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Sridhara Ramachandran
Opportunities in the growing IndianAerospace Engineering Industry
The aerospace industry in India is still in a nascent stage of growth even though aerospace majors from the West have
been operating in India for close to a decade now. A number of articles have been written on the changes needed in theindustrial approval policy and tax regulatory framework to enable growth. This article will skip these often-covered areas
and focus on the opportunities in the manufacturing aspects of the industry.
There are many reasons for the prolonged
development stage of the aerospace
industry in India. These include lack of
understanding of aerospace quality
management systems, scarcity of mentors
who can bring the best practices from the
West to India, scarcity of readily-available
talent pool at the operator level and lackof aerospace approved raw materials,
machine shops and treatments houses.
Like in any industry which is in the early
stages of growth, the above-mentioned
gaps oer abundant opportunities in
aerospace.
Raw Materials:
In the aerospace industry, due to the lack
of scale in most segments, raw materials
have to be procured from distributors
who source their supplies from aerospace-
approved mills. There are no mills in India
that are certied for aerospace, and as
a result the Indian aerospace industry is
dependent on US and European mills.
The size of aerospace business in India in
the last decade did not justify stocking
locations within India for the distributors.
As a result of this chicken-and-egg
situation, the industry was not competitivewhen it came to prices of the nished
products they could oer.
This is beginning to change now with a few
distributors building stocking locations
in India. A signicant catalyst for growth
will arise when a mill in India focuses on
aerospace and receives quality approvals
from the majors.
Materials Testing:
The cost of importing raw materials ishigh. This is driven even higher when
the materials require further testing to
aerospace specications at laboratories
located in developed countries.
Similar to approvals for manufacturing
processes, the Western majors approve
laboratories that are focused on material
testing. There are no privately-owned
laboratories in India that have received
approval from the likes of Pratt andWhitney.
Quality Management Systems:
In aerospace, a thorough understanding of
quality requirements and a strict adherence
and execution to aerospace quality
management systems (QMS) determines
success. Though aerospace itself originated
from the automotive sector, the quality
management systems are signicantly
dierent in many areas. Many companies
fail as they view the QMS as a checkbox
and policing entity instead of making it a
part of the manufacturing DNA.
SPOT L IGHT
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Manufacturing:
Within core manufacturing, there are
many opportunities in medium to large
sized precision machined components,
metal fabrications, on-board electronics,
manufacturing and machining of composite
materials.
As machine costs are roughly the same
whether it is the US, Europe or India, the
economics for manufacturing in India is
justied only if the labour content in the
value add is much higher than the machine
content.
When the engineering content in a package
is high, Indian companies excel when
compared to other Eastern or Far-Eastern
competitors.
Special Process or Treatments:
A majority of aerospace components
including structures require chemical
treatments to meet the functional and
aesthetic requirements called out in the
specications. Various forms of chemical
processing, non-destructive testing, heat
treatment, welding and plasma coating
services are needed in the industry.
Aerospace customers would prefer a
fully-nished component
i.e., including treatments,
to be supplied at their
inbound docks. Again,
understanding the stringent
requirements and operating
to quality standards in the
special processes area is achallenge but therein lies the
opportunity.
Packaging:
Packing requirements are stringent in
aerospace. After all the value addition
and attention to quality, the last leg of
manufacturing is even more important.
Packing materials approved by aerospace
original equipment manufacturers are
not easily available in India. Similar to raw
materials for manufacturing, raw materials
for packing often have to be imported
from developed countries.
Contributions of Indo-US MIM Tec in the
Aerospace Industry:
Indo-MIM, as we are referred to by our
customers, is the world-leader in the
metal injection molding (MIM) industry
both by sales and installed capacity. We
have successfully penetrated Industrial,
Automotive, Sporting Goods, Commercial
and Medical industries over the last fteen
years.
After careful industry research and
analysis, we set up the aerospace business
unit a couple of years ago to oer precision
machining and special processes to the
aerospace industry.
Quality Management Systems:
Within six months of operations, we
received AS 9100 revision B certication
through Lloyds Register Quality Assurance
Ltd. We were successfully upgraded from
revision B to the more stringent revision
C certication last year. In addition to
AS certications, we are also NADCAP
approved for various special process
services that we oer the industry.
