Feintool Opened First Production Site in India

Feintool’s move, having inaugurated a new plant in India, sends a clear signal to the automotive industry: not everything is lost for a supply chain that in Europe is being hit hard by Chinese competition, the costs of electrification development, and the European Union’s regulatory framework, which is accelerating towards BEVs while decarbonisation in the rest of the world proceeds unshackled from the Zero Emissions mantra.

Feintool Has 18 Plant Worldwide

With 18 production sites across Asia, Europe, and the United States, Feintool offers large-series manufacturing of high-precision components based on its core technologies: fineblanking, cold forming, and e-lamination stamping.

So, on June 24, Feintool officially inaugurated its first production facility in India, located in the industrial hub of Pune.

At the opening ceremony, CEO Lars Reich (pictured) underlined the strategic relevance of the new site: “Feintool is proud to meet its customers’ demand for local production in India with the facility in Pune. We are in the right place at the right time to benefit sustainably from the momentum in the Indian automotive industry and to capitalize on further opportunities in the growing industrial markets in India.”

India is The Third-Largest Automotive Market

Marcel Pernici, President of Feintool Asia, highlighted the strengths of Feintool: “With our ‘local-for-local’ approach, we supply our customers directly in their regional markets while leveraging Feintool’s global technological expertise. This makes us more agile and less dependent on geopolitical developments, while ensuring the high level of reliability our customers expect.”

India is already the world’s third-largest automotive market and is expected to grow strongly. At the same time, the country is gaining importance as an export hub. Many of Feintool’s existing automotive customers are expanding their activities in India and require reliable local supplier support.

Tobias Gries, Managing Director India, is responsible for building Feintool’s business in the region: “We have established a strong team in India. With Feintool’s global expertise, we are now ramping up production in Pune—starting with fineblanked automotive seating systems. Looking ahead, we are ready to expand into cold forming, e-motor core production and even hydrogen applications. The plant is fully prepared for further expansion as demand develops.”

What is Feintool?

It’s an international technology company focused on electrolamination stamping, fineblanking, and forming. They manufacture high-quality precision parts in large volumes from steel and supply the automotive industry, energy infrastructure equipment providers, and all manner of high-end industrial manufacturers.

Founded in 1959 and headquartered in Switzerland, the company has 18 production sites, 2851 employees and 89 vocational trainees in Europe, the USA, China, Japan and India. Feintool is publicly listed and majority-owned by the Artemis Group.

Who Owns Feintool?

The Artemis Group includes the Franke Group with Franke Home Solutions (world-leading provider of kitchen systems consisting of sinks, taps, waste systems, cooker hoods and cooking appliances for private kitchens), Franke Foodservice Systems (kitchen systems and services for quick service restaurants), and Franke Coffee Systems (full-/semi-automatic coffee machines and traditional espresso machines, including equipment).

Furthermore, the Artemis Group develops, owns and manages an extensive real estate portfolio in Switzerland and abroad (Artemis Real Estate Group) and holds various strategic participations in international companies listed on the Swiss stock exchange and in other private companies (Artemis Asset Management Group). The Group also has a majority stake in the Feintool Group.

What is meant by fineblanking, cold forming, and e-lamination stamping?

Fineblanking is a precision metal-stamping process that uses a specialised press with a triple-action mechanism (a counter-punch, a V-ring stinger, and the main punch) to produce parts with clean, smooth-cut edges and tight tolerances in a single stroke, eliminating the need for secondary machining.

Cold forming shapes metal at or near room temperature through compressive force, rather than heating the material, which preserves strength through work-hardening, improves dimensional accuracy, and reduces material waste compared with hot-forming methods.

E-lamination stamping is the high-speed stamping of thin electrical steel sheets (laminations) that are stacked to form the cores of electric motors and generators; the thin layers reduce eddy current losses, improving the efficiency of electric drivetrains and motors.