Machining by Data

India's machining industry is shifting from intuition-led practices to data-driven precision, using real-time machine data and Al to improve quality, productivity, and competitiveness.

- Pranav Vadehra

As Indian factories chase global relevance, the shop floor is shedding jugaad and embracing precision — driven by data, sensors, and intelligent machine tools.

Indian machining is undergoing a quiet revolution, with real-time tool monitoring replacing instinct with data as the new source of confidence, reshaping productivity, quality, and competitiveness.

India's industrial landscape still reflects a collision of eras: Tier-1 facilities run advanced 5-axis machining centres using digital protocols like OPC UA, while nearby Tier-3 workshops may still rely on manual lathes or legacy CNCs from the 1990s.

From the automotive hubs of Pune and Chennai to Bengaluru's aerospace clusters, machine tools are no longer just mechanical workhorses — they have become data generators and decision-making assets.

“Data-driven machining is about bringing confidence back to the shopfloor, especially in high-precision, high-mix environments where there is no room for guesswork,” according to Paul Weaver, Director - Sales and Marketing, Renishaw India.

On Indian shopfloors, meaningful integration does not start with dashboards; it starts with measurement inside the machining process. “Manufacturers are integrating shopfloor data through a layered approach that connects machines, sensors, and software systems into a unified data backbone,” says Sarvadnya Kulkarni, CEO, General Instruments Consortium.

At the base layer, CNC machines provide controller-level data such as spindle load, feed rates, axis movements, alarms, and cycle times.

The integration layer: Bridging the legacy gap

Kulkarni believes integration of tooling data holds the key in today's era of data-driven machining.