From 18-20 January, 2019, India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida acted as a magnet to the entire foundry industry.
IFEX 2019 was inaugurated in the morning of 18th Jan., 2019 by Chief Guest, Shri Giriraj Singh, Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India in the august presence of Mr. P. Udayakumar, Director P & M, NSIC, Mr. Ravi Sehgal, Chairman, EEPC, National Office Bearers of IIF, Organizing Committee Members of 67th IFC and many industry leaders and exhibitors. All the exhibitors who have attended this year's Foundry Exhibition in Greater Noida were extremely happy with their success at the exhibition. This is a great platform for industry professionals to know about new technologies and about the companies working in this sector. Also to highlight, it was not only the number of visitors that met with praise - the quality of the exhibition and conference was also lauded by attendees.
The 67th Indian Foundry Congress inaugural held in the evening of 18th Jan., 2019 and was attended by many high profile dignitaries including Dr. Mahesh Sharma Minister of State for Culture and Tourism and Civil Aviation, Mr. Ravi Sehgal, Chairman, EEPC, Sh. Kuldeep Goel, Executive VP- L&T, Sh. Anil Relia CEO NABL, National Office Bearers of IIF, Organizing Committee Members of 67th IFC, Industry leaders, Academicians etc. IIF gave away awards to promote excellence in various categories. Sponsors were also felicitated in the evenings followed by cultural programme showcasing “Akhtar Brothers” and comedian “Sudesh Lehri” on the first day i.e. 18th Jan., 2019 and on 19th Jan., 2019, Prince of Bhagra “Sukhbir” mesmerized the audience with his dance numbers.
For the very first time, IIF organized ‘B2B Meets’ which was the star attraction for delegates during IFC. Cast source meet and B2B Meets provided an opportunity to explore and forge new business relationships and discuss the challenges & opportunities of present & future markets for mutual benefit. Many large foundry buyers from India and abroad participated in Cast Source Meet and B2B Meet. It was an enlightening experience for the participants to hear from the representatives of leading casting buyers like Mr. Andrew Martin, President - Sen Source Global, USA, Mr. Tarun Jagga, Head Supply Chain - Escorts Tractors, Mr. Parveen Sardana, Sr. Vice President - Sonalika Tractors, Mr. C. M. Bhide, Partner - LCB Sourcing, Mr. P R Radhakrishna - Simpson Co. Ltd, Mr. Shrikrishna Kulkarni - John Deere India, Mr. Vivek Agarwal, GM - Ashok Leyland, Mr. Chandrakant Bande -Atlas Copco, Mr. Govind - ISRO, Mr. Neelesh Joshi, Head Global Sourcing -Eaton India, Mr. Ashish Sharma - Ingersoll Rand, Mr. Suresh Patil, Sr. Mgr. Strategic Sourcing - Kirloskar Oil Engines, Mr. A. K. Verma, ED Railway Stores, Mr. Suhas Kulkarni, Head Sourcing -Wabtee Corp, Mr. C. Anand Babu -Caterpillar, Mr. Prashant Mestry -Mahindra and Mahindra to name a few.
"The 67th IFC and IFEX 2019 aimed to focus on creating an environment that fosters exchange of ideas, knowledge creation and expertise to propel foundry development in India. The exhibition brought together over 300 exhibitors who displayed various advancements in the space of foundry. More than 20,000 professionals from across the globe attended India's leading exhibition-series for the foundry industry – Indian Foundry Congress and Foundry Exhibition. We expect the same enthusiastic response in our upcoming events and hope to add more value” said. Mr. Shashi Kumar Jain, President-IIF.
"I am happy that IFEX 2019 has turned out to be largest Foundry Exhibition spread over 20,000 Sq M with approx 300 exhibitors from India & abroad showcasing their latest products, technologies, equipment & services. We are going to have over 1300 registered delegates and over 20,000 visitors. This will not only give exposure to the foundries about latest trends in technologies but give the exhibitors to find new alliances & business opportunities. Over 65 Technical papers have been carefully selected on various relevant topics such as new advancements in metallurgy, Lean Manufacturing ,Productivity , Greener technologies, Efficient Resource Management ,Recycling, Value Addition ,Skilling etc. which will be presented by eminent authors. The papers selected will help improve the overall competitiveness & become ready to achieve “Mission Global Market“," said Mr. Vikas Garg – Chairman, Organizing Committee, 67th IFC
"Indian Foundry Congress and the exhibition have given access to the stakeholder community and with the government showing strong directions to the manufacturing sector and sourcing material from the domestic industry, we can foresee a bright future for the foundry industry. We are happy organizing such event and definitely looking forward to increased participation in future editions also," declared Mr. Naresh Garg, Co-Chairman, Organizing Committee 67th IFC.
