further setup on another machine.
However, the company is currently considering
installing a Haas SL-30 with C-axis and live
tooling. This would reduce the number of
setups to two.
At time of writing, the company was working on a
PCB mounting head consisting of a base plate and
a piston moving along two parallel pins. The
device is used to mount components on PCB
boards at very high speeds. The tolerances are
extremely tight, as any inaccuracy would cause
excessive damage when moving at speeds
approaching 30 strokes a second. Early
development parts have been machined on the
Haas TM-1 Toolroom Mill.
“If the customer, a U.S. company, is happy with the
part, the order will be for approximately 18,000 a
year.” says Mr. Chemburka. “Typically, U.S. and
Chinese competitors are not interested in high
volumes accompanied by such strict quality
criteria. This is a great niche for us.”
And a lucrative niche it's proving to be. The
company is growing at the rate of 35 percent per
year, thanks in large part to the vision and
determination of its founder, but also,
undoubtedly, to investing in the very best CNC
machine tool technology.
“We're all competing on a global playing field,”
concludes Mr. Chemburka. “The technology, and
therefore the opportunities, are available to
everyone, everywhere.”

11. Diesel Machinery Works
Perunderai, Coimbatore: A dusty country road
leads to the company's main gate, but visitors to
Diesel Machinery Works (DMW) shouldn't be
fooled by first impressions. Inside the company's
whitewashed factory, high-tech manufacturing
operations are running around the clock,
producing components for automotive,
compressor, valve, pump and agricultural
customers. Much of the company's production is
exported, a fact that owner and founder
Mr. Shanmugam is particularly proud of.
““Although there are many opportunities in India,
Industry here is very competitive,” he explains.
“We realised that to succeed in the long term,
DMW would need to export. The Indian economy
is open to the whole world and we wanted to target
business from overseas customers.”
Mr. N Shanmugam, his brother and three
additional employees started DMW as a jobbing
shop just 14 years ago. Since then, the company
has enjoyed significant growth and these-days
employs a total of 150 people working three shifts,
six days a week. It is still located on the 20-acre
farm where Mr Shanmugam was raised, a place
where his family lives in a newly built house
adjacent to the 20,000sq.ft factory.
A Coimbatore precision engineering company has discovered that investing in people and world-class technology opens
doors to worldwide markets.
Haas machines on the factory floor.
The company's course in CNC Programming and
Operations has a curriculum defined in
consultation with industry, and includes
programming, operations, machine setting,
tooling and maintenance.
“We did consider other machines,” says
Mr. Shanmugam, “but the functionality, quality and
price of the Haas machines put them at the top of
our list.”
Working Smarter
In the company's workshop, stacks of completed
parts sit adjacent to the Haas machines. At the
time of my visit the company's Haas SL-30 CNC
turning centre was employed turning a batch of
wheel hubs for UK commercial vehicle
manufacturer, Leyland. DMW produces around
225 cast iron wheel hubs every day on its Haas
turning centre and each is inspected by the
operator. The ISO9001:2000 accredited company
certainly doesn't skimp or cut corners when it
comes to doing the job well.
“Quality control is the most crucial part of our
work,” says Mr Shanmugam,. “Each process is
closely monitored using flow charts and statistical
methods. We also deploy 5S and TPM
procedures.”
Across the factory, two Haas VF-3 CNC machining
centres are producing valve housings for a
Canadian company and compressor housings for
a US customer. Mr Shanmugam explains that the
valve housings would normally require the use of a
horizontal machining centre. However, using the
Haas HRT310 rotary table as a fourth axis allows
DMW to use the vertical VF-3 instead, which
represented a far smaller investment.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the decision to
invest in Haas CNC machine tools was a turning
point in the company's history,” he says. “It has
allowed DMW to secure contracts from major
customers that would not have considered using
our manual machine capability.”
The CNC Centre has two full time CNC trainers
who also teach students the principals of CAD and
CAM. After course completion many of the
students migrate to Europe where demand for
CNC operatives with both qualifications and
experience is high. Most remain in India, with a
few taking up posts with local companies.
Mr. Shanmugam describes himself as a
'technocrat entrepreneur', a title, he explains,
which may not sound as complimentary to
Westerners as it does to Indians.
The Next Generation
Such has been DMW's success with CNC
technology the company is using its newfound
knowledge to teach students at a recently built
training facility known at the DMW CNC Centre. As
an ex-lecturer at the nearby Kongu Polytechnic
College (his wife still works there, also as a
lecturer), Mr Shanmugam is particularly proud of
his latest venture. Of the 150 staff employed by the
company, 25 are trainees.
