For Together We Win

The 7^th VDMA Mechanical Engineering Summit presented an insight into VDMA India’s initiatives and Government’s progressive reforms to accelerate Indian industry’s growth, technologies of today and problems that need to be solved.

Considering the fact that India is the second-largest sales market in Asia for the German Engineering industry, VDMA India, with its relentless focus on Mechanical Engineering industry, organized a 7th VDMA Mechanical Engineering Summit. The event brought together 250 VDMA India members and served as an ideal platform to shed light on the various issues that demand immediate attention.

Favorable changes

Acknowledging the unprecedented and impactful reforms by the Government of India, Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India, in his welcome address noted, “The country’s economic growth soared to an over two-year high in the April to June 2018 quarter, powered by solid expansion in the manufacturing, the farm sector, gathering strength in consumer spending and bolstering the government’s reform record.” He further stated, “The Business Climate Survey among the German companies conducted by VDMA had a positive outcome as 62 percent of the participants said the climate is good, whereas 35 percent considered it normal and only 3 percent termed it slower than last year.”

Exchanging each other’s best

The Chief Guest, Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Director, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), congratulated VDMA for acting as a bridge between the German and Indian industry and also made a presentation on ‘Implementation of BIS-VI – Way forward for the Automobile industry’. ARAI is an autonomous research association of the Automotive Industry with Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India.

Dr Jurgen Morhard, Consul General, Federal Republic of Germany, Mumbai, spoke on ‘Indo-German Trade in the western part of India”. He considered VDMA as an excellent medium for German companies to establish their businesses in India and highlighted the association’s important role in the field of Mechanical Engineering.

Citing the numerous exchanges between the two countries in technology, investment, education, and tourism, Morhard informed the audience of the fast track mechanism to expedite certain important issues of the German companies with the Indian government. The key challenges, according to him, were the safety issues and the complexity of labour laws.

All Positive

The audience response for the summit was a reason for delight for Carl Martin Welcker, President, VDMA Frankfurt. At present, VDMA has around 3,250 members. Welcker was optimistic with the trade with India as exports have grown to €1.6 billion. “The capital goods exports have also increased, and it will continue to grow in the coming years. The challenge going forward is how to cope with China which is investing hugely on quality and quantity.”

The VDMA summit special issue was released and, for the first time, a robot was used to hand over the publication to the dignitaries. The dignitaries also released a knowledge paper prepared by the Knowledge Partner, BDB India Pvt Ltd on ‘Primary user industry for Machinery manufacturers’, which was followed by a presentation on the same.

Technical Sessions

The summit was packed with back to back technical sessions. While Aditya Lakhanpal, Director–Corporate Treasury Solutions, Global Markets, HSBC India, spoke on the ‘Importance of meeting the Fiscal Targets’; Prashant Deshpande, Partner, Indirect Tax, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, gave an overview on the ‘Impact from GST Taxation and Anti Profiteering’. Sharing his organization’s experience of GST since the last one year was Nilesh Jajodia, CFO, Wirtgen India Pvt Ltd.

The technical session on the theme of ‘Early adoption of Industry 4.0 and its challenges in Manufacturing’ had a presentation from Lokesh Payik, Chief of Digital Enterprise and Connected Industry, Bosch. Sanjeev Kumar, Head – MTS, Marcom, Rittal India Pvt Ltd, also gave an overview on the company’s automation system, a comprehensive equipment for a professional workshop operation covering machine tools and a fully automated machine technology.

Umesh Pai, Managing Director, EPLAN Software & Services Pvt Ltd, explained the challenges in the adoption of Industry 4.0 and concluded that the success lies in the reduction of complexity and total integration. Neeraj Athalye, Vice President – Innovation & Digital Business, SAP Indian Subcontinent, stressed on the need to have more mega cities, new customer segments, improved supply chain infrastructure, better regulatory environment, higher global integration, and innovative and affordable technologies.

Brainstorming for Solutions

A panel discussion named “From Red Tape to Red Carpet - Ease of Doing Business” was moderated by Nath, with panelists including Welcker; Georg Sparschuh, President, SCHOTT Glass India Pvt Ltd; Dharmesh Arora, President & CEO, Schaeffler India; Girish Ketkar, Whole Time Director & CFO, Thyssenkrupp Industries India Pvt Ltd; Bipin Jirge, Managing Director, ifm electronic India Pvt Ltd. The panel members explained the implications of GST in their businesses in the last one year and discussed the upcoming challenges like anti-profiteering, getting skilled workers etc.

“German exports to India have grown to €1.6 billion. The capital goods exports have also increased, and it will continue to grow in the coming years. The challenge going forward is how to cope with China which is investing hugely on quality and quantity.”

Carl Martin Welcker

President

VDMA Frankfurt

According to the Business Climate Survey among the German companies conducted by VDMA, 62 percent of the participants said the climate is good, 35 percent considered it normal and only 3 percent termed it slower than last year.