June 2008 Edition

news & analysis

Maus, TAL builders join forces to make global stage debut

On the surface, the partnership of a small Italian manufacturer of grinding machines with an Indian designer of precision machine tools might be a mere footnote in the business roundup.

But last month’s unveiling of the first machine built in the joint venture of TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a subsidiary of Tata Motors, with Maus S.p.A, may be worth taking a closer look.

The two companies partnered last summer to build CNC vertical turning centers for various metalworking applications and showed off their progeny in early March with the Vertiturn VTC at a ceremony in India.

Typical parts machined on the Veriturn include brake discs, brake drums, hubs, bearings, gears, aluminum wheels, and other large components. Vertical turning centers, in general, are widely used in the automotive, aerospace, bearings, energy, and offshore equipment industries.

"From Maus’ point of view, this is a way to gain credibility for their product line in India," says Knox Johnstone, director of business development for AMT-Association for Manufacturing Technology. "For TAL, it’s a way to get a product and technical knowledge that they didn’t have before and broaden their potential product base."

According to Maus, the Veriturn VTC is based on its own vertical turning technology and features a cast-iron base, CAD-optimized rigid construction, high-precision linear motion guideways for the X and Y axes, spindle torque up to 5,000 rpm for machining large parts and difficult materials, 18-position tool changing, live tooling on larger models and an available rotary pallet changer.

In the larger picture, TAL is widening its scope of production. In January, the subsidiary of Tata Motors announced it was collaborating with German machine tool maker Heller, which specializes in machining centers and flexible manufacturing solutions.

The production of machines will take place at TAL facilities in Pune.

"Tal has an established reputation for high-precision engineering and manufacturing quality across a wide range of machine tool products," says Atam Arya, managing director of TAL. "Combined with Maus technology in vertical turning, we will work together to bring these solutions to the world market."

Johnstone believes the collaboration is part of a recent pattern companies are making to showcase their arrival on the global stage.

"The Kool-Aid that management is drinking today is to achieve a status as a global player," he says. "These are the kinds of alliances we’re going to see more of, where they have something to bring to a marriage and believe that if they’re together, they’re better off. In some cases that’s true and in some cases that’s not."

TAL Manufacturing Solutions

Maus S.p.A.

GM plans $200 million Brazilian engine plant

These are bittersweet times for General Motors. After all, it may be difficult to find the silver lining after the company posted a $3.25 billion loss in the first quarter of 2008.

Nevertheless, despite the recent shortage of certain parts and a drop in vehicle sales numbers in North America, GM’s international sales continue to soar.

After watching the South American market in recent years, the world’s largest automaker has begun building a $200 million engine and automotive components plant in Joinville, Brazil, to bolster manufacturing capacity.

GM’s timetable is ambitious, since the plant, which is expected to employ close to 500 workers, is slated to start production in the fourth quarter of 2009.

"The decision to build a new engine plant in Brazil is essential to our ability to expand vehicle production capacity through the Mercosul region," says Jaime Ardila, president of GM Brazil and Mercosul, in a statement.

The machining process will use flexible machines and control systems that provide for rapid production changes to volume, technical changes, and product improvements. The plant will also enable engine testing without using fuel (gasoline or ethanol). The building of the plant further establishes GM’s presence inside Latin America — one of the world’s fastest growing markets.

In recent years, the continent has enjoyed a wealth windfall from sales of commodities it produces, such as oil, iron, cattle, coffee, and sugar. Car markets in Colombia, Argentina, and Venezuela, where sales grew 46 percent in 2007, all are on fire.

But automakers see Brazil as the star. For example, Brazil is Chevrolet’s largest market outside the United States — it sold 498,800 vehicles there in 2007. It is also GM’s third-largest vehicle sales market in the world, behind the United States and China.

GM hopes sales growth in other countries will allow it to retain its 76-year-old title as the world’s largest automaker. In the first quarter, 64 percent of GM’s total sales occurred outside the United States, the most ever. In South America alone, the automaker saw a 19.4 percent increase in sales to 1,235,913 vehicles in 2007 in its Latin America, Africa, and Middle East region. Sales grew 78 percent in Russia and 58 percent in India.

General Motors Corp.

Briefly

In motion

The Aerospace Industries Association reports that the aerospace trade balance skyrocketed to unprecedented levels — $60.4 billion — in 2007. Exports soared to $97 billion last year, compared to $85 billion in 2006. Imports increased to $36.5 billion, up from $30.5 billion in 2006 … Eaton Corp. has completed the purchase of The Moeller Group, a manufacturer of power distribution and control products.

