The 10th VDMA Mechanical Engineering Summit – the annual flagship event of VDMA India was held on 8th October 2021 at Hotel Sheraton Grand Bangalore. Over 250 participants from 17 cities of India attended this prestigious event.
The summit commenced with the welcome address by Mr. Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India. He explained the impacts on the economy and the business situations during the lockdown and during the second wave of the Covid 19 pandemic. He also gave glimpses on the improvement of the circumstances in the current day and time. He expressed his happiness of meeting the people in person at this summit. He also emphasized on the importance of Bangalore is the home to many German companies and the establishments like Max Mueller Bhavan at Bangalore. He further stated about the services of Mr. Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel, a German botanist and garden designer who was best known for his work at the Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens in Bangalore and also his planning the avenues of Bangalore with trees and plants that make Bangalore, the Garden City. Mr. Rajesh Nath highlighted some of the key activities of VDMA India for the current year 2021, such as organizing the Additive Manufacturing Symposium, which was the first symposium of VDMA after the second wave of Covid 19, followed by “Emerging technology trends in Manufacturing Processes” at Pune & Bangalore, the North India members meet, and the recent German
Technology Daysymposium at Ranchi. He stated thatVDMA the India team has successfully completed over 100 webinars since the first lockdown and these have been attended by more than 15000 participants
The address of Mr. Rajesh Nath was followed by the “Guest of Honour” Address byMr. Achim Burkart, Consul General, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Bangalore on “Indo-German Relations: Prospective Business Synergies & Government Support”. He gave a brief explanation of the vaccination status in India and Germany followed by the German election updates.He also mentioned that post the Germanelection period with the new government in place is going to be an“Important shift in the political landscape of Germany”.
He also extended his best compliments to the Karnataka Government for their honest and sincere efforts in supporting German Industry in Bangalore and Karnataka. In the special address by the “Guest of Honour”, Mr. Kamal Bali, President & Managing Director, Volvo Group, India on” Transformation of Manufacturing in India”.Mr. Bali congratulated VDMA for putting up the summit which was his first public appearance after 550 days. He highlighted the responsibility of msmes and the Manufacturing sector in creating employment opportunities and contributions to the GDP in making India 5 trillion Dollars economy. He also discussed that the current situation in India is the best time for the manufacturing sector, due to the implementation of Government policies likePLI, and GST, that is in place for improving the ease of business.
On the occasion of the 10th VDMA Mechanical Engineering Summit, the Summit Special issue was released by the dignitaries on the stage during the inaugural session.
The video message of Mr.Ulrich Ackermann, Managing Director, Foreign Trade Division, VDMA Frankfurt spoke about the changes in the global economy and how VDMA supports trade without barriers.
Mr. Ackermann’s address was followed by the Video Message on “Investment opportunities and the new initiatives by the State for enhancing the Development of Manufacturing Industry in Karnataka” by the Chief Guest, Mr. MurugeshNirani, Minister for Large and Medium Industries, Government of Karnataka. He introduced the state of Karnataka for the participants and its new investment initiatives for holistic growth in the industrial sector.
The knowledge paper by BDB India titled “Government incentives for Emerging Opportunities – Atma Nirbhar Bharat & PLI Scheme”, was released during the Inaugural session. This was followed by a talk by Mr. Rahul Bhandurge, Vice President – Business Development, BDB India Pvt. Ltd., on the contents of the knowledge paper and also emphasizing the benefits of the PLI scheme implemented by the Indian government. The inaugural address was followed by the technical session -1with the Presentation of Roedl & Partner India, on “Government Incentives and Subsidies- Unwrap the gifts on your desks”. in his presentation, Mr. Atish Laddha, Senior Associate, Indirect Taxation, Roedl & Partner India Pvt. Ltd explained the incentives in manufacturing, which cover the GST Returns incentives, the state industrial policy, the customer bonded warehouse policies, and the EPCG Scheme (Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme) which would be beneficial to the manufacturers.
In the technical session – 1 the next presentation was from the state partner: Guidance, from Tamil Nadu, by Mr. Aditya Nagarajan,Vice-president, Investment Promotion, Guidance Tamil Nadu, Industries Department, Government of Tamil Nadu and he presented on“Ease of doing business in Tamil Nadu State”.In his presentation, he explained the German–Tamil Nadu relations in the manufacturing sector, the state as the hub of exports and ports. Mr. Nagarajanconcluded by providing inputs on the future investment opportunities with Tamil Nadu for the German organizations as an export market. The presentation also gave a brief view of the Robust ecosystem, the general engineering situation, and the top 5 district clusters in Tamil Nādu. He mentioned the state and centralized online portal for the ease of paperwork from the government, which is calledBizBuddy. The final presentation in Technical session 1 was by E-Plan on “Digitalized future of the Industrial Ecosystem- It’s in your Hands” presented by Mr. Umesh Pai, Managing Director, EPLAN Software & Services Pvt. Ltd. He explained the process of Digitalization, the tectonic shift in the past 15 years in manufacturing in context with operational management. The
Buzzword’slikethe industry.4.0, the internet of things as a service was explained with the relation to cost and the availability of technology and also the different stakeholders involved with the data in a manufacturing organization. This would directly help the product design and the product engineering team in the Product lifecycle design and development.
