Leading machine tools manufacturer and supplier Dormer Pramet’s Eduardo Martin President recently visited the company’s Ankleshwar Production Unit. He shared with DMI his company’s vision and growth strategy for the Indian market.
In October, Dormer Pramet’s President Eduardo Martin visited the company’s Ankleshwar Production Unit, Gujarat, as part of the Dormer Pramet Management Group (DPMG) team. It was the first gathering of the entire DPMG team in Ankleshwar following the acquisition of Miranda Tools in December 2020.
Among the visit’s main purposes were interactions with customers and colleagues, and seeing in person the latest developments at the facility.
DMI’s VP Strategy Dinesh Mishra met Mr. Martin at the occasion and interviewed him on a range of topics about the company and the industry. Presenting, an edited and abridged version of the interaction.
What were the main reasons behind Dormer Pramet’s decision to increase the manufacturing capacity of its M3 – M12 taps assortment at the company’s Ankleshwar production unit (PU)?
The main reasons of increasing our production capacity in India is the demand that we are receiving for our Miranda products in India. We are focusing on industries like automotive, and general engineering where this category is well received.
Dormer Pramet has dedicated significant investments for the facility, demonstrating the company’s confidence in the Ankleshwar PU. The unit became part of the company following the Miranda Tools acquisition in 2020. We place a high degree of importance on its round tools assortment which will support our growth projection in India and around the world.
To increase the taps production capacity, we installed a series of machines powered by new technologies that included thread, flute and chamfer grinding machines. For instance, this was the first time that robotics has been deployed in this PU.
The improved machine equipment has not only grown productivity at the unit, but also significantly increased the quality of taps produced, helping to bring it in line with global standards. Recent tests have shown big improvements in the taps’ performance. Further investments and activities are planned in the coming months to support the development of the Ankleshwar production unit and the company’s growth in India.
The last two years have been challenging for industries that are the biggest consumers of your products, such as automobile and heavy engineering and their machine toolmakers. What are the business continuity strategies you deployed at Dormer Pramet to tide over these times?
We are a multinational company operating in more than 30 countries, and we have different growth strategies based on regional demands. Our goal is to stay closer to our customers and be as rooted to local requirements as possible. During the pandemic, in order to closely support our customers through the challenging period we were conducting remote training and assistance. We have used these challenging years to focus ways to better serve our customers’ needs.
Could you share with our readers the top focus areas of your three product brands – Dormer, Pramet and Miranda – which are available across India?
With our Dormer and Pramet product brands, we are focusing on segments like automotive and general engineering with the most competitive offerings on the market. We are strengthening our positioning as the most reliable supplier in this area. For that, we are ensuring that we are strong in areas like training our employee with the latest skills, hiring the right product managers to benefit our customers, and introducing products with newer capabilities.
With Miranda, during the pandemic, we reviewed the product portfolio and decided that we are going to concentrate on our core business which is drills and taps. And the demand for drills is really extraordinary. Our people here in the [Ankleshwar] production unit have been doing an excellent job to meet the demand. We will continue to invest in our people in the Indian market.
What are the biggest growth-opportunity areas that Dormer Pramet has identified across the Indian market, and what are the measures and strategies the company is taking to harness them?
Dormer Pramet sees significant opportunities to grow across India, providing customers with easy access to high-quality products for various application and production environments.
Dormer, Pramet and Miranda together have strengthened our position in the Indian industry. We aim to expand our operations in the country with main focus on the General Engineering, Die & Mould, and Automotive sectors, where we have established ourselves as one of the most reliable brands. These are strong growth areas, where quality and the cost per piece are key to success and I think we are faring successfully on these parameters. So we are really looking forward to our journey in India and are excited about it.
Indi’s government is keen on making India a prominent industrial hub under mission Make in India. In what ways can Dormer Pramet’s India presence help with the country’s growth ambitions?
We deeply care about our people and the larger community. I hope that we all are pushing in the same direction to make India better in any possible way.
We are positively ambitious about our growth in India, and are expecting to grow fast in the coming years. I understand that we need to do the investments that are required with or without the growth connect, for example, on critical areas like safety, the environment, and the community. We can see the big difference that people locally have made, working really hard with our focus on safety. It’s impressive.
What is the message you want to convey to our readers?
I want to thank our customers for their support for the business. We are really looking forward to meeting them. We will continue proving to them that we are their most reliable partners in their growth journey.
Executive Profile: Eduardo Martin, President, Dormer Pramet
Eduardo Martin became the President of Dormer Pramet on 1 February 2022. He lives in Malaga, Spain and enjoys spending time with family, meeting people, and getting to know different languages and cultures. “I like engaging and communicating with people around the world. I enjoy gadgets and playing with new technology as soon as they arrive on the market,” he says. Languages he is conversant in include Spanish, English, Swedish, Italian, and Portuguese. Mr. Martin has worked with Sandvik Machining Solutions, the parent company of Dormer Pramet for 33 years.
His previous role at the company was Senior Vice President – Head of Global Sales at Sandvik Coromant. He has lived in four different countries, including Sweden, Italy, the USA and Spain.
At Sandvik, he started in production, working on a grinding machine for milling inserts. He has been a designer of special tools and product manager engineer for Sandvik Automation company. Also, he was a product manager engineer for short hole-making products in Sweden for three years. He has been the managing director for Iberica (Spain and Portugal) then also Italy, as well as the President for the Americas sales area.
He has a Technical Engineering Degree in Machine Tools and an Executive Master’s in Business and Administration.
Dormer Pramet is a global manufacturer and supplier of tools for the metal cutting industry. Its comprehensive product program encompasses both rotary and indexable drilling, milling, threading and turning tools for use in a wide variety of production environments. An extensive sales and technical support service operate from 20 offices, serving more than 100 markets worldwide. These are assisted by dedicated production facilities in Europe, Americas and Asia, along with a highly developed distribution and logistics network.
Dynamic Manufacturing India – September – October issue – Click To Read