67th IFC conducted various value added sessions where Senior Ministers, Bureaucrats, leading business leaders from industry & academicians shared their vision & thoughts on various issues for sustainable growth of the sector. Over 65 presentations were made by leading experts from India & overseas on various topics such as skill development, innovations, environment protection, effective energy & resource management etc.
Plenary session was organized on 19th Jan., 2019 with focus on the theme of the 67th IFC “Mission World Market”. The session was chaired by Mr. Naresh Garg, Past President-IIF and Co-Chairman, 67th IFC. Mr. Naresh Garg welcomed the speakers and participants.
Mr. Andrew Martin, President Sensource Global- USA, spoke on business requirements & environment in India and how Indian foundries can meet these requirements. He highlighted on strengths, weaknesses & actions required by Indian foundries to help them grow worldwide market share and make strategies for improved performance in global market.
Mr. Subodh Panchal, Past President-IIF & Chairman, International Affairs Committee-IIF enlightened the participants on how to find customers in global market. In his presentation, he emphasized on how to tap international trade opportunities and how to find out which market/s offers best opportunities for your products and engineering services. Mr. Panchal emphasized on regular participation in international trade fairs, exhibitions to explore new markets and customers.
The session of Mr. Arnab Chakraborty, India Director of UN flagship capacity building program, EMPRETEC was very interactive. He spoke on entrepreneur behavior and competencies and how proper goal setting, information seeking and systematic planning & monitoring develops strong foundation of any business.
CEOs Meet was also organized on 19th Jan., 2019. CEOs from leading units deliberated to charter future strategies for the sector to propel it to the next level in view of the new business environment & opportunities which the future will offer in view of “Make in India “policy & to be future ready. The CEOs meet provides a unique platform for interaction & sharing views on future of Foundry Industry & for being future ready to meet the challenges & grab the opportunities that the future trends will create for the industry in the ever changing business scenario. Mr. R. Subrahmanyam Secretary, Higher Education announced that the Government of India is going to make a budget outlay of 100 Crores for upgradation of infrastructure of NIIFT. Government of India is going to open centers of NIIFT in other parts of country. Government of India also intends to modify the Metallurgy Stream of engineering to include additional specialization as foundry technology in the same. This will help to meet the demand of educated & skilled manpower for foundry industry.
Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Director General, Training, Ministry of Skill Development, announced that Government of India would be making a sub skill council for foundry technology in the steel skill council. This will help to meet the demand of skill manpower for foundry industry.
There are new challenges everyday like rapidly changing technology & market trends at a pace never seen before, uncertainty in policies ,environmental issues, rising fuel & material prices , trade wars , dumping of products by some countries due to overcapacities besides taxation issues & skills to match the rapidly changing technology. We therefore have to be continuously keep pace with these issues to sustain & grow & keep innovating said Mr. Vikas Garg – Chairman, Organizing Committee, 67th IFC addressing the CEOs during the meet.
Other dignitaries present during the CEOs Meet included Mr. Anil Srivastava, Adviser and Director General, DMEO, NITI AAYOG along with various industry leaders, academicians and representatives from IIF.
Post congress works visits were designed to give exposure to the delegates to the best practices in the foundry sector. Many renowned foundry units such as Munjal Kiriu, Rockman Ltd., BHEL Ltd., DCM Foundry Division, Mahindra Swaraj Foundry Division, Oliver Engg., were visited by delegates. The visitors found the works visit enlightening and were thrilled to see the best practices and technologies adopted by these units.
Indian Foundry Congress has become the most important industry platform for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, service providers, technology providers & technology seekers for the Foundry industry. IIF as the leading & apex industry body provides unique platform for the foundry sector for dissemination of latest technology, market trends, best practices & to promote partnerships & explore business opportunities.
The next edition i.e. 68th Indian Foundry Congress will take place at Chennai on 28th, 29th Feb & 1st March, 2020, where there is large concentration of foundries.