The second half of the 10th VDMA Mechanical Engineering Summit kicked off after a highly productive networking lunch, with some of VDMA’s prominent members, Mr. Arvind Chawla – ZAHORANSKY Mold and Machines, Mr. Anand Sundaresan – AMMANN INDIA, Mr. VenkataranmanaGorti – HOMAG India and our Mr.. Rajesh Nath joined Maier + Vidorno in releasing their report on “Resilience during the Pandemic – How Companies Responded and Sustained the Change”. Thereafter, Ms. Deepmala Dutta, HR Consultant for Maier + Vidorno impressed the audience during her post-lunch session with an in-depth explication on the above report.
Maier+_Vidorno conducted a survey on 90 companies in India, across a range of sectors – Manufacturing and Research & Development and spread over various turnover capacities. Their findings showed that employees have always been the number one priority for organizations, followed closely by customer connect and the ever-consistent supply-chain management. Ms. Dutta interestingly also mentioned that resilient companies are focused on obtaining a sustainable supply chain along with sustained growth rather than manufacturing processes.
“Resilience is not bouncing back, it is a change in outlook”, said Ms. Deepmala Dutta as she dived deep into the exigent concept of – resilience in today’s scenario. She stated that it is more of a cognitive process involving paradoxical thinking. It is the ability to take a step back and say, “What did we learn?”. Therefore, to all the leaders out there looking to make a difference, – It’s not ‘Either-Or’ it’s ‘And & More’.
This refreshing session was the preview for the Technical Session II focusing on the “Future Trends in Smart Manufacturing” where top companies like Robert Bosch, SAP, and SIEMENSopened a doorway into the future of Manufacturing.
The first presentation “Seize the I4.0 Opportunity – Onboard the Digital Transformation Journey!” was made by Mr. Sreekanta Aradhya, Global head – Connected Industries Business Area, Robert Bosch Engineering & Business Solutions. We were taken through the process of digitalization from the ‘Bosch perspective’ along with a comprehensive guide map for companies just starting their transformative journey. The first step Mr. Aradhya shared is the most crucial of them all – Building the foundation blocks. Companies face challenges in this step due to the legacy machines, disparate ecosystems, and haphazard data leading to loss of information. The next step would be to visualize the data by measuring Key Performance Indicators, controlling costs, and improving the efficiency of machines. This is followed by the third step – Improving business insights. While most companies assume this is the first step in digitizing their shopfloor, in
actuality, it is one of the last steps. It is at this stage that AI and Machine Learning strategies are deployed. The final step is to – create new business models to save time, cut costs, make better products, vertical integration, for preventive maintenance, and much more
After the first presentation in Technical Session 2, Mr. Prashanth Uppunda, Technology & Innovation Topics Leader, SIEMENS Technology & Services Pvt. Ltd. spoke about “Autonomous Factories – Reality or Myth”.Autonomous factories cannot be avoided. In an attempt, to explain how even small companies can take a step towards autonomous manufacturing was explained by the speaker. Mr. Uppunda told that we must collectively strive towards “Lot Size One”. The only question is – Are we ready for tomorrow? After touching upon SIEMENS’s start-up project on Flexible Grasping, the session ended with some food for thought – “Now, we tell our robots what to do and how to do but, tomorrow we will tell our robots what do to, and they will decide how to do it.”
As the last speaker of the session, Mr. Sumantha Chakraborty, Senior Project Manager, SAP India, touched upon various use cases and real-life examples of “Digital Transformation on the Shop Floor”. He highlighted the various scenarios where SAP has helped companies turn their shop floors around by enabling digital factories. Following a short but interesting Q&A Session was a coffee break. The last session began with the panel discussion. Before the panel discussion, the eminent panelists and
Mr. Rajesh Nathalong with BTG Legal released
their playbook on “Drafting Engineering Contracts to Avoid Legal Disputes”. Mr. Prashanth Mara and Mr. Parveen Arora, partners, BTG Legal.BTG presented their playbook on stage. Mr. Mara took the audience through the playbook which he says is just – “a book of technical issues examined by technical experts”. Surprisingly, most disputes end up in court because senior managers don’t get involved early on, to solve it. He says that 3-4 months is the golden period to step in when a dispute occurs and almost 60% of cases can be avoided if this is done. Mr. Mara has only one sure-shot way of resolving engineering conflicts – Don’t let disputes reach Indian courts.
Mr. Rajesh Nath kicked off the Panel Discussion on “Economic Reforms in the last three Decades – Make in India 2.0”.
The esteemed panelists were –
- Mr. Rohit Bhagade, Chief Financial Officer, SAP India Subcontinent
- Mr. VG Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India Pvt. Ltd.
