Quality and consistency must to meet global manufacturing standards: Bina Khambhaita
Established in 1987 with a vision to deliver excellence in the machine tool industry, Cosmos Machine Tools today is a renowned group that has interests in the field of manufacturing and marketing of CNC Machine Tools, Machine Tool Accessories, and Precision Components.
Joint ventures and long-term associations with international machine tool companies are significant milestones in the growth story of the company. The well-established sales and service network comprising of own 11 branch offices covering all potential industrial areas has played a pivotal role in the rapid growth of business.
With a committed team of over 250 employees, Cosmos is always ready to take up challenges to deliver enhanced value to its customers. In the modern technology center at Cosmos, a wide range of latest machine tools are on display for the customers to have a better understanding of their functions and special features.
Cosmos Philosophy
As a philosophy, the company believes in making a significant difference to its customers by improving technology, productivity, profitability of end customer and play a positive role in nation building.
“At Cosmos, our philosophy is to partner our customers in their progress. We always look at the requirements from the chair of our customers. We first understand their needs before developing the product,” Executive Director of Cosmos Machine Tools, Ms. Bina Khambhaita said while speaking to Bhalchandra Chorghade, Editor, CNCTimes.com.
Cosmos ventured into manufacturing in 2005 when it set up a plant at Vadodara to make precision accessories such as turrets and Rotary Tables. The company then started manufacturing surface grinding machines in 2009 and vertical machining centers (VMCs) in 2011.
Scripting the story of faster growth in 30 years of partnership with trust philosophy, Ms. Khambhaita added, “Cosmos Machine Tools has emerged as one of the fastest growing amongst leading machine tool companies in India with well distributed and fully owned nationwide sales and service network. Over 250 team members are driving force to VISION 2020 as in Cosmos we believe that human values and the unified culture across the company are an ultimate target. Our customers’ trust has motivated us to thrive for well-recognized and reliable machine tool brand in India.”
Technology Transfer
“The strength of a machine comes from design and assembly process. Keeping this in mind, we appointed highly professional design team from Taiwan. For assembly process, we have tied up with a Japanese consultant so that we can come up with high accuracy machines that can give the performance which will be at par with the global players,” Ms. Khambhaita said.
Following its motto of ‘Partnering in Progress’ to the fullest, Cosmos machines are completely made in India though key components are imported so as to ensure longer reliability. “We like to give profitable solutions to our customers so that they progress and be associated with us forever,” Ms. Khambhaita said.
Market Conditions
Commenting on the current market situation, Ms. Khambhaita who is the first employee of Cosmos, said, “I have only one word for this. Our delivery period is four months. This means we have 100% product capacity at our plant which is booked completely. We make high accuracy product so people are ready to wait. For us, the market is very good. Generally speaking also the market is good though there are some ups and downs.”
Till date, Cosmos has installed over 900 VMCs, more than 400 surface grinding machines and over 10,000 accessories across India. “I am proud to say that all these machines are consumed by Indian customers which show their trust on our reliable product,” the official added.
Price Sensitive? Yes!
To a question, Ms. Khambhaita said Indian market is definitely price sensitive. “But, it’s up to the seller’s company vision and philosophy. India, as developing country, is one of the highest importers of high quality machine tools, which means there is a customer segment to buy good quality products. If we compare it with the pyramid, then the lower most layer is highly price sensitive while the upper layer wants value for money with quality and reliability,” she said.
Make in India
Asked her view about Make in India concept, Ms. Khambhaita said the concept is wonderful and there is a lot more to be done on this front. “The union government is doing an excellent job but it should ease certain rules and regulations to boost Exports which will make the campaign a huge success,” she said and added that at Cosmos, it’s only about quality and consistency. “We have 65% ratio of repeat orders which is a huge success. This keeps us motivated. This has always been our USP and our branding strategy,” Ms. Khambhaita added.
Vision 2020
Sharing her vision for the company, the Executive Director said, “We are machine tool passionate people and understand the current as well as future needs. Make in India concept will surely benefit us but it is not the only thing on which we rely on. The quality of machines has to go up further. We will adopt all international processes to bring in sustainable growth at Cosmos.”
“There is a very big gap between Indian and global machine tool manufacturers. The difference is because of difference in culture and mindset and changing the same is a daunting task. To excel globally, we need a lot of zeal and enthusiasm. We know we can’t do it on our own and so we are taking help of quality international players so that we can match the global standards,” said Ms. Khambhaita
Cosmos will also be setting up state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to bridge the wide gap of Indian and international machine tool manufacturers in terms of high reliability, quality, consistent performance. The company will also be offering products which can support to achieve better accuracies and surface finishing results on customers’ end products at par with international machines, and this will give them an edge over others to compete better in the international market.
“Sustainable growth is in the blood of Team Cosmos, and the best part is the leaders are enjoying this journey of achieving operational excellence in the field of machine tool manufacturing,” Ms. Khambhaita signed off.