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With the entry of Maruti-Suzuki into India
in the early eighties marked a watershed in Indian forging
Industry. Till then, the old second hand steam hammers churning
out open forgings and closed die forging characterized the
industry. Due to poor technology, emphasis was on creating
only a broad shape through metalworking, and final sizing
was done through machining.
Comparatively open forging industry has had
a sedate growth over the years, with many small hammer based
units churning out shafts / rings and flanges, and few large
ones producing larger diameters shafts through Press route.
Opening up of oilfield industry has increased export volumes
in the last two years in this segment, with exports concentrated
to America, Indonesia & Singapore.
With the entry of multiple auto companies since
then, the Industry has modernized itself, with forging press
as the main equipment. Steam hammers have given way to pneumatic
& hydraulic powered hammers, allowing closer tolerance
control in hot forged condition, reducing the cut weight of
the job, and reducing the component cost.
This was supplemented through the latest in
tooling technology through Japanese collaborations / outright
purchase of technology, making Indian forgings at par in quality
with the latest European technology. This was also supplemented
through establishment of cold forging and warm forging units,
for very close dimensional control, catering to a niche area
of precision forging used mainly in automotive field.
Shift in machining operations also has come
from conventional machining to CNC and machining centers;
from batch processing to transfer lines & SPMs. On the
other hand, from rigid manufacturing to flexible manufacturing
approach, in line with the world trend.
Today, there are at least about 20-25 units
in close die forging route, which are exporting their products
to Europe & America. Bharat Forge Limited has emerged
as the second largest forging company in the world, exporting
almost 40% of their production to several auto majors like
GM, Ford, Crysler etc.
With Tata Motors, Suzuki Motors, Bajaj Auto
and Hero Honda stepping up export of two / four wheelers in
a big way, and Tata Motors purchasing Daewoo motor's heavy
vehicle plant in Korea, there is full globalization on the
way. Indian casting & forging Industry is alive to these
challenges and is making heavy investment in capacity addition,
technology up- gradation and move away from raw materials
to components.
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