“The Haas machines are ideal for training
purposes,” says Mr Shanmugam. “They are easy
to understand and very user friendly, even for
students with no previous hands-on experience.”
Despite being less than a year old, the DMW CNC
Centre is already making a name for itself. Up to
30 students a month pass through its doors.
Most are diploma graduates from the local
colleges looking to add practical experience to
theory. They spend half their time in front of a Haas
control simulator learning CNC programming, and
the remaining time training on-the-job using the
“In India, we are very proud of our engineering
capability. At DMW, we always look for
opportunities to grow and expand what we can
offer. Currently we provide sub-assembly
production, CADCAM services, including solid
modelling and FEA, reverse engineering, 3D/2D
drawing conversion, CNC code generation and
raw material sourcing. To continue our success
means investing in the best people and the best
technology available.”

12. Euroflex Transmissions Ltd.
Flexible Friends
Mr. N. S. Shenoy has come a long way since
launching his precision manufacturing business
just 14 years ago. A financier by profession,
Shenoy spotted a market opening for an Indian
manufacturer of high-performance flexible disc
couplings for high-power and high-speed
applications. The opportunity was sufficiently
promising that he left his previous employment –
and profession – to set up a joint venture with
UK company Euroflex Transmissions Ltd.
At first, Mr. Shenoy had no staff, no factory, and
outsourced almost all of his manufacturing
operations. Today, the company is a $4 million
enterprise with a promising future, and a
reputation for innovation.
Hyderabad-based Euroflex Transmissions (India) Pvt. Ltd. proves that, in the manufacturing sector, having the right
friends can be just as important as having the right ideas and the best technology.
New Ideas
Couplings were just the beginning. In the past few
years, the company has expanded its product
range into rotor and stator blades for turbines.
When Mr. Shenoy went looking for new
opportunities, he typically put his customers'
objectives first.
Today, the company produces in excess of 3,000
compressor blades per month for steam and gas
land-based turbines, as well as aero engines. The
machining centres are arranged in pairs, with each
pair operated by a single person. The company
runs a 16-hour, two-shift system over six and a half
days per week. To meet future growth projections,
Early Success
Like all business start-ups, the company's early
years were filled with uncertainty. But in 1994, an
Indian customer opted to try the services of Mr.
Shenoy rather than buy direct from the UK. Two
years later, Euroflex Transmissions India was
doing well enough to build its own one-stop shop
for coupling production.
Today, Euroflex India supplies flexible disc
couplings to a number of well-known OEMs
around the world, including GE, Peter
Brotherhood and Siemens – the latter specifying
Mr. Shenoy's company as one of its two preferred
vendors for this type of product.
It's a success story that reflects the endeavour and
entrepreneurship of a hard-working business
professional with an eye for opportunity, and a
strong commitment to relationships, trust and
mutual benefit.
“I placed my entire life savings into this venture,”
Mr. Shenoy says, “but I couldn't have done it
without the support of Euroflex Transmissions Ltd
in the UK. Their 49% stake in my business enabled
me to finance the technology I needed to get
started. Not many companies would have been as
willing to do this, and it showed great faith in me.
It's something for which I will be eternally grateful.”
In 1998, Euroflex Transmissions India
approached a prospective customer and asked
for a sample turbine blade and the associated
CAD model for it. The aim was to reproduce the
blade at a lower price than the customer was
already paying – in the same or shorter lead-time,
with no loss of product quality. Shenoy's
philosophy of building a relationship based on
trust was the key to eventually winning the
business. It's an approach, he says, that helped
put the customer at ease.
“We had no technology assistance or advice from
the customer,” Mr. Shenoy says. “There were no
costs involved, nothing in writing, nothing legal,
nothing binding. All we asked for was an
agreement that if we succeeded, they would
consider buying the product from us. I appreciate
that the move from flexible couplings to turbine
blades may seem unlikely, but we're not afraid to
make mistakes. As they say, only those who don't
try never make mistakes.”
New Technology
To make those early prototypes, the company
invested in its first US-built Haas CNC machine
tool: a VF-0E vertical machining centre with fourth
axis and on-machine probing. After two years of
designing and making improved versions of the
customer's turbine blade – machined on the VF-
Mr. Shenoy anticipates the purchase of another
four Haas machining centres every year for the
next five years!
“There are many reasons why we select Haas
machines,” he says. “They are compact, user
friendly and competitively priced. Also, Haas
is one of the few machine tool companies to
develop its own control, which is married to the
machine perfectly. To me, this is the biggest
success of Haas.”
