Raising the Bar

Lakshmi Machine Works Ltd (LMW) seems to have mastered the art of staying ahead of the game. One of its strong arms, the Machine Tool Division, has been garnering rave reviews in the industry for its relentless focus on customer satisfaction.

To make it big in business, one needs to be gifted with the knack of recog­nizing gaps in the market and filling it innovatively.

The machine tool division of LMW Ltd owes its birth to one such gap of high-end CNC machines in the country in 1988. The machines were then getting imported from countries such as Japan, Germany, the USA, Italy etc. “Since we had been successful in fulfilling the high-end textile machinery need in the country since 1962, we could recognize the opportunity,” recounted
K Soundhar Rajhan, President, Machine Tool Division, LMW Ltd. Today, the enormity of the division can be determined from its built-up area of 32,000 sq mt spread over sprawling eight acres in Coimbatore. “Almost all major Automobile OEMs and Tier-1, Tier-2 manufacturers form the bulk of our customers. We also have a large presence in the job shop and general engineering sectors. We are a complete solution provider on a turnkey basis. Presently around 30 percent of the machines sold are either turnkey or tooled up solutions and the trend is moving towards more tooled up,” he elaborated.

Going strong

According to him, the machine tool sector has been a highly challenging industry in terms of precision engineering, as they are the mother machines which churn out components for every engineering industry. But despite all odds, the company’s growth has ever since remained consistently positive, barring a couple of years of global recession.

Its tie up with Moriseiki-Japan and Mikron-Switzerland help­ed the company gain the technological advantage. “Our team has since then grown and gained great experience in the last two decades. Today, we have evolved as an integrated solution provider in metal cutting for the manufacturing industry,” he enthused.

Customers across diverse industries

The company caters to a number of industries in­cluding Pump & Valves, Oil & Gas, Aerospace, Tool & Die, Defence, General Engineering, and predominantly to the Auto industry, which makes 60 percent of its business.

It has recently added an Advanced Technology Center to produce precision components for the Aerospace Industry.

Outpacing competitors

Successful businesses compete on quality. LMW is a firm believer in this proven mantra. “All our initiatives towards enhancing the quality also help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the operations in our organization. The benefit is passed on to our customers,” he stated.

“Synergy and talent within LMW group is a great advantage for us,” beamed Soundhar Rajhan with obvious admiration for his teams.

He gives credit to the company’s proactive marketing and business development team that keeps tabs on the market trends and the ever-changing requirements of every industry, and covers the entire array of its customers, ranging from OEMs to job shops.

The efficient R&D team is always on the ball to assess the latest global trends and recognize opportunities. From visiting major international exhibitions, interacting with specialists in the field of ma­chine tools and manufacturing, to interacting with the customers, the team is well-trained to provide innovative solutions and support oper­ational improvements.

Exports

“Our textile machinery division is one among the top three global players in spinning machinery and has presence in all yarn producing countries,” he shared. The Machine Tool Division caters to the domestic market at present and is expanding
its reach to Russia, the Middle East and the South Asian countries. “We will achieve about 10 percent of business from exports in the next couple of years,” he added.

Further plans

On a concluding note he shared, “We are upgrading by adding new mother machines on need basis and expanding the capacity appropriately. Our focus will be to address the market needs and ensure that we meet our customers’ expectations to their utmost satisfaction.”

“Our focus will be to address the market needs and ensure that we meet our customers’ expectations to their utmost satisfaction.”

K Soundhar Rajhan
President–Machine Tool Division
LMW

 Author

Poonam Pednekar
Chief Copy Editor
Magic Wand Media Inc
poonam.pednekar@magicwandmedia.org

---

---