Mr. B. Harish shares his company’s initiatives which are empowering customers and all industry professionals with knowledge and solutions
Customer Delight
The purpose statement of Micromatic Machine Tools (MMT) reads as:
- Co-create Customer Success
- Nurture Entrepreneur
- Enrich Lives.
Hence ensuring customer delight has been one of the pillars of its success for the last four decades. Ace Micromatic Group was the “Start-up” of the 1970s and was started by three machine tool designers in a car garage in Bangalore.
In the formative years, the customers were largely MSME, while large entities were acquired as the company’s customers much later. Hence, MMT knows and understands the needs, wants, pains, and pulse of the MSME sector very well.
Every CNC machine is a highly productive asset, and the success or failure of the entrepreneur depends on this asset working 24×7 all around the year. Like human beings, CNC machines also break down occasionally. What is important is to ensure that the MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) is low & MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) is high.
To ensure low MTTR, it has always focussed on exemplary & unmatched Service as one of the differentiating strategies. To ensure high MTBF, the company has a team of R&D engineers who continually study the huge repository of service data of the 80,000-plus CNC machines working across the world. This is supported by the largest network of branches and offices, spread across 70-plus locations in India and manned by 350-plus highly trained service engineers.
On mapping the needs of the first-time CNC buyers, it was determined that a particular entrepreneur needs to contact 23 different agencies for peripheral equipment & services before his CNC machine could be productized to cut metal.
This fact led MMT to partner with several agencies to offer a “One-Stop” solution and a seamless platform for a “Mall Like ” purchasing experience.
Availability of spares is vital to ensure high uptime, especially in Tier 2 & 3 industrial locations. The company has therefore established National and Regional Warehouses in four locations to ensure that it can deliver spares within 24 hours at any location.
It has adopted the tools “Strategy Maps” & the “Balanced Scorecard” to connect strategic objectives & deliver value to customers & all stakeholders. “Its strategy is to touch the customer by addressing his needs for the entire lifecycle of the Machine which is beyond its Sales and service.
MMT’s Vision Statement summarizes its customer approach:
“To be India’s most customer-centric company with leadership in CNC Products, offering total solutions, unmatched service, and product life cycle experience; enabling higher productivity and superior returns to all stakeholders.”
The company has built expertise to offer standardized CNC lathes, customized SPMs, tooled-up CNC machines & automation solutions to address the diverse needs of customers.
The company has also started “AMG Value Centres” which addresses the reconditioning needs of vintage CNC machines that reached their end of life, thereby extending the useful life & enhancing the residual value of the machine.
Partner Delight
The company’s mission is to be a partner of choice for its customers, Original Equipment Manufacturers, Channel Partners, and Suppliers through sustained Superior performance.
Integrity is at the core of its existence and the guiding principle in all that it does and in its relationships with all stakeholders. Almost all its vendors & suppliers have been with the company for several decades, right from its formative years. It believes in long-term relationships and the values of nurturance, innovation & performance excellence.
In addition to nurturing its vendors & suppliers to meet supply chain needs, it has also enabled 40-plus employees to become entrepreneurs by offering them Franchising Opportunities for Sales/Service/AMC. These loyal employees turned entrepreneurs located in industrial locations across India, offer unmatched & superior service to customers and they are well aware of the culture & ethos of the company.
Needless to mention, the approach with its Channel Partners is always a Win-Win strategy. All its channel partners are provided with ready access to the digital initiatives launched in-house. Hence, they also benefit from digital transformation in the areas of Employee Engagement, Field force management, People development, Data analytics, Productivity improvement, and more.
Further, with a view to provide insights into the shop floor, improving manufacturing productivity, and reduce losses, MMT started in 2005 a software division for OEE measurement. Its flagship software product “TPM Trak” has enabled thousands of its customers & vendors to improve their OEE substantially, with significant returns.
Industry Outreach
Micromatic Machine Tools, being a Sales and service organization for the Ace Micromatic Group for the Indian market, has been actively pursuing its Industry outreach. Be it participation in trade shows, conferences, seminars, and workshops, it has been actively participating in a major way. International Trade shows such as IMTEX, ACMEE or regional Trade shows like ENGIMACH, DMTX, or trade shows in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities, It ensures its participation with focussed machine displays with live cutting demos, new products or prototypes are inaugurated, actively participates in the side events like seminars and conferences through presentation or sponsorships. All this ensures networking with industry professionals and the exchange of ideas.
Participation with key Industry associations like IMTMA and ensuring that as Industry leaders it is part of the Vision Conclave for the Indian Machine Tool Industry. It participates in international seminars on Machining technologies and sponsors key programs like the National Productivity Summit wherein best productivity practices in manufacturing industries are demonstrated through keynote sessions, live case study presentations, and plant visits.
Also, it collaborates with Educational Institutes like IITs on projects, research, and initiatives. CBN Grinding and Thermal Compensation have been two such collaborative projects with IIT Madras where it could indigenously develop solutions to meet customer requirements.
To celebrate the manufacturing ecosystem, MMT has been collaborating with key stakeholders in manufacturing and media to promote key events like Super Shop floor events, Promising Plants, Festival of Manufacturing & Best Brand Metal Cutting events.
Its senior management and R&D teams have been participating in discussions around industry regulations, standards, and policies to advocate for the organization’s interest and contribute actively to shaping norms. Participation and key inputs through the Focus Group on the Machine Tool Industry have helped the policy-making process at the governance level.