The company uses its Haas VF-2s to finishmachine components in a wide variety of materials
to tolerance limits of around 20 microns, as well as
perform roughing operations on parts
manufactured from cast iron, brass and
aluminium. All components are inspected 100
percent at every stage to allow complete
traceability throughout the manufacturing
process, as you'd expect from an ISO 9001-
looking towards further product lines to help
certified company.
continue his company's growth. These remain
Shenoy claims that to repay his “debt” of gratitude
that the next one may be another turbine-related
to the UK parent company, he chose to merge the
product, possibly alternators.
close to his chest at this stage, but he intimates
proceeds from the new venture with his Euroflex
business.
The company has four selection criteria for new
products: They must be technology – not price –
0E – Euroflex India was awarded its first
“Although turbine-blade manufacturing has
production contract for them in 2000. That event
driven; have high margins and low volumes; have
nothing to do with Euroflex in the UK, I have
a difficult entry barrier; and have a reasonable
led to an order for five Haas VF-2 CNC vertical
chosen not to separate the business's activities,”
resale value in the event of failure.
machining centres. In 2005, this already
says Mr. Shenoy. “Euroflex UK therefore owns
impressive armoury was boosted further by the
49 percent of my new activities.”
acquisition of an additional four VF-2 machines –
“These are the reasons we are not in the highvolume automotive or telecommunications
a model that Mr Shenoy says is the perfect size to
Despite the phenomenal success of Euroflex
industries,” says Mr. Shenoy. “It has to be a niche
manufacture turbine blades.
Transmissions India, Mr. Shenoy is already
product. Otherwise, we don't want to get involved.”

13. Parveen Oilfield
Parveen Oilfield is investing in U.S. machine tool technology to stay ahead of the competition in the booming oil
engineering industry. U.K.-based business and industry journalist Matt Bailey braved the monsoon season to investigate.
With the price of a barrel of oil at an all time high,
and in order to meet burgeoning global demand,
the world's big oil companies are embarking on
major new programmes of exploration.
New wells are being bored, new pipelines laid,
new rigs constructed, and new extraction and
refinery equipment is being designed and
manufactured. Compared to other industry
sectors, the projects and their capital expenditure
are frequently vast, and can mean lucrative
contracts for product and component
manufacturers with the necessary technical
capability and experience.
The origins of Parveen Oilfield can be traced
back to the year 1960, when the family business
was founded to manufacture metallic conduits for
electric cables. In 1983, the company diversified
to meet increasing demand from the Indian oil
industry. In the two decades since, it has grown to
be a leader in the design, development and
manufacture of oilfield equipment. Its name is
synonymous with quality and high-precision
machining, and as a one-stop shop for its global
customer base. Works Director Mr. N.H. Jeswani
has been with the company from the early days.
“Not long after our first few contracts with
companies in the oil and gas sector, we started
designing and manufacturing products
ourselves,” he says. “We began by producing
basic wire-line service tools and pipe fittings for
the oil industry in India, before gradually
increasing our product portfolio for the export
market.”
Today, Parveen Oilfield has its headquarters –
with 110 employees – near Mumbai, another
smaller facility in the older part of Mumbai, plus a
further two in Delhi, where a third is shortly to be
constructed. Across all facilities Parveen employs
around 500 people, who help the company meet
demanding delivery schedules for its range of
around 300 different products.
“The Haas machines have proved very reliable,”
explains Jeswani. “The company works around
the clock, so reliability is a key factor. We have
also experienced improved productivity and
higher output rates since the machines were
installed.”
The Parveen portfolio includes the design and
manufacture of a wide range of equipment – for
cementing, coil-tubing pressure control, gas lifts,
rotary drilling, sub-surface flow control, sucker
rods, well heads, Christmas trees, “fishing” and
logging tools, and valves. In fact, the company
does almost anything and everything needed
above and below the surface during all phases of
oil and gas exploration.
The Technology Leap
Around three years ago the company decided the
time had come to replace some of its older Indianmanufactured machine tools with CNC
technology. Mr. Jeswani had seen Haas machines
at an exhibition in Mumbai, where the Indian Haas
Factory Outlet (based in Pune) had a stand.
“Cost and quality were the primary reasons why
we opted to purchase a Haas SL-30 big-bore CNC
turning centre,” he says. “Of course, so many
oilfield products and components are tubular that
it made sense to start with a turning machine.”
Such was the success of the Haas SL-30 that
Parveen recently added to its Haas armoury,
purchasing a further four machines in 2005:
another SL-30; an EC-1600 horizontal machining
centre; a VF-5 50-taper vertical machining centre
fitted with a Haas HRT-450 rotary table; and an
SL-40 turning centre with an SMW indexing
chuck designed specifically to allow machining
of all the faces of steel valves in a single setup
(see picture).
