Top Trends for 2021

By OEM Update Editorial October 2, 2020 12:52 pm

Technology trends that will dominate heavy equipment manufacturing in 2021
Over the years, India has made its mark in the industrial manufacturing. With the government’s relentless focus on boosting domestic manufacturing, India is fast heading towards becoming the manufacturing hub for the globe. Missions such as “Make in India”, “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Vocal for Local” are all set to bolster the country’s manufacturing prowess significantly. For the first time ever, India is eyeing to compete with China on the manufacturing front. This will surely encourage domestic manufacturers to strengthen their capability and start “make in India for the world”.

In the recent past, the investments on infrastructure building have increased considerably in the country which is driving the demand for heavy equipment like construction equipment, road building equipment, cranes etc. The government has announced its plans to spend US$ 1.4 trillion on infrastructure in the next five years. Also, the Indian Railways has received an allocation of Rs 66.77 billion under Union Budget 2019-20 out of which Rs 64.587 billion is earmarked for capital expenditure. The government spending on aerospace, aviation, energy, port development and defence sector has also been increased substantially.

Of late, the Indian government has unveiled the new Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) that will supersede the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) of 2016. Experts believe, DAP, that has come into effect from October 1, will focus on significantly boosting indigenous production and turning India into a global manufacturing hub of weapons and military platforms. This initiative is being termed as the harbinger of an Atmanirbhar Bharat in the field of defence production.

All this initiatives and developments will increase the demand for heavy equipment exponentially. The heavy equipment manufacturing industry in India that has excelled in terms of delivering world-class products, intends to leave no stone unturned to encash this opportunity!

Commenting on the status of heavy equipment manufacturing in India, GK Pillai, Director & Advisor, Walchandnagar Industries Ltd., Pune, said, “If we look at the heavy equipment manufacturing in India, it can be seen that this is one sector where India did have a great start initially. Companies both in the public sector like HEC, BHEL, BEML, HMT etc. and private sector like L&T, WIL etc. have made considerable investments in the heavy equipment manufacturing for the core sectors like coal, steel, power, fertilisers and refineries.”

He adds, “Today these heavy equipment manufacturing companies are capable of meeting the specialised needs of even the strategic sectors – like nuclear, aerospace and defence. Most of these companies have most modern state-of-the-art machines and have also implemented modern manufacturing methodology – Industry 4.0 to be globally competitive.”

Walchandnagar Industries Ltd. (WIL) is a 111 years old company and its Heavy Engineering Division has been in the service of the nation for more than 80 years. Initially the company had been catering to the heavy equipment for the cement, sugar and co gen power sectors, but thereafter looking into the needs of the country today WIL has a full-fledged manufacturing set-up for the manufacturing of all types of critical nuclear grade equipment for setting up nuclear power plant in the country. The company also manufactures and supplies very critical large and heavy equipment to ISRO for all their launch vehicles and to the defence sector like DRDO, Armed forces – various types of gear boxes, launchers, missile components, etc.

“Another point of importance for any heavy equipment manufacturing to be globally competitive it is very essential to have a very strong base both in engineering and welding development and in both these areas WIL has expertise matching the best in world,” claims Pillai.

He adds, “The company (WIL) is today geared up to meet the demands and challenges of the Indian defence sector posed by the ban on import of 101 items and are ready to shore up the manufacturing facilities to meet further demands of the local and even global requirements.”

Sharing his perspective from the machine tool industry’s point of view, V. Anbu, Director General and CEO of Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) said, “We have the capability for manufacturing heavy machinery both in metal cutting and metal forming. Public sector companies like HMT and Heavy Engineering Corporation are the leaders having experience in the domain. There are private organisations making heavy metal forming machines and even exporting it as well. With ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make for the World’ initiatives, heavy equipment manufacturing companies will find capacity building traction from multiple sectors.”

Top trends that will dominate heavy equipment manufacturing in 2021
The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, is revolutionising manufacturing ecosystem powered by advanced capabilities and information technology (IT) throughout the product lifecycle. Today, the manufacturers can survive and stay ahead of competitors only by leveraging technologies.

According to Pillai, “The year 2021 is envisaged to be the beginning of a great period for heavy engineering equipment manufacturers. As the Government of India has launched the “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” and the Defence Ministry has banned import of 101 items for the defence sector, the domestic manufacturing sector will have a great challenge in meeting the country’s demand.”

Hence, talking about the top trends that will dominate heavy equipment manufacturing in 2021, he said, “The top trend for 2021 will be “Defence Manufacturing. It will be essential for the manufacturers to ramp up their engineering and quality assurance skills to meet this challenge.”

He adds, “Another essential for the manufacturing industries will be the need to slowly implement the Smart Factory concept – Industry 4.0. This will be the driving force for the manufacturing sector to be globally acceptable and competitive in the days ahead.”

Anbu also said, “Indigenous manufacturing of sub-systems for various sectors needs heavy machinery and process development to meet the requirement. Heavy equipment undergoes wear and tear and needs continuous monitoring and predictive maintenance. Self-monitoring, self-diagnostics, remote operation enabled, IoT enabled machinery, aggregates and sub-systems are becoming a requirement.”

He adds, “Sensor equipped IoT connected products will gain acceptance in due course and will provide OEMs with data and insights they would need to maximize product uptime and deliver products as a service in reality. There will also be increased technology implementation for selling products as a service.”

Pillai believes that India has the potential to be the global leader in the field of manufacturing. “With the new impetus which the government is providing, and with the equal actions by the industries will help the country to be the global destination for manufacturing of heavy equipment,” he concludes.

Quotes
The top trend for 2021 will be “Defence Manufacturing. It will be essential for the manufacturers to ramp up their engineering and quality assurance skills to meet this challenge.
GK Pillai, Director & Advisor, Walchandnagar Industries Ltd.

Sensor equipped IoT connected products will gain acceptance in due course and will provide OEMs with data and insights they would need to maximize product uptime and deliver products as a service in reality.
V. Anbu, Director General and CEO, IMTMA