IMTEX 2023, Tooltech 2023 & Digital Manufacturing 2023 organized by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) was inaugurated on 19th January 2023. An initiative of IMTMA, IMTEX is a flagship event for Indian metal cutting industry and showcases the latest trends and technological refinements from India and other global countries.
IMTEX 2023, was inaugurated by Mr. Kamal Bali, President & Managing Director, Volvo India Group and Mr. Gopal Subramanyam, Chairman, SKF India.
Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej, Chairman, Exhibitions – IMTMA, Mr. Ravi Raghavan, President, IMTMA, Mr. Rajendra S. Rajamane, Vice President – IMTMA and Mr. Jibak Dasgupta, Director General & CEO – IMTMA were also present at the inauguration.
IMTEX 2023 is having Tooltech and Digital Manufacturing as concurrent shows. Tooltech is showcasing the world of parts, accessories, and systems for machine tools and manufacturing technology. Digital Manufacturing has exhibitors showcasing evolving Industry 4.0 hardware, software and solutions, additive manufacturing, and other prominent technologies.
Delivering the welcome address Mr. Jamshyd Godrej reminisced about his association with late Vikram Kirloskar, the former Vice Chairperson of Toyota Kirloskar Motor. He added that although the pandemic put strain on business, the exhibition industry is back. Mr. Godrej said that IMTMA completed 75 years journey and will continue to support the machine tool and manufacturing industries while BIEC will support exhibitions, investor conferences and corporate events.
Speaking about his journey which began in the 1970s, Mr. Gopal Subramanyam in his address said that machine tool industry needs to explore new arenas like infrastructure sector which may pave way for future growth.
Giving a broader perspective of manufacturing industry, Mr. Kamal Bali in his address stated that manufacturing is the future growth story of India and IMTEX is a great platform. He said that the next decade belongs to India which fuelled by forward looking policies, the young and emerging talent and with global investments is slated to do well. He called upon the industry to adopt best practices and build partnerships with global entities.
Speaking about India’s journey in the current situation, Mr. Ravi Raghavan, in his address said that India continued to remain resilient in wake of the ongoing geo-political situation, talks of stagflation and an anticipated slowdown. This edition of IMTEX that IMTMA is organizing is a testimony to it as IMTEX 2023 received significantly favourable responses from national and international exhibitors.
Delivering the vote of thanks, Mr. Rajendra Rajamane thanked all the exhibition industry stakeholders in making IMTEX 2023 a grand event.
The IMTMA publications, ‘Comprehensive Report on Indian Metalworking Machine Tool Industry 2023’ highlighting the current demand trends in machine tool industry, IMTMA Members’ Directory 2023, Exhibition Catalogue on IMTEX 2023, were released at the inauguration.
The IMTMA Premier Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award in memory of Vinod Doshi was conferred to Mr. Rajendra S. Rajamane and the IMTMA BFW Lifetime Contribution Award in memory of H.R. Gupta was conferred to Mr. L. Krishnan, Past President, IMTMA.
Apart from display of products and solutions, various other programmes have been lined up. IMTMA is providing an opportunity to Indian academic and R&D institutions to showcase their research capabilities and make it available for commercial use. Around 23 academic institutions including IITs are participating in the i2 Academia Pavilion.
Jagruti, a special initiative in which students will be given a guided tour of entire IMTEX including a visit to the IMTMA Technology Centre in BIEC will happen on 21 and 22 January 2023. Around 25 students from 12 colleges are participating. Connect, an awareness programme to impart knowledge on machine tool industry to young engineers will be held on January 22. Around 35 companies and 300 students are expected to participate. Students can explore job opportunities in various companies. An international buyer-seller meet will be held between January 23 and 24. Potential buyers from target overseas market are invited to explore mutual business opportunities. Buyers from Bangladesh, Belarus, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Turkey, Uganda, UK, and USA are expected to participate.
IMTMA has constituted two awards to recognize and reward companies. The IMTMA Best Design Award for indigenously designed product in metal cutting and the IMTMA Export Performance Award for making significant achievement in export of machine tools. The awards will be conferred during the exhibition.
Machine tool builders are presenting new products such as smart and intelligent machines, high-precision, high performance, multi-tasking, hybrid machines and special purpose machines, robots, cobots, AGVs, tools, accessories, manufacturing software, 3D Printers, 3D printing solutions, evolving Industry 4.0 hardware, software, customised solutions, etc.