Parveen operates 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. Where in western companies this would
represent a three-shift system, astonishingly,
Parveen operates just two shifts, with employees
working 72 hours a week across six, 12-hour
shifts, with just one day off a week on a rotation
basis. With labour already working at maximum
capacity at Parveen, investment in CNC machine
tool technology made perfect sense.
“Our biggest challenge is keeping up with
demand. Once a customer has placed an order,
it's invariably required yesterday,” quips
Mr. Jeswani. “We make everything to order rather
than for stock, so now that we have reliable
machines, meeting tight delivery schedules is far
easier.”
With business swift, Parveen's Rabale site is at
near capacity. An expansion representing an
increase in floor space of 50 percent is currently
being commissioned. It will house the latest CNC
machining equipment, including a total of 13 new
Haas machine tools, which are presently on order.
The company's order book is so healthy that Mr.
Jeswani is confident he can keep the new
machines and extra staff just as busy.
Low labour costs have certainly helped Parveen,
as has the relative abundance of young, highly
skilled engineering graduates passing through
India's university system. But its also the
company's willingness to invest in technology and
quality processes that enables it to win and retain
customers in the long term.
Parveen has embraced CNC technology and is
reaping the rewards. The company has also
achieved ISO9001:2000 quality accreditation
status, and holds 13 API (American Petroleum
Institute) licences to manufacture oil industry
products, which it claims is the largest amount
held by any company in India. Add all this to its 25
years of experience in the oil sector, and it's easy
to see why Parveen's services are so popular.
Around 70 percent of the company's production is
exported, sold via Parveen's extensive network of
agents. As an oilfield supplier, it should come as
no surprise to learn that the company's chief
export regions are the U.S., Canada and the
Middle East.
“Our customers are interested in quality, delivery
and trust,” says Jeswani. “We have an ISO audit
every six months, and an API audit every two
years. Price is less of an issue, given the high cost
of oil, a factor that is driving the entire sector,
making it very buoyant and providing most
suppliers with a profitable period,” he concludes.

14. Patel Brass Works
In my father's day, no one would have expected to
find a world-class manufacturing company in
Rajkot,” says managing partner Mr. Mahesh Patel,
who is responsible for production and quality. “Our
town has always been most famous as the place
where Mahatma Gandhi spent his school years.
“However, the area now has a cluster
of progressive industrial organisations, a
development that we like to think has been
encouraged by the success of our company.”
Patel Brass Works
Patel Brass Works (PBW), founded in Rajkot in
1948 by the late Mr. Shri Patel, is a global leader in
engine bearing manufacture. The company
specialises in bi-metal and tri-metal bearings,
bushes and thrust washers for engines,
compressors, earthmovers, locomotives and a
wide range of other reciprocating and rotating
machinery. PBW is ISO 9001:2000 accredited,
has more than 300 employees and exports to 20
countries.
By 1965, the company had gained significant
experience in casting and finishing non-ferrous
components, and had begun to develop critical
components like bi-metal bearings to meet the
demand driven by the local manufacture of
slow-speed diesel engines.
Today, its customers are a mix of blue chip OEMs
and aftermarket spare parts stockists and it
currently enjoys a 75 percent share of the
market for supplying Indian Railways with
bearings and bushes.
Over the years, PBW has implemented a
programme of investment that has progressively
brought manufacture of its bearings in-house.
Following the purchase of raw material, PBW
makes its own alloys, undertakes its own casting,
machines its own parts and conducts its own
inspection and test routines. In such a busy
environment, the machining function is key, which
is why four years ago PBW undertook a project to
re-assess its in-house machine shop capability.
Leap of Faith
Before investing in his first Haas CNC machine
tool, Mahesh Patel says that the company had
three CNC machining centres, all supplied by
Indian machine tool companies. “We weren't
overly happy with their performance, and so when
we required additional capacity, we decided to
look at models manufactured by overseas
machine tool firms.”
PBW considered various German and Japanese
models of similar specification, but found these to
be much more expensive. “The cost-effectiveness
of the Haas machines is underlined by the fact that
they were selected over local competition,” says
Mr Patel, “despite the imposition of a 5 percent
import duty by the Indian Government.”
The company now operates six Haas CNC
machines. Indeed, its first two machines – both
Haas Mini Mills – were purchased on the basis of
the catalogue description alone.
Matt Bailey visited a Rajkot-based precision engineering company to see how a combination of calculated risk and
the application of the latest U.S. CNC machine tool technology has helped make the company a local and
regional leader in manufacturing best practices.
