Specialist gear manufacturer opens new plant in India in response to local demand
Published: 31 July 2013 - Rachael Morling
Specialist precision gear manufacturer, Microprecision, has officially opened its first manufacturing plant in India.
Driven by local demand, primarily in the burgeoning aerospace sector, the new facility – Microprecision Solutions Pvt. – is located in a 20,000sqft facility in Bangalore. Micro has also purchased three acres of land on the Bangalore Aerospace Park for the second phase of expansion.
Keen to allay any thoughts of moving production from the UK, the company sees the venture as a true expansion; servicing customers with high-precision component parts locally in the first instance, while adding the capability to produce larger volumes of routine parts for the international market.
Terry Grubb, UK MD and founder of Microprecision, commented: “The design technology for our precision gear components is still centred on the UK, as are many design operations in the aerospace and automotive industries. It made commercial sense, however, for us to look at emerging markets for growth and also to take the opportunity to develop a production facility for our higher volume products, something that we have always wanted to do.”
The new facility also houses a joint venture between Microprecision and Uniflo Engineering, India, a precision engineering company which specialises in the manufacture of gear pumps.
Grubb added: “It has taken a lifetime to amass the machinery and experience to produce specialist short-run parts for motorsport, medical and aerospace in the UK, and there is little point in reproducing that in its entirety. The new factory in Bangalore is a response to customer demand for higher volumes of some products and new ranges of other products where we have a demand already in geographic areas closer to the site - that it isn’t practical to service from the UK.
“We have been very impressed with the level of local engineering talent and also with the positive attitude of what is the next generation of Microprecision personnel in India.”
http://www.microprecision.co.uk