As vehicle manufacturers turn to new design and technologies to meet the challenges of the future for varying needs ranging from lightweight but strengthened bodies to use of alternate materials, the onus is also on toolmakers. These companies have a critical role to play as they partner automakers in their quest to conquer new terrain. Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co’s Ltd Tooling Division (GTD), which essentially makes tools for automobile manufacturers, is today banking on its capability to handle complex design, manufacture and testing of tools to meet future challenges, both in India and abroad. With a number of carmakers setting up new plants and expanding existing facilities, GTD expects to tap into this opportunity. Meanwhile, the machine tool market in India has been recording handsome 60 percent growth in the past two years and is expected to maintain a similar momentum this fiscal, despite the global downturn.

The Godrej Toolroom Division was established in 1935 to meet customers’ specialised and highly complex machining requirements and initially catered to the in-house tooling requirements of Godrej Industries. The transition from being a captive unit to a serious player in the automotive tooling segment took place in 2002, when the company supplied sheet metal stamping tools for Honda Siel Cars India Ltd.

At present over 50 percent of GTD’s order book comes from the automobile and the automotive components industry. The balance comprises business from the electrical, consumer durable, electronics and other sectors.

According to DK Sharma, vice-president and business head " Tooling Division, GTD is part of 10 major business divisions manufacturing and marketing a wide range of consumer durables and industrial products. "We moved from being a captive tool room to a commercial one. This by all means was a turning point for GTD. The biggest challenge was changing the mindset of the employees as they were not attuned to work for external customers. The good thing was that we won accolades from all our other divisions."

Sharma adds, "The clients were very impressed with our costs. Earlier we were catering to our internal divisions and kept the costs in mind. As we began catering external clients, we realised that the cost factor worked in our benefit. Even today the tool room has internal jobs. The internal assignments fluctuate from 5-15 percent. We do both component tooling and the panel tooling."

Today GTD manufactures custom-built tooling that caters to a wide section of customers with major focus on the ever-demanding automobile sector. The division has experience in designing, manufacturing and proving of pressure die casting dies (PDC), thermo compression moulds, complex and large sheet metal tooling auto panels and progressive dies. It concentrates mainly on plastic moulds, die casting dies, sheet metal dies, progressive tools and lamination dies, mainly made from tungsten carbide and high strength steels. The division is also engaged in designing and manufacturing special-purpose machines and precision-machined components for the engineering industries.

GTD has expertise in PDC. So far it has taken up numerous projects to build the tools for crankcases, carburettors, steering system components, electronic throttle body and other engine components such as the chain cover, cylinder component, cover front, filter head, etc. Its bench mark performance includes a PDC die for cylinder head cover for a leading car manufacturer in just 29 days.

The tooling room has executed press tools project for the Honda Activa, Hero Honda and TVS (fuel tank for the Pleasure, and fuel tank inner for the Apache). Besides it has made tools for the Mahindra Scorpio, Honda City’s front and rear floor and the rear panel, radiator header tooling for Tata Toyo, three-row progressive die for Valeo (France) and others.