“The local Haas representative had popped-in
once or twice before, so when we were ready, I
gave him a call. Haas had recently launched the
machine, and from the specification and price, it
looked very tempting – so much so that we placed
an order for two without even seeing one. There
weren't any in our part of the country that we could
view, so we had to make a leap of faith.”
Whilst tolerances are tight at 4 microns, batch
sizes depend on the size of the bearing. Most runs
are fairly short, so ease of changeover was one of
the key factors in selecting Haas. The machines
also produce one-off prototype bearings that have
been reverse engineered from customer samples,
so the simple programming offered by the Haas
CNC system is a significant advantage.
“Four PBW operators are trained to program the
Haas control,” says Mr. Patel. “I've never seen the
Haas machines idle. I've seen all the other
machines stopped, but never the Haas machines.
They work 24 hours a day across two 12-hour
shifts, six days a week. They never miss a beat.”
Mr. Patel remembers that when the
machines arrived, they fulfilled everything the
catalogue promised.
“Quality and accuracy was far better than our
existing machines,” he says. “Moreover, the local
Haas distributor proved it could give good
technical support, and respond immediately if and
when assistance was required.”
Since then, PBW has added four more Haas
machines to its workshop armoury: a Super Mini
Mill, a 5-axis VF-2 CNC vertical machining centre,
a TM-1 CNC Toolroom Mill and an SL-20 CNC
turning centre. The machines are part of a major
investment programme that has seen the
company spend the equivalent of almost $1.5
million over the past two and a half years.
Cost Advantage
Like many Indian companies competing
overseas, PBW has the cost of labour on its side,
and although the country is not as cheap as China,
it can offer quality, skilled labour, reliability and onschedule deliveries to match western engineering
firms – at much lower prices.
It's an advantage that Mr. Patel does not foresee
changing significantly in the coming years, despite
the pressures of wage inflation.
“Our country will always have a cost advantage,”
he says. “I don't think it will ever become like
Europe or the U.S., at least not in my working
lifetime. Of course, the gap will close, but I think
India will have at least another 20 years of very
favourable labour rates. Along with the best
manufacturing technology available, we at PBW
intend to make the most of them.”

15. Poonawalla Group
Compared to the bustle of neighbouring Pune, the
site of the Poonawalla Group headquarters is an
oasis of orderly calm. Its perfectly maintained
buildings, modern factory and spacious office
interiors have the feel of a multi-national
organisation, reflecting the company's success
across a wide range of diverse activities.
Perhaps best known as a UNICEF-approved
manufacturer of vaccines and serums for
everything from snakebites to MMR (measles,
mumps & rubella), the Poonawalla Group also has
a strong engineering arm comprising three
separate companies that represent around 20
percent of its total turnover. One of these, Eagle
Poonawalla Industry Ltd (EPIL), specialises in the
manufacture of mechanical seals. With a 40
percent share of the Indian market, the company
is the country's leading mechanical seal producer.
“We have achieved market-leader status through
a combination of first-class engineering, design
and manufacturing,” says Mr. P. Chandran,
director (works) of EPIL. “Our production facilities
are among the best this industry has to offer. In
fact, we have all the credentials one would
associate with a world-class manufacturing
setup.”
Journalist Matt Bailey recently visited India's leading manufacturer of mechanical seals to see how the company is using
U.S.-built Haas CNC machining centres to supply the country's leading pump manufacturer.
“We had seen Haas machines in operation at
Five years later, in 2003, EPIL acquired a second
Sealol, and they appeared to be very reliable,”
Haas VF-3, which is now situated facing the older
says Mr. Chandran. “So when we next saw Haas
machine in the same manufacturing cell. Both VF-
machines at the Imtex machine tool exhibition in
3 machines employ 5-axes: The latest machine is
India in 1998, we decided to carry out further
fitted with a Haas trunnion rotary table. Looking at
studies. We were particularly interested in
the older machine, no one would be able to guess
replacing a CNC vertical machining centre of
it had been working 24 hours a day, six days a
larger capacity that we had at the time. However,
week for the past seven years, such is its
when we compared features, capability and price
immaculate condition.
with machining centres from other manufacturers,
Typically, says Mr. Chandran, the 5-axis systems
allow EPIL to machine virtually all components in a
single setup. Although 60 percent of the parts
passing through the Haas machines are produced
in small batches, the company is managing to
save time by storing a few straightforward
programs that are common to a range of
components. The operator can simply call up a
program and use it as the basis for the part
required.
we concluded that the Haas VF-3 was the
one to buy.”
“We believe a little maintenance goes a long way,”
says Mr. Chandran. “We insist that the operator we
employ to run the two Haas machines takes good
care of them.”
EPIL's busy workshop contains around 70 manual
machine tools and a handful of more recently
acquired CNC machines, including two Haas VF-3
CNC vertical machining centres.
