As the country recovers from the pandemic’s aftershock and regains control of the economy, infrastructure development has gained back its lost momentum. Both urbanization and industrialization engines are running at full throttle. As a result, there is an increased demand for modular furniture and related products made out of wood. The woodworking machinery industry works as the backbone to fulfil this large-scale demand. Moreover, the plans of mega furniture hubs across states have further fuelled the demand for woodworking machinery.
However, very few companies in this industry have the capacity to provide machinery for all kinds of applications. There is also the problem of not getting the desired solution that is suited according to requirements. Meeting these requirements is Homag India which provides the perfect solution to these challenges. The company has a wide range of woodworking machinery under one roof and end-to-end solutions are one of its fortes. It is the Indian subsidy of the MNC HOMAG Group that was established in Germany way back in 1960.
Venkataramana Gorti, MD and Country Head – India mentions, “In India, we have a very strong and experienced team at our site in Bengaluru where the team size is increasing YOY with increasing business. In addition to a local sales company, we also have our manufacturing and development facilities. This enables us to understand our customers' needs and translate them into market-oriented products on site. In doing so, we can also fall back on the competent network of the HOMAG Group with its several hundred developers at any time. For us, the key driver continues to be VOC (Voice of the customer) and we are continuously working on customer delight through “go to market products” and recommending the right solutions for the customers for their business growth.”
“Our best-in-class business enablers in HOMAG iX and now with Tapio (our internet-based solutions) coming up in India from this quarter, we are sure the customers will have HOMAG as their preferred choice, as always. We are also investing in capacities through our new factory coming up by end of this year, technology-driven demo centre, and focused training for our customer base. Also, we are continuously investing in skill-enhancements of our team, especially on the after-sales support team who in turn can support the customers more and more. We are also working on the skill-development and enhancement to support the industry as it’s on a big trajectory of growth,” he adds.
Execution Of Knowledge And Expertise
The industry is divided into large industrial manufacturers and an enormous breadth of craft businesses. Both target groups are served by Homag’s competent employees, who have an extremely high level of industry expertise. When it comes to digitalization, Homag is right at the forefront. HOMAG is also strong in the systems business, pertaining to equipping complete factories. But the company thinks that it can get even better. Their goal is to be even faster, more agile, and more flexible. In addition to service and intensive customer contact, the company offers the largest selection of customer-optimized combination options with over 120 machine series and the associated automation and software solutions. By using simulation software, performances can be calculated exactly, and the customers have high investment security and the
assurance that the required performances are permanently guaranteed.
Homag India has teams of specialists with a high level of process engineering expertise for all product segments. In cooperation with Schuler Consulting, they can provide customers with comprehensive support—from product cost optimization to optimal manufacturing concepts and complete networking, from the web store to goods tracking after delivery. HOMAG is the only organization in the industry that has the capability to deliver Flooring lines, Modular furniture solutions, Solid wood machinery, and a complete integrated factory right from concept till delivery to customers as a single-window solution provider.
Venkataramana states, “We pursue the goal of covering as many stages of the value chain as possible, from the log to the finished timber house. With our subsidiaries WEINMANN, Kallesoe, and System TM, we cover the process chains for frame construction and CLT/GLT construction. Both construction methods contribute significantly to reducing CO2 emissions compared to concrete. In addition, weather-independent prefabrication of the elements with high precision based on CAD/CAM data is possible. This saves time over the entire production period and also enables multi-storey buildings with more than 20 stories. However, the real boom in this market is yet to come, as the topic is very much driven from the direction of sustainability.”
Standing Out
Unlike its competitors, HOMAG is a full-service provider including the networking of machines and plants, e.g., from house design to data preparation, production control technology, and digital assistants such as the sanding belt management system. Customers can also grow with HOMAG from an SME to a group of companies. One of the key differentiating factors is their eco-friendly energy-efficient solutions as they are an organization fully committed to sustainability initiatives, safety, and being compliant to global standards, and irrespective of the “country of origin” of their machines, they will be HOMAG Global standards as the company never compromises on quality, reliability, safety, and performance.
Looking At The Future
Homag India is working to become leaner and faster and to reduce complexity. The company also wants to become more transparent towards customers. In addition, they are driving digitalization forward and also benefiting from the exchange with their Group parent Dürr. They are convinced that cooperation will become even more important in the future. Homag’s commitment to promoting networking and development is evident in Tapio (an open ecosystem for the wood industry. It provides the technological basis for digital applications for carpenters, furniture manufacturers, and panel processors), where they have even gone to the extent of convincing competitors to participate. In addition, the company continues to work on high-performance machines and new technologies, as well as on simplifying machine operation.
Homag India is working to become leaner and faster, to reduce complexity
Speaking about the future ahead for Homag India, the MD concludes, “We are investing a total of more than 100 million euros over the next three years. This is the largest investment program in HOMAG's history, and therefore, also one of the largest investments ever made in the Dürr Group. With the planned investments, we essentially want to expand our production capacities for further growth, optimize logistics processes and thus production workflows, and thereby increase our efficiency. The investments show that we are firmly convinced of a successful future for the HOMAG Group. In this way, we are creating the conditions for our long-term success. In addition, it goes without saying that we must continue to listen to our customers and develop solutions together with them, and always keep the customer benefits of our products and services in mind in everything we do.”
“As for India, we have invested in a state-of-the-art world-class facility which is coming up by end of this year. India is a fulcrum of activities and is identified as a key growth driver for us. Already we have our software testing team supporting globally and this team is increasing and we will in the future be also having the development teams added. We are already providing the software hotline support to the entire APAC region and will be setting up an APAC after-sales service hotline support too in the coming year. The global sourcing team will be coming up next as well as we will see more and more initiatives coming up at HOMAG India as we move forward,” he signs off.
One-Stop Shop for Woodworking Machinery
It has been 60 years that the Homag Group was established and the company has also recently completed two decades of operations in India. It works as a single-window for all kinds of woodworking machinery requirements, which are complemented by digital solutions for increased profitability and strength. Homag is trusted by customers in India and all across the globe for their experienced after-sales service network, reliable and sustainable products and user-friendly machines, most optimized machines with reduced operational expenses, strong team to provide SaaS support and last but not the least, customized products library for the consumers.
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