The role of precision machining will grow stronger in the Indian manufacturing space, especially in emerging areas such as clean mobility and Defence, said Rajesh Nath, Managing Director of VDMA India.

Speaking at the inaugural of a technology meet on precision machining, organised by the VDMA in Coimbatore on Thursday, he said that manufacturing was moving away from cost driven practices to precision driven systems. India can manufacture at scale and can do it with precision, he added and called upon the industries in Coimbatore to invest in precision machines and processes.

S. Chandrasekar, director at Roots Group of Companies, said global manufacturing was entering a new phase and India’s strengths were in frugal engineering with agility. Indian tooling companies were now able to compete with those in the European countries. Engineering industries in Coimbatore, Hosur, Pune and Bengaluru were now going for hybrid models, using precision tools of India and European companies. The industries in Coimbatore had precision production abilities, MSME eco system, and engineering skills.

The next decade will be all about increasing the manufacturing value and yet staying globally competitive, he said.

According to Kanishka Arumugam, Chief Executive Officer of Ekki Water Technologies, companies should focus more on exporting to consumers in developed countries. When production systems match the globally best, the business organisation also grows. Businesses are able to learn about precision manufacturing, global partnerships, eco systems, and skill improvement when they focus on exports, he added.