- Mr. Prashanth Doreswamy, Country Head & Managing Director, Continental Automotive Components India Pvt. Ltd.
- Mr. Ravi Agarwal, Managing Director, Pepperl & Fuchs Factory Automation Pvt. Ltd.
- Mr. Ulrich Greiner Pachter, CEO & Managing Director, SMS India Pvt. Ltd.
- Mr. Wilson Thomas, Managing Director, CARL ZEISS India
With over 200 years of cumulative work experience, these experienced panelists gave us their opinions on Make in India 2.0 and Indian reforms. When asked to elaborate on the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and how it has helped the Indian manufacturing sector, Mr. Bhagade elucidated that the liberalization policy of 1991 came out with three beneficial policies, – the ‘Right to Entry’, ‘Right to Compete’ and ‘Right to Exit’. He claims that IBC is a game-changer and a step in the right direction for companies under distress due to its sheer transparency in timelines. The policy has benefitted the banking system as well, pushing India’s Ease-of-Doing-Business index from 136th rank to 66th rank in Five years.
Mr. Sakthikumar added that India’s ‘single tax’ GST policy helps the government for reinvestments and foreign players in the Ease-of-Doing-business. The second question focused on the Nut & Bolt reforms, the first one considering the Factoring Regulation Act and how it benefits the MSME sector in India. Mr. Doreswamy believes that with the NBFC’s factored in, the MSME sectors stand to gain. Similarly, Mr. Agarwal stated that the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) kills many birds with one stone. The speed and transparency with which this scheme was executed make it a huge enabler to expand exports from India. He also stated that 20 months ago, this was unthinkable given India’s export scenario.
Coming to the New Labour Codes implemented in industrial relations, wages, social security and occupational health, safety, and working conditions, Mr. Thomas stated that large companies generally follow these guidelines and would not have a hard time accommodating these reforms. However, MSMEs would need some time to restructure their policies. Either way, these codes are the way forward to guarantee employees a stable income and security.
World Development Indicators show that it takes 88 days to get the requisite clearances to start a business in India, whereas it takes 46 days in China, 8 days in Singapore, and 4 days in the USA. Mr. Pachter stated that India has come a long way in this regard, showing rapid growth and improvement in the ease of doing business.
The second round of the panel discussion canonized Make in India 2.0 and Atmanirbhar Bharat, pursuing policies that are efficient, competitive and resilient, self-sustaining, and self-generating. The first scheme that has made headlines for months now would be the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme. In the automotive sector, Mr. Doreswamy says that the scheme has fast-tracked investments with almost INR 3.5 lakh crores allotted for PLI’s, in which INR 56,000 crores is dedicated to the automotive sector. “With countries becoming more nationalistic, acquiring parts is becoming tougher”, he stated. With this scheme, India will be able to look inwards and keep on par with other global competitors.
To achieve India’s ambiguous goal of being a USD 5 trillion-dollar economy by 2025, strong infrastructure growth is essential. Mr. Sakthikumar explicated that the National Infrastructure Pipeline Project has been well underway since 2020 when it was introduced. The government is focusing on the transportation and power segments while the construction sector is picking up steam.
On the concept of skilling and re-skilling of workforces, Mr. Pachter says that India is missing the system equivalent to a dual education program prevalent in Germany. This program would give people the necessary practical knowledge and training in the form of a trade school. Mr. Agarwal added that vocational training is important in today’s scenario.
The panel discussion came to a grand end with a customary ‘Rapid Fire Round’ followed by two Start-up pitches by – Mean Metal Motors and Vegam.IO Solutions. VDMA’s 4th Manufacturing Excellence Awards in partnership with Rödl& Partnerfollowed the panel discussion. The awards were for two categories – Work Condition & Work Safety and Energy Efficiency & Conservation with a maximum of two companies against each category were awarded out of the total of 40 nominations received for both the categories. The co-winners in the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Award for the Medium Category were Vulkan Technologies Private Limited And Micro Precision Products Private Limited – A WIKA Co the runner-up in the same category was Zahoransky Moulds & Machines Private Limited. The winners in the Large category were Continental Automotive Components Private Limited and the runner-up was Truetzschler India Private Limited, In the Work Condition and Work Safety Award.
The winner in the Medium category wasR. Stahl Private Limited and the runner-up was Kern-Liebers India Private Limited, Under the large category the winner was Daimler India Commercial Vehicles India Private Limited and the runner-up was Robert Bosch Limited.
The final presentation of the day was presented by Mr. Abhijit Ghorpade, General Manager, Marketing from MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) explaining the major engineering clusters in Maharashtra and the Industrial, and socio-economical situations in the state.
After a day filled with presentations, speeches, awards, and discussions, Mr. Rajesh Nath gave his concluding remarks and a vote of thanks to all participating companies and delegates who made this event a grand success with more than 260 people participating.
The event concluded with a networking & cocktail dinner at Alfresco by Bene at The Sheraton Grand Hotel.