By next March, the 1,000-odd Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) located in Jawahar Autonagar and IALA (Industrial Area and Local Authorities) will get a fresh lease of life, as the special purpose vehicle Vijayawada Auto Cluster Development Company (VACDC), promoted to upgrade the industrial cluster, will launch its two ambitious projects - Common Critical Machining Centre (CCMC) and Common Critical Testing Centre (CCTC).
The centres are futuristic in design and will be a boon to all the MSMEs in this region, said the Managing Director of VACDC V. Rajendra Prasad. He added that the MSMEs in the Industrial area and Autonager were once reputed for their products across the nation but they did not stay tuned to the technological advancements and today they were at least two decades behind technology.
“These centres will now give them the cutting edge advantage. The centres should have come up at least a decade ago,” he pointed out.
The CCMC is coming up on a built-up area of 14,000 sq ft with two overhead electrically operated gantry cranes to handle heavy machinery, at a cost of about Rs. 7 crore.
“All the machines in this centre are run by computer programmes and are high-efficiency machines. Many of them such as the rapid prototype machine and the Turret punch machine have been imported,” said VACDC MD.
The CCMC is being set up to assist local entrepreneurs in producing high precision parts and components. This will not only give them a big boost in the highly competitive and quality driven market but would also better their economics, said Mr. Rajendra Prasad.
The CCMC was designed by Central Manufacturing Technology Institute- Bangalore and the running has been outsourced to Central Institute of Tool Design (CITD), Hyderabad.
CITD, which produces high precision components for PSUs such as HAL, ISRO, BHEL and BDL, will use this centre as its extended arm and as well as assist local entrepreneurs.
“One has to just come with a design and it will be produced here. Even if some one comes with a model, the prototype machine will replicate it. A fee will be charged but it will be discounted for those who have been partner to the user contribution charges,” he said.
The cost of CCMC and CCTC is being shared by the Central and the State Governments and users in the ratio of 75, 10 and 15.
The CCTC which is coming up on a built up area of 12,000 sq ft will also be run by CITD and is a state-of-the-art testing facility. “The centre will be equipped to test various parameters such as tensile strength, hardness, roundness and cracks and bubbles and we are negotiating with accreditation agencies for quality certifications,” said Mr. Rajendra Prasad.
He said that both the centres would be open to technology colleges for live interface and training. “We will have two fully-equipped classrooms with faculty. But the colleges have to book the time slot in advance for a nominal fee.It will be an excellent first-hand experience for the students, especially from the mechanical, automobile and aeronautical engineering streams,” said Mr. Rajendra Prasad.
