Oriented towards Quintessential Performance – The Saga Of Orient Tools

The home-grown Orient Tools is relatively a new entrant in the firmament of cutting tools. Commencing its operations in Pune in 2011, the company registered a steady growth under the dynamic leadership of director DeepakDas. An ISO 9001-2015 company, Orient Tools is a system-driven enterprise where quality permeates everything that it does. Local manufacturer with global work culture, the company chisels out state-of-the-art tungsten carbide metal cutting tools from its modern manufacturing facilities in Pune to cater to the requirements of discerning customers at home and overseas. Highly customer-centric, and value-driven, Orient Tools is spearheading technological innovations in cutting tools to provide customized and cost-effective solutions, and to herald a new experience every time, culminating in customer delight, reveals DeepakDas in an interview with Machine Tools World. Excerpts:

Q. In a little over a decade, Orient Tools has carved an indelible niche for itself in the cutting tools industry. How was this achieved?

‘ORIENT TOOLS’ is an ‘INDIAN’ manufacturing company established in 2011, located in Pune Maharashtra., started with one CNC,Tool & Cutter grinding machine, and less than 5 Employees in a small rented shed. Slowly we started adding, every year, one machine and one or two employees. It was all a learning process for me, as well as, my people from the ABC of a start-up and setting up manufacturing cutting tools and other allied business processes. With our sincere hard work, we could progress and reach where we are today. Over the past 12 years we have had a consistent business growth, at an average of 15 % year-on-year. With this business success, we, in Jan 2022, could afford to shift our workshops and offices into a self-owned newly constructed, 15,000 sq. ft., three-storey, well-furnished building, and could also increase our manpower strength to over sixty-five.

Our System Oriented Organisation has been certified for ISO: 9001-2015.
Industrial Safety, Environmental care and Business Code of Conduct are integral parts of our business objectives.

We have emerged today as an Indian ‘Manufacturing Company with Global Work Culture’; and in a short span of time, we stand as one of the leading organisations in the country, for manufacturing a wide range of Tungsten Carbide Metal Cutting Tools. We are also exporting our products to countries in the West and the East.

Q. What’s your present product portfolio, and which are the industry segments you serve?

We manufacture a wide range of Tungsten Carbide Metal Cutting Tools, such as, Drills, Step-Drills, End mills, Reamers, Thread Mills, special tools, special Inserts, etc.
Our customers are spread all over the country, in different industries, such as, Automobile, Engineering, Textile, Energy, Aerospace, Machine Tools, etc.

Q. Please give some insight into your manufacturing set-up?

We have a well organised setup of a number of modern 5-Axis CNC Grinding Machines, with Robotics support, OPG, Cylindrical Grinders., Tool & Cutter Grinders, etc. For quality control purposes, we have the latest equipment like Zoller, ATQ, Mititoyo, etc. The system oriented operational processes are supported by a powerful customised ERP system.

Q. What are the factors and attributes that help you chisel out high quality, high performance products?

I strongly believe that ‘Quality; is a way of thinking. It is an attitude and approach towards all our business activities.

We have ‘Customer Focused Quality Approach’ to ensure and deliver the quality the customer expects. ‘Our product quality, as I said, remains the output of our efficient modern equipment and processes. And the processes are governed by our quality mind-set, and competent people – Quality not only in products but also in delivery, punctuality, communication,etc.. In fact, quality in anything and everything. Quality permeates the conduct and behaviour of every employee. It has become a way of life at Orient Tools.

As I mentioned, we are a company, certified for ‘ISO:9001-2015’ for QMS; and ensure the system oriented adherence and monitoring performance of Products, Processes and People.This remains as our mission towards ‘World-Class Quality’, helping us to export our products to countries in the East and the West.

Q. You seem to champion in giving job-rated, high performance coatings to your tools. Can you explain the different types of coatings you give to your tools? Is your customer involved in the selection of these specific coatings?

Coating is one of the deciding factors, when it comes to high performing tools; and therefore, we are very particular about selecting the right type of coating for the desired metal cutting applications.

