By: Sowmya Rajaram
Gear Technology India (GTI) is an initiative that is the result of a partnership between the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) and Virgo Communications & Exhibitions. GTI takes off from Gear Technology USA, a 35-year-old-brand that has now come to be recognized as the premier gear-focused magazine and website.
In India, GTI will be the first and only multi-faceted media platform catering specifically to the country’s gear industry. This is a dedicated space for the Indian gear industry to connect, share news, information and technical articles, and build a strong community. GTI will be a partner to all the stakeholders in the Indian gear industry. It aims to offer the community in India a world-class knowledge platform with relevant content, courses and business solutions, and exposure to AGMA standards.
India was identified as a priority market because industry leaders were moving into the space. “Unlike the US and Europe, which would be considered mature markets and might see 1-3% growth, India is growing in near double digits growth, predicted at 9% this year. To this end, AGMA sees an opportunity to support the growth by sharing our standards, providing our education classes, and also sharing technical information to support engineers,” Matthew Croson, President, AGMA, says.
He believes the Indian market is “unique, in that it is actively emerging, rapidly”. In the long-term, the objective is to “unify the Indian gear market in order to ensure they have the proper standards to build innovative solutions, the right education to ensure continued learning in the space, and the right access to information that is important to the industry”, he says. “In many ways, AGMA is simply following the same approach it took when the association was started 107 years ago. AGMA sees this effort as more than a five-year plan – we talk about it in terms of a
50-year plan, as we know that is how much the market can grow – a similar path that AGMA in the US took.”
Matt Croson introduces Gear Technology India
Croson explains that Gear Technology USA was started because there was no focused magazine dedicated to the importance of gear manufacturing. He adds, “It was started as, and continues today, to be a very technical journal, with four to five technical papers in each issue, and then stories that are focused on other news throughout the gear industry in North America. It has 13,000 circulation, and 10,000 monthly visits to its website. Since 2020, AGMA has owned the brand, and it includes Gear Technology, Power Transmission Engineering and Gear Technology India magazines and supporting websites. Overall, the three magazines deliver focused gear news to more than 30,000 engineers and leaders throughout the world.”
GTI will bring the same credibility and wealth of knowledge and information to the Indian gear community. It aims to become the topmost platform for communication, connection and collaboration, and to showcase company capabilities and industry leaders. As KP Soundararajan, former Director & General Manager of Gleason Works India, explains, “A lot of dynamic changes are happening in the industry now. The demand from customers is increasing, because the quality of products they need to deliver in the market is also going up. The gear industry is facing the challenge of newer expectations from their consumers. GTI is the place for integrating all this information.”
AGMA has 15 members in India, has conducted a Trade Mission here in 2015, and has partnered with the IPTEX/Grindex trade show from its very first outing. GTI simply extends and solidifies that partnership. “We have worked with AGMA for many years, and they have been our exclusive partner in India. So it was an easy path,” says Anitha Raghunath, Director, Virgo Communications & Exhibitions.
“Virgo Communications and Exhibitions has always been an organization which chooses niche segments, and creates platforms such as trade exhibitions for them. As a natural extension of our services, we have also supported these industries with trade publications. Today, we are extending our support to the gear industry and adding to our portfolio of publications, with the launch of Gear Technology India,” adds Raghunath.
Although Virgo Communications conducts events where people showcase their technology and meet customers face-to-face, the gap between events (2 years) was too long. “So a platform such as GTI helps the industry to update stakeholders, buyers, consumers, and even teams within the company/ network to share what they are doing, their latest innovations, and keep tabs on industry growth,” Raghunath explains. “It is a huge opportunity for global players to tie up and find partners in India.”
Indeed, the Indian market is ripe for such an initiative. After the impact on China as a manufacturing hub because of Covid, India, with its qualified engineers and quality manufacturing, stands at the precipice of a great opportunity. “GTI will be the leader in connecting all the dots to make that happen,” Raghunath says.
“As a past board member of AGMA I always felt that India needed to have a greater presence in the gear world. The coming together of two evolved and mature institutions such as AGMA & Virgo communications is the best vehicle to open many avenues for the world to discover India’s capabilities in the gear field. This will bring many fruitful opportunities for gear companies & end users across the globe. The timing of this partnership is perfect.”
–Sulaiman Jamal, Managing Director, Bevel Gears India
AGMA’s overall philosophy is to provide the information, training and business connections that the market needs to grow, and maintain their innovative approach. In the US, they do this by conducting more than 25 education classes, 5 different business-oriented meetings annually, and a trade show every other year. “We added our Media entities in 2020, so now we have a strong understanding of the market, and can share our information to our members who use it to grow their business. We also are heavily involved in market intelligence and emerging technology. It’s a comprehensive approach that includes a global outlook,” Croson says.
Anitha Raghunath speaks about Gear Technology India
GTI will extend the wealth of knowledge and work AGMA has done worldover, to India. Raghunath says: “Our plan is to disseminate quality information, give experts a channel to share knowledge, and showcase India’s capability to the world. Because it’s a digital publication, geographical barriers dissolve and we can connect the Indian market to international players.” India has huge potential and a captive audience, and GTI will bridge that gap.
For GTI, the plan is to publish whitepapers, research material and technical articles, all of which contribute to highlighting the industry’s excellence. Croson hopes that the local market embraces the knowledge and information they can easily gain access to, via the e-magazine and the online platform, for free. “We also think there is a strong marketing opportunity for suppliers to reach the gear community, and the gear community to reach the end users who use gears in their business. By having the marketing support in terms of money spent, we are confident we can build significant technical resources for the market.”
The industry will have the opportunity to come together at conclaves such as IPTEX. “We will be launching online Fundamentals and Basics training by mid-2023. The website will be the place to access all of this information, while the e-magazines will be alerting the industry to the latest news and technology information available,” Croson explains.
GTI is the result of a partnership between AGMA and Virgo Communications & Exhibitions. The platform takes off from Gear Technology USA, a 35-year-old-brand that has now come to be recognized as the premier gear-focused magazine and website. In India, GTI will be the first and only multi-faceted media platform catering specifically to the country’s gear industry
This platform is totally focused on the Indian market. Croson believes ‘Make In India’ is another reason why now is the best time to launch GTI. “While Make in India was launched by Prime Minister Modi in 2015, it has taken time for investments to happen in Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai and parts of Gujarat, where the majority of gear companies are operating. Today, so many global suppliers are in the market, that it’s a perfect time to bring everyone together to continue to grow,
and share.”
Raghunath agrees. “With the government’s push to see that we manufacture here to support global companies, new technology is playing a key role in the growth of indigenous manufacturing. We have launched this initiative at the right time. GTI will be part of the journey of us becoming a global manufacturing hub.”
“A lot of dynamic changes are happening in the industry now. The demand from customers is increasing, because the quality of products they need to deliver in the market is also going up. The gear industry is facing the challenge of newer expectations from their consumers. GTI is the place for integrating all this information and connecting the dots.”
–KP Soundararajan, former Director & General Manager of Gleason Works India
We invite you to join us on this exciting journey.
We are India’s first and only multifaceted Web Platform catering to Indian Gear Manufacturers & Gear related Industries.
