Driven by local demand, primarily in the burgeoning aerospace sector, precision gear manufacturer Microprecision has officially opened its first manufacturing plant in India, Microprecision Solutions.
Located in the fast paced and popular technology centre of Bangalore, Microprecision officially opened the doors to its new 20,000ft2 facility at the end of 2012 and production volumes have started to ramp-up during the first quarter of 2013. Micro has also purchased three acres of land on the Bangalore Aerospace Park for the second phase of their expansion strategy.
Keen to allay any thoughts of moving production from the UK, the company sees the venture as a true expansion – servicing customers with high precision component parts locally in the first instance, while adding the capability to produce larger volumes of routine parts for the international market.
Terry Grubb UK MD and founder of Microprecision commented, “The design technology for our precision gear components is still centred in the UK, as are many design operations in the aerospace and automotive industries. It made commercial sense however, for us to look at emerging markets for growth and also to take the opportunity to develop a production facility for our higher volume products, something that we have always wanted to do.”
The new facility also houses a joint venture between Microprecision and Uniflo Engineering, India. Uniflo Engineering is a precision engineering company established for over 30 years and specialising in the manufacture of gear pumps.
Uniflo gear metering pumps for example are commonly used for specialist applications such as in the manufacture of viscose, acetate and acrylics, filament yarn and tyre cord applications. The range also includes hydraulic pumps and lubricant pumps, plus micro-geared DC motor drives (High Torque low Noise/RPM) for a variety of applications such as automatic doors, windows and other custom made products.
“The first phase production facility in Bangalore is very much on plan and already we are finalising plans for the second phase development on the Bangalore Aerospace Park” according to Grubb “It has taken a lifetime to amass the machinery and experience to produce specialist short-run parts for motorsport, medical and aerospace in the UK, and there is little point in reproducing that in its entirety, the new factory in Bangalore is a response to customer demand for higher volumes of some products and new ranges of other products where we have a demand already in geographic areas closer to the site – that it isn’t practical to service from the UK.
“We have been very impressed with the level of local engineering talent and also with the positive attitude of what is the next generation of Microprecision personnel in India. With a combination of specialty manufacturing know-how and experience in precision gear pumps, we have the right expertise to deliver and support our expanding range of precision engineering products in India and the surrounding geographic areas.”