We are closely working with global coating companies, where we discuss in details about the application and appropriate coating recommendations. We try to adopt innovative options for various machining challenges. For example, BALINIT MAYURA for Non-ferrous machining, BALIQ TISINOS For Aerospace application, BALINIT DURANA for HARDCUT part machining, Pertura for drilling, etc.

This brings value to our customers, manufacturing ecosystem,and our contribution to their process performance improvement.

Q. What’s the significance of the raw materials you source and use for making carbide tools?

Tool performance, basically depends on the appropriate combination of following three major factors, viz. Selection of Carbide Grade, Tool Geometry and appropriate type of PVD coating:
We source Tungsten Carbide Rods, of appropriate grades, as the Raw Material, from world class brands. Raw Material composition, i.e. the grade of Tungsten Carbide to be used for any cutting tool is selected according to the properties of the workpiece material to be machined and the machining parameters for the respective metal cutting equipment and process being operated..

We select appropriate Raw Material (Carbide Grade) for any tool, from the application point of view; i.e. Type of work material, its hardness, machinability, and Machine being used.

Q. You say you aim for ‘complete customer satisfaction’. How do you delight your customer?

We have our ‘Outside- in approach’ i.e. Listening and understanding customer’s exact needs.

We work closely with the customers, even on their shop floors, to understand their metal cutting, equipment and processes. And accordingly, we tailor the tool design to give optimum performance of the tools for their respective processes.

Over a period, we have learned what it means by ‘Quality’ and what it means by ‘Customer Satisfaction’.

Customers are provided with Total-Solution, from design of tools to application support for their processes, with the objective to assisting customers as their Productivity Partner.

We aim at the right quality of the products, what the customer expects. Try to remain cost effective in our processes, in order to offer affordable price to customers. It goes without saying, that every customer expects ‘On-Time’ delivery, punctuality of products, with the shortest possible ‘Lead-Time’. And we monitor all that. We instil Quality in everything we do, no matter who does it.

‘Complete Customer Satisfaction’ is then a pleasant outcome, when we take care of all the explicit and implicit expectations of the customer. This naturally delights them.

Q. What are the emerging trends in cutting tools manufacture? Are you in step with contemporary technologies?

There have been many developments, during the last decade, in cutting tools design concepts, manufacturing processes, materials, application-oriented CVD/PVD coating technology, etc.

Reliability and Customer Satisfaction Index for Indian Cutting Tools manufacturers and their processes have touched a new level. This feedback is from the domestic, as well as global markets. Thereby, opportunities for import substitutes, as well as for exports, are increasing for Indian cutting tool manufactures.

The earlier practice of using catalogue standard tools is shifting toward ‘tailor-made’ special cutting tools and tooling systems, developed jointly by the user and manufacturer, according to machining conditions and processes at the customer’s end.

Q. What are the challenges you face as a trendsetter in cutting tools?

Manufacturing industry is constantly engaged in developing Modern Machines to face the techno-economic challenges.

Parallelly, Metal Cutting Tools industry, being in the consumable sector for metal cutting processes, is catching up the desired requirements from the new generation high speed and high-power Machine Tools.

Customers’ prime expectation is to be a more cost-effective and productivity partner for the end users.

Q. What is your growth rate and what are your strategies to take the company to the next level?

Our sustainable business growth at the rate of more than 15% year-on-year, for the last 12 years, stands as one of the proven indicators of the organisational Business Performance Improvement along with the customer satisfaction.

Q. What is your outlook for the cutting tools industry and its prospects? And where will you be five years hence?

This is just the beginning, and best is yet to come!

Demand for indigenous cutting tools is likely to continue to grow in the coming years,almost for every metal cutting application for different industries like, Automobile, Aerospace, Energy, 3C sector, etc. There is an indication, that the end-markets for solid carbide tools for these sectors will have quantum growth trend.

We, at Orient Tools, are geared up accordingly and taking steps to capitalize on the potential opportunities in these segments and grabbing for export opportunities. I am very optimistic about the future in this respect.