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Manufacturing:
To eliminate the uncertainties and to
simplify the supply chain, Indo-MIM has
established the precision machining and
treatments on one campus. Hence, it oers
fully nished components to the aerospace
industry through a one-stop shop solution.
We have successfully delivered many work
packages from the machine shop and
treatments plants to aerospace customers
in India, Europe and USA.
In addition to machining and treatments,
we have introduced the advancedmetal injection molding technology to
the aerospace industry. Material and
technology certications for MIMs
acceptance in aerospace are in progress.
Special Processes:
To address the one-stop shop strategy,
we have invested signicantly in the
special process lines. We oer NDT,
chemical processing, painting and surface
enhancement technologies to the
aerospace industry. The special processesshop is open to third-party
work and is not captive to
to Indo-MIMs aerospace
machine shop. The NDT,
chemical processing
(chromic acid, sulphuric
acid and conversion
coating lines) and
painting lines are NADCAP
approved.
We have also receivedthe prestigious quality
approvals from OEM
aerospace major Pratt &
Whitney USA and from tier one companiesincluding Meggitt PLC and Rafael (Israel).
Indo-MIM is the rst company in India to be
approved by Pratt & Whitneys Materials
Control Laboratory for NDT (FPI and MPI)
and Chromic Acid Anodizing processes.
To add to the above services and
contributions, we have undertaken and
delivered assembly services relevant
to the work packages we are currently
manufacturing at Indo-MIM.
For the aerospace industry to be successful
in India, it is necessary to develop an
ecosystem of aerospace companies, with
each member in the ecosystem having a
signicant critical mass of business. The
Indian governments purchases in the
defence sector have generated billions of
dollars in oset obligations for aerospace
companies in the Western hemisphere. But,
the aerospace ecosystem in India is not
yet ready to absorb the oset spending.
The investors mindset in aerospace needs
to be long-term and requires patience.Indo-MIM, through its operations, is doing
its best to contribute to the success of
aerospace industry in India.
What is the scenario of Aerospace Industry
globally?
The defense budgets are being cut in
the US and Europe. At the same time,
India and China are increasing their
defense spending. Its a dierent story
in commercial aviation. Commercial
aviation all over the world has come backin full force since the slowdown in 2008.
IATA has just revised upwards the 2013
prot forecast for commercial airlines
throughout the world. Both commercial
and defense aviation growth portends
well for companies involved in aerospace-
related manufacturing.
Which are the weaker links you feel in
India for the Aerospace and Aviation
Industry?
Lack of a critical mass in distributors
of aerospace grade raw material, no
aerospace certied mills and scarcity of
talent pool at the shop level are the weaker
links in Indian Aerospace and Aviationindustry.
Major steps have been taken by Indo-
MIM to uplift the Aerospace Industry in
India. When do you feel India will become
eligible to compete with the global giants
in Aerospace sector?
We have to rst walk before we run and we
have to run enough and train intensively to
compete in a marathon. Indian aerospace
industry is at the early stages of walking.This does not mean the industry is not
attractive to work in. It is a fantastic
opportunity to be a part of shaping the
aerospace future in India. To be ready
to compete with the global giants in
aerospace will take another 10 to 15 years.
Tell us about your future plans as a
manufacturer in Aerospace Industry in
India.
Indo-MIM is already working with and
getting the attention of a number of
aerospace majors from India, US and
Europe. Our focus in the short-term is on
perfect execution in all the projects in
progress. In the medium-term, our goal isto enter into key programs in aerospace
that are being driven by the OEMs. With
solid execution in our short-term and
medium-term goals, we are condent we
will be the supplier of choice for various
long-running aerospace programs. We
will continue to expand our capabilities in
the manufacturing and special processes
domains.
How is the economic slowdown hitting
the Aerospace Industry? What are thepreventive measures taken by Indo-US
MIM Tec to combat the current slowdown?
We are not seeing a slow down. Aerospace
industry in the West as well as in India is
growing and will continue to grow over
the next decade. Indo-MIMs objective is
to contribute to the success of aerospace
industry in India and the world.
Sridhara Sri RamachandranVice President & General Manager
Aerospace Products GroupIndo-US MIM Tec Pvt Ltd
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