East meets West
Poonawalla's first encounter with Haas
technology was at a company called Sealol –
based in Rhode Island, U.S. – with which it had a
business collaboration until 1998, when Sealol
was purchased by UK firm, John Crane. The move
ended the union for Poonawalla and for Eagle, a
Japanese company that had also collaborated
with Sealol. However, the common technology
and expertise shared by Poonawalla and Eagle
meant the formation of EPIL later the same year
was a natural progression.
Five Axes
A key component machined on the VF-3s is an oil
seal housing: a complex part requiring
considerable milling, drilling and threading
operations to take place at different compound
angles, as well as machining on multiple faces.
Using the Haas machines, the part can be
completed in just two setups – considerably fewer
than the company required previously for the
same part.
Today the company uses the machines to produce
components for what it describes as “engineered”
seals. These represent almost all of the
Operators are far more than “button pushers” at
EPIL, where the philosophy is to employ graduate
engineers with a minimum of one year's work
experience to run the company's 5-axis CNC
machines. EPIL finds it is then able to place
considerable responsibility with the operator,
asking him to undertake programming, tool
setting, inspection and maintenance tasks. It's
one of a number of strategies that has helped EPIL
(still a family-owned company) grow by 26 percent
in 2004, and approximately 30 percent in 2005.
company's RS700 million turnover, and consist
mainly of customer-specified mechanical seals for
large pumps used at chemical factories,
refineries, paint factories and railway companies.
Key customers include TATA Chemicals, Novartis,
Colgate Palmolive and Asian Paints. EPIL also
supplies engineered seals to all of the major OEM
pump manufacturers with a base in India,
including KSB, Sulzer, Kirloskar Ibara, KBL, BHEL
and Ingersoll Rand. Although the company has a
strong export business, around 90 percent of its
trade is with Indian customers.
Mr. Chandran claims that EPIL owes much if its
success to its obsession with quality control, and
investment in the latest technology and best
practices. The EPIL QA department is pivotal
to the company's operations, as testified by
its ISO9000:2000 and ISO14000 quality
accreditations, and Kaizen and 5S deployment.
“We are very good at retaining our customers,”
adds Mr. Chandran. “Our professionalism, quality
and competitiveness ensure they never have
a reason to look elsewhere. Our manufacturing
capability is at the heart of this concept, and at the
heart of our manufacturing capability are the Haas
machines. We are extremely pleased with how
they have performed: They are built well, easy to
use and require very little maintenance.
We couldn't ask for more.”

16. Sundaram
Fastners Ltd.
The Autolec Division of Sundram Fasteners
Limited (SFL) is South Asia's largest
manufacturer and exporter of water pumps. With
more than four decades of manufacturing
expertise, it is widely recognised as the market
leader in India.
These various items are produced across six
different plants near Chennai, one of the main
ones being the factory near Gummidipoondi,
located approximately 40 kilometres outside the
city. Here, the company machines and assembles
around 45,000 water pumps, 6000 oil pumps and
6000 fan support assemblies every month.
SFL – part of the TVS Group – has an annual
turnover of $160 million. Its parent claims to be
India's largest manufacturer of automotive
components, bar none. With a turnover in excess
of $2.3 billion, it's a difficult claim to dispute.
TVS comprises 25 companies and 27,000
employees producing a wide range of assemblies
and components for various vehicle parts. These
include axles, hydraulic brakes, clutch actuation
systems, fuel injection equipment, engine and
transmission components, turbochargers and
wheels, to name but a few.
At the Autolec Division of SFL, however, the focus
is very much on water pumps, an item that the
company has manufactured since 1965, when
Mr. K. Vasudevan, a local technocrat and
entrepreneur, formed the company. Since then,
Autolec has grown to add a wide range of related
products to its portfolio, including oil pumps,
electrical fuel pumps, mechanical fuel pumps,
feed pumps, damper pulleys, auto belt
tensioners, belt idlers, rocker arm assemblies,
cam followers, rocker arm levers, rocker shafts
and valve tappets.
The Haas machines have been tremendously reliable,” confirms Mr Radhakrishnan. “We've experienced no problems
whatsoever. The training provided was very good, and our operators had no trouble learning to use the control.”
“These are critical machined areas. The
concentricity between the bearing bore and the
seal bore has to be particularly precise for
alignment purposes. There is no margin for error.”
All parts are self-certified by the operators using a
random sampling procedure. Both machines –
each deployed in a cellular manufacturing
configuration – undertake similar operations,
producing up to 250 water pumps every day.
The plant operates a two-shift (16-hour) system,
six days a week.