Publishing industry-related articles, reports, whitepapers, and other materials showcasing the organization’s expertise and insights and a strong online presence in the Digital world have been the other ways for Industry Outreach.
Media Outreach
With the company’s business model primarily focusing on Business to Business (B2B), media outreach was mainly through the traditional platforms. This included print advertising in magazines related to the metal-working manufacturing sector and annual publications by related Industry associations. The aim is to reach the target audience. Direct mail marketing is also carried out wherein postcards, catalogs, or flyers are sent to customers. Email marketing is also effectively used to communicate and announce the introduction of new products or special campaigns. Billboards on streets, as well as ads on City Buses during Industry exhibitions, seminars or in-house shows, and technical write-ups in technical magazines, also have been effectively used.
With the advent of social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, the organization has now been aggressively participating and promoting its products on the new generation platforms. Content promotion and engagement on the above platforms, content marketing through blog posts, articles, case studies, and custom solutions created videos, and infographics ensure the creation of valuable and relevant content that attracts and engages the audience.
Platforms like YouTube are effectively used to share information about its products and services, educate the target customers, and Do It Yourself videos ensuring that the customers can attempt troubleshooting on their own. MMT’s well-experienced sales and service engineers actively participate in webinars, and podcasts wherein apart from the interaction with the target audience, panel discussions on the latest in manufacturing technologies and the organization’s views and preparedness are shared.
In using both traditional as well as social media platforms, the company’s chief objectives are brand awareness, lead generation, educating the target customers about products and services, highlighting expertise, and nurturing relationships.
Social and Environmental Engagement
MMT’s CSR efforts are focused on Skill Development. The company strongly believes in the adage “Feed a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. With this noble thought, the company started Ace Micromatic – LPM CNC Technology Centre to provide focused Operator training in CNC programming and CNC machining.
The main objective of this trust is to train youth from the economically weaker strata of society with non-technical backgrounds, put them through a focused 8-week program, and make them readily employable to operate CNC machines. Over the last 10 years, it has trained over 4,000 non-technical youth in its Technology Centres and provided them with 100% placement and meaningful employment as CNC operators.
To have more students enroll in its skill development programs, the company signed a formal MoU with M/s DMW Education & Charitable Trust for Skill Development of rural youth to make them employable. The DMW Trust has been providing skill training for the last two decades and has trained and placed close to 29,000 students across different industries in Tamil Nadu and Andhra.
Ace Micromatic Group and DMW Trust are set to jointly offer training courses on CNC Operation and Programming at the new Centre of Excellence facility in Hosur. The practical hands-on training will be imparted on a CNC lathe, VMC, CNC Simulator, and CNC software supplied by Ace Micromatic Group. It is its goal to provide 100 percent apprenticeship and suitable job placement for all deserving candidates who complete the course successfully. Over 30,000 CNC machines are sold annually in India. There is a need for 3 operators per machine on a shift basis and the availability of trained operators is critical to realize the country’s dream of being an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Executive Profile
Mr. B Harish, Chief Executive Officer, Micromatic Machine Tools (Ace Micromatic Group)
Mr. Harish is a 1986 graduate in BE – Industrial & Production Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology, Mangalore. He started his career as a shop floor engineer with David Brown Greaves Ltd. – Pune and worked with them till 1989.
He joined Delphi TVS in 1990 as a Senior Engineer and was deputed for specialized training at the filter plant of M/s. Lucas Diesel Systems – Spain for the manufacture of CAV 296 filters. He was the Project Leader responsible for establishing the Filter Element manufacturing plant at Delphi TVS. He subsequently joined Voltas Ltd. In the year 1995 as an Assistant Sales Manager in the Machine Tool Division.
He subsequently joined Micromatic Machine Tools Pvt Ltd, the marketing arm of Ace Micromatic Group in April 1999, as Branch Manager. He has played many roles during various stages of his career progression as Regional Manager, General Manager, Vice President, and now as Chief Executive Officer.
He has worked in Market Development Business Development, Branding, Channel Partner network, development of Eco-system partners, New Project implementation, Business Planning, Strategy Deployment, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and Digital Transformation.
Micromatic Machine Tools is part of Ace Micromatic Group and India’s largest marketing, sales & service organization for CNC Machine Tools. It is a 35-year-old organization, growing at a 10-year CAGR of 15%. Micromatic Machine Tools (MMT) is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company, having a sales & service network in India spanning 70+ industrial locations with offices, technology centers, franchisees, and Channel partners, seamlessly connected via CRM. It provides a comprehensive range of solutions in CNC turning, Milling, Grinding, Laser Cutting, Metal printing, Sheet Metal Solutions, Industrial Automation, Smart Manufacturing & Industry 4.0.
Its team of 125+ Sales engineers assists customers in cost-effective solutions, machinery Selection, cycle time estimates, financing options, and Application Engineering. The team of 375+ service engineers provides installation & commissioning support, programming and maintenance training, and warranty & post-warranty service.
It endeavours to be a “Total Solutions” hub providing a One Stop Solution to its entire customer’s machining needs. Through its extensive network, it offers Sales support, Service support, AMC, Application Engineering, Pre-order trials, training, shop floor essentials, and more. To further help its customers reduce their lead time to productize their high-value machines, it has formed strategic relationships over the years with industry leaders in various domains such as cutting fluids, lubricants, cutting tools, power conditioners, capacity management tools, who are today its “Eco System partners” helping us add further value to the customers’ experience.
E copy of the Magazine – https://www.machineinsider.com/machine-tools-industry-influencers-2023/