FACTEQ 2024: Featuring Tools of Tomorrow

A groundbreaking factory equipment expo, FACTEQ 2024, organized by Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA), is set to stir up success alongside Pune Machine Tool Expo (PMTX). Taking place from May 23-26, 2024, at the Pune International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Pune, this event signifies a new era in manufacturing innovation.

The Manufacturing industry prioritizes precision, efficiency, and quality, prompting companies to invest in advanced technologies. With an emphasis on empowering next-generation factories, the event will display a variety of cutting-edge solutions for facility construction, maintenance, and optimization. Industry leaders are expected to gather at the venue to witness these advancements and explore avenues for heightened productivity and efficiency in manufacturing processes.

Becoming a global manufacturing hub

The expo highlights the important role of advanced technology in optimizing plant and factory efficiency. It advocates for the use of innovative technologies to meet energy-efficient objectives and support eco-friendly practices. This transition improves operational effectiveness and drives local manufacturing initiatives, thus reducing external dependencies and promoting local machine tools and factory equipment.

Furthermore, India emerges as a prominent manufacturing destination with favorable business conditions, strong infrastructural development, and government initiatives like production-linked incentives (PLI). This has attracted significant foreign investments and large foreign firms to setup in the country’s manufacturing sector.

The upcoming expo will highlight how the sector meets global requirements and is evolving to satisfy future demands with foreign investments stimulating growth and innovation.

Jyotirmoy Ray, Marketing Head, Wipro Linecraft AI

The complete factory solutions

The event will feature exhibitors displaying a wide-ranging portfolio of products and services. Rajendra Rajamane, President, IMTMA, highlights, “The event will also focus on metrology equipment.” Additionally, it will include air and water systems, security solutions, sustainable technologies, factory furniture, electrical lighting solutions, information systems, and hardware.

Adding to the list of products, Jibak Dasgupta, Director General & CEO, IMTMA and BIEC, states, “Energy-saving products, logistics equipment, maintenance products, safety products, and various other solutions for factories will be showcased in this co-located event.”

On that note, it is evident that exhibitors are keen on steering the focus toward enhancing operations, encouraging companies to commission high-efficiency factories, and fostering sustainability in the manufacturing sector.

The inventors of cable carriers

The first cable carriers or cable drag chain systems date back to 1954, with Tsubaki Kabelschlepp GmbH introducing them. With over 70 years of experience in designing, manufacturing, and applying these systems, the company leads the global market, boasting 13 subsidiary companies and 40 representations worldwide.

PS Ganesan, General Manager, Kabelschlepp India Pvt Ltd, a prominent exhibitor at the event, states, “We have been a regular participant and patron of IMTEX for the last 15 years and we have done a number of exhibitions under the IMTMA banner.”

He further elaborates the event’s significance to the company, stating, “We are looking to tap industries in manufacturing such as the original equipment manufacturers/special purpose machine manufacturers/manufacturers of cranes/manufacturers of packaging machines/electrical panels, etc.”

With that in mind, the exhibition will showcase a range of new products from the company’s cable drag chain systems lineup, including steel, plastic, and hybrid materials. The drag chains designed for robots and flexible cables for drag chain applications are expected to be showstoppers.

PS Ganesan, General Manager, Kabelschlepp India Pvt Ltd

Live demos and USPs

Wipro Linecraft AI participating in the event is a standout feature and moment to look forward to. The company will provide visitors with live demonstrations and case studies that will immerse them in real-life situations where the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions can be used.

Jyotirmoy Ray, Marketing Head, Wipro Linecraft AI, states, “We also have a plug-and-play solution for manufacturing businesses starting their digitization journey. It gives instant access to the state of the entire enterprise at one glance. Features like Part Tracing and Condition Monitoring (Alerts) are also available off the shelf.”

The company’s products have a unique selling point (USP) wherein the products offer optimization opportunities that have often gone unnoticed by human observation. With AI integration, it avoids human error by outlining critical machines on manufacturing lines that require process optimization.

Ray outlines reasons the products have secured global trust, “We collect data directly from the machines without any manual intervention. There are no changes in PLCs and no pauses in production. Our partnership with industry-preferred PLCs including Allen Bradley, Siemens, Mitsubishi, and ABB, coupled with AI-driven recommendations enable highly targeted productivity improvement efforts.”

Growth ambitions

With the country’s Manufacturing industry eyeing a US$ 1 trillion contribution to the economy by 2030, there’s a growing demand for new factories and installing upgrades to existing ones.

The expo anticipates increased investments in sectors like energy storage, green technology, biotechnology, semiconductor manufacturing, and more. These investments are set to spur the establishment of new factories by major international companies, therefore, supporting the country’s growth trajectory and export ambitions.

The event is expected to draw a mix of attendees like Chief Executives, Factory Owners, Government Officials, Quality Assurance Heads, Service Engineers, and other key figures within the manufacturing sector. This diverse participation places an emphasis on the growing interest in sustainable and pioneering solutions in the industry.

The future starts here

At the upcoming event, visitors can look forward to networking with prospective buyer delegations and gaining valuable insights into the manufacturing sector. The event is expected to be a game-changer as it promises industry advancements and partnerships in Aerospace, Automobiles, Defence, Pharma, and other sectors.