“The Haas machines have been tremendously
reliable,” confirms Mr Radhakrishnan. “We've
experienced no problems whatsoever. The
training provided was very good, and our
operators had no trouble learning to use the
control.”
US Machine Tool Technology
Playing key roles in achieving these production
volumes is a pair of Haas SL-30 CNC turning
centres – each with a capacity of 432 mm by 864
mm (17" x 34"), and both of which were purchased
from the local Haas distributor in March 2003. The
Haas machines are located in an immaculately
presented factory, and are run by similarly well
turned-out employees wearing matching
grey company shirts. One of these is
Mr. R. Radhakrishnan, Autolec's Senior General
Manager (Operations), who outlines the critical
role played by the Haas machines.
“The Haas CNC turning centres are used
to machine the mounting face, bearing bore
and seal bore on each water pump,” he explains.
The items produced by the Autolec Division of SFL
are used in passenger cars, heavy and light
commercial vehicles, off-road vehicles, tractors,
combine harvesters, forklifts, earthmovers,
marine engines, power generation engines and
two-wheeled vehicles. The company's many
international OEM customers inlcude Cummins,
Case New Holland, John Deere, Ford, Proton,
Caterpillar, Dura Automotive, Perkins and Iveco.
Approximately 50 percent of Autolec's output is for
export. SFL as a whole topped an impressive $45
million in export sales for the year 2004-05.
Autolec is also the preferred supplier to a number
of OEMs with bases in India, including Fiat,
Hyundai, Mazda and Suzuki, along with a number
of indigenous companies, such as Ashok Leyland,
Eicher, Escorts, Greaves, Hindustan Motors and
Tata Motors. Yet, despite these impressive client
lists, the company is always looking for new
growth opportunities.
“We are planning to double our turnover in the next
three years,” states Mr. Radhakrishnan. “As a
result, we have already placed an order for several
additional Haas SL-30 turning centres.”
modeling. Product development programmes are
initiated from customer drawings or samples
(through reverse engineering) or from concepts
(“black box” design).
Autolec also collaborates with premier
universities, institutes and technology leaders for
advanced research and analysis. The company
has entered into many ventures with global
leading OEMs to enhance its product offering and
customer service, including Pierburg, NSK and
Bosch.
This ambitious growth target has been set on the
back of a rapidly expanding order book. To make
sure that the entire manufacturing operation is
prepared for such rapid expansion, the Autolec
management team places a great deal of
emphasis on company-wide quality. The
manufacturing facilities at the Autolec Division of
SFL are TS16949:2002/ISO 9001:2000 certified,
while TPM procedures are followed in all its
plants. Evidence of this can be seen at
Gummidipoondi, where the walls are strewn with
quality control posters and production schedules.
R&D Partnerships
Autolec's customers also value its R&D
infrastructure and capabilities. The company not
only excels in new product development, but also
in product redesign and validation activities. This
is made possible by adopting the latest
engineering concepts and techniques, such
as CATIA design software for simulation and solid
“As a result of these tie-ups, we have been able to
establish our own in-house bearing manufacturing
division, our own seal manufacturing division and
a casting foundry,” explains Mr. Radhakrishnan. “It
means we can cast, machine, assemble, test and
dispatch entire product assemblies to our
customers – a factor that has undoubtedly
become our core strength and major advantage
over our competitors.”

17. Vasantha Tool Crafts Pvt. Ltd.
Since it was established just 16 years ago,
Hyderabad-based Vasantha Tool Crafts Pvt.
Ltd. has grown to become a well-known supplier
of mould tools to some of the world's leading bluechip manufacturing companies. Its uninterrupted
rise to prominence owes much to shrewd
investment in the latest technology, as well as the
entrepreneurial energy of company founder,
Mr. A. D. Reddy.
“From the day I graduated, I dreamt of starting my
own company,” Reddy explains. “After I completed
my degree in mechanical engineering, I took a
two-year post-graduate course in tool design and
manufacture, encompassing everything from
press tools and injection moulds through to die
casting, cutting tools and jigs and fixtures. Two
years later – in 1989 – I took the plunge and
started VTC.”
Like many new companies, the first years were
about survival, a period when Reddy admits he
took every job that came his way: low-quantity
clamps, basic jigs and even small press tools for
sheet metal work. But as word spread, the
company began to win basic mould work, helping
secure it financially for the following five years,
before it reached what, in hindsight, Reddy
acknowledges as its turning point.
“In 1996, we made a big decision to invest in a
large Swiss CNC milling machine. It was our very
first investment in CNC, and I can honestly say
that all of our significant growth stems back to that
decision.”