Adding to its ability to serve aerospace and industrial markets, The Timken Co. has opened two manufacturing facilities in Asia. It will manufacture industrial bearings at Chennai, India, and aerospace and precision products in Chengdu, China … Cessna Aircraft Co. has surpassed 500 orders for its Citation Mustang entry level business jet. Cessna expects to reach its targeted full production rate of 150 aircraft per year by the end of 2009.

Acument Global Technologies will re-enter the high performance aerospace threaded fastener market by opening a production complex in Rockford, IL … Rockwell Automation has agreed to acquire Incuity Software, a supplier of Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) software.

The Boeing Co. in its first quarter earnings report announces a record $346 billion backlog in orders … Sandvik Coromant will increase the size of its research and development department by nearly 20 percent by adding 40 new employees over the next three years.

Under two new agreements, Chrysler LLC and Nissan Motor Co. will supply each other products. Nissan will manufacture a fuel-efficient small car for Chrysler, and Chrysler will manufacture a full-size pickup truck for Nissan … SolidWorks has acquired Priware, developers of the CircuitWorks ECAD software package. This will allow SolidWorks Office Premium users access to the CircuitWorks component via Service Pack 4.

Daimler AG and the Hero Group have established the Daimler Hero Motor Corp, a German-Indian commercial vehicle joint venture. Vehicle production is expected to start in 2010 … The International Titanium Association is accepting applications for its second annual Titanium Applications Development Award. Information on the $20,000 award is at www.titanium.org .

Hydro Aluminum has added sheet-processing abilities to its Extrusion Americas unit in Sydney, OH. Two TRUMPF high-tech machines, a TruBend 5130 press brake and a TruPunch 2020 turret press, have been installed … A new 6,000-ton UBE extrusion press will be the centerpiece of an automated extrusion system being installed at Indalex Holding Corp.’s Connersville, IN, facility. It will be the largest in the company’s North American network.

Bosch Rexroth has agreed to purchase K&H Eppensteiner, a hydraulics company based in Germany. The purchase will allow Bosch Rexroth to expand its product line in hydraulic accessory components.

Bunting Magnetics Co. has acquired Magnet Applications Group, a manufacturer of technical bonded magnets, precision magnetic assemblies, and complementary magnetic products.

Construction of a new production facility is under way in Rzeszow, Poland, for BorgWarner where it plans to produce turbochargers for European automakers beginning in 2009 … Heavy equipment maker Terex Corp. announced net income for the first quarter of 2008 of $163.3 million compared to $113.8 million for the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 46 percent. Net sales for 2007 totaled $9,137.7 million, an increase of 19.5 percent from $7,647.6 million in 2006.

New at the top

Aircraft and train manufacturer Bombardier Inc. has named Guy Hachey as president and CEO of Bombardier Aerospace. Hachey had been head of auto parts supplier Delphi Corp.’s in its powertrain and European operations … Dana Holding Corp. has named former Toyota Motor Kentucky chairman Gary Convis as CEO. Convis had retired from Toyota last year.

Horst Kayser, head of Siemens Corporate Strategy, has been appointed CEO of Siemens plc, Siemen’s Regional Company in the United Kingdom. He will also serve as CEO of Siemen’s North West Europe cluster … S. Daniel Johnson has been assumed the role of president of General Dynamics Information Technology. The company provides IT, systems engineering, and professional services in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, and commercial sectors.

KOMET of America has appointed F. Hans Grandin president and CEO. Komet manufactures hole-making tools for the metalworking industry … Douglas Hillman has been appointed president and CEO of Aerosonic Corp., a supplier of precision flight products for commercial, business, and military aircraft.

On the Web

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has introduced an online estimator for automotive engineers to calculate machining productivity of carbon and alloy steels in carbide tooling applications. The estimator is at www.autosteel.org/barsteelmachinability   … Easier access and ordering of aftermarket filters and parts for dust collectors is now offered at www.donaldson.com/ready2shipfilters . It’s a microsite of the Donaldson Torit company site.

RLS/Renishaw rotary and linear magnetic encoders can now be ordered through www.rlsdirect.com  â€¦ GF AgieCharmilles has added RSS feeds to its corporate website, www.gfac.com/us .