The new technology was put to very good use, and
word soon spread about the up-and-coming
mould shop not afraid to invest in its own future.
Some of the country's leading OEM's began to
take note, and orders followed.
Along with existing custom work, the new
business helped boost the company's turnover.
Much of its growth has been from repeat business,
which says a lot for Reddy's work ethic.
“Almost all of our customers have returned for
repeat orders,” he says, a fact that he attributes to
the company's obsession with product quality,
performance, service and overall value.
“Our strength lies in being a single-source turnkey
provider, offering everything from mould design –
we have eight CAD/CAM stations – manufacture,
assembly, testing and acceptance.”
Full Capacity
In 2001, just five years after the acquisition of the
Swiss CNC mill, VTC started to experience the
inevitable consequences of its success.
“We were working at full capacity,” says Reddy.
“The Swiss machine was running constantly. We
soon realised that for small components such as
A lot of our success is because we invested our profits in reliable precision machine tools.
Haas machines give me the value for money and accuracy that I need to win and retain prestigious orders.
Which is when he came across the Mini Mill CNC
vertical machining centre from relative newcomer
to the Indian market, U.S. machine tool builder
Haas Automation.
to have the confidence to invest. Something
VTC has in spades.
“A lot of our success is because we invested our
profits in reliable precision machine tools.
Haas machines give me the value for money
and accuracy that I need to win and retain
prestigious orders.
“The Haas machine was very competitively
priced, so even though the brand was not very
familiar to us, we felt justified in taking a risk. Our
Mini Mill was only the second Haas machine to be
sold in Hyderabad, and the first of its kind.”
“Our future is very bright,” Reddy concludes,
“but we still want to grow the business further.
For the past two years, we've been exhibiting
at Euromold in Germany. We realise we can
no longer rely on word of mouth alone to
stimulate growth.”
Since the company built the first example in 2000,
the Mini Mill has become one of Haas
Automation's best selling CNC products. It has
created a whole new market segment for machine
tools and – like all revolutionary products – has
inspired a number of copycat machines from rival
manufacturers, keen to cash-in on the company's
success.
inserts, electrodes and plates, using such a large
machine was far from ideal, so I began looking for
another CNC machine, something which would be
more suitable for the small, quick jobs.”
Four years after he bought the machine, Reddy is
still very happy with his decision. “Considering the
low cost, the Haas machine represents
phenomenal value for money. It's very capable,
and can handle everything we throw at it.”
Such was the good impression created by the
Haas Mini Mill that two years later in 2003, the
company bought a Haas VF-2 CNC vertical
machining centre. According to Reddy, this new
machine is frequently loaded with a base plate
containing 20 to 30 mould inserts, and left to run
unattended for 10 to 12 hours at a time.
“The same year, we also acquired a Haas
Toolroom Mill and a high-speed Haas Super Mini
Mill for our newly built facility, a kilometre from our
main plant.”
Blue Chip
The ISO 9001 accredited company's combination
of the latest technology and experience in
(unusually) both high-cavity and hot-runner
moulds has allowed it to carve its niche as a
supplier to a growing roster of high profile, blue
chip clients. These include the Indian factories of
L'Oreal and Unilever, as well as Colgate Palmolive
India Ltd, Whirlpool India, Schneider Electric
India, Siemens India, Johnson & Johnson and
Faber Castel. VTC also has a growing list of
export countries, including Germany, the U.S.,
Egypt, Iran, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Senegal.
The company's success is mirrored by the
prosperity of surrounding Hyderabad, a city that
has its business origins in the pearl trade. Today,
like many Indian cities, Hyderabad is home to
a growing community of technology companies
with their sights set on global customers
and overseas markets. To compete means

18. CIM Tools
Haas Factory Outlets
Bangalore-based CIM Tools makes parts for some of the world's best-know aerospace
companies using its Haas CNC machine tools, purchased from and supported by local
Haas Factory Outlet (HFO) MANAV MARKETING PVT. LTD.
CIM Tools Operations Director, says:
“We've had our Haas CNC machine tools for four
years and we are very happy with them. We
bought Haas because we were looking for strong,
robust and reliable CNC machine tools.
“We mostly make parts from aluminium alloy, but
we also cut steel. In terms of accuracy and
reliability, our operators rate the Haas machines
as better than our more expensive, Japanese
machines.
“We have a fifth Haas machine arriving soon: a
VF-2SS. If we were not 100% happy with Haas
machines and the service and support from
MANAV MARKETING, we would not have
invested in this latest one.”
Kolhapur
Shop No. 2,3,4,6/2 Village Mauje Ujalaiwadi,
Tal Karveer, Kolhapur. Tel : 0231-2677 979