Biesse CSR Mumbai -43: At the inauguration are (L-R) Biesse India CEO, Syeed Ahmed; Consul General of Italy in Mumbai, Walter Ferrara; Biesse India’s Director of Sales, Souma Ray; and HPWWI-Mumbai Director, Amit Prasad.

By ROY THOMAS

Biesse India recently hosted the inauguration of the new woodworking workshop at the Hettich Poddar Wood Working Institute (HPWWI) in Bhandup (Mumbai) recently.

The ceremony brought together senior industry leaders, academic partners and modular furniture professionals, and was marked by the presence of the Consul General of Italy in Mumbai, Walter Ferrara.

“Placing real technology inside training centres seeds manufacturing excellence long before people enter the industry,” Ferrara said at the opening, stressing that institution-aligned collaborations have compounding, long-term benefits beyond one-off initiatives.

Biesse India CEO, Sayeed Ahmed, framed the initiative as a measured, long-horizon capacity-building exercise. “We do not measure CSR by the visibility of machines installed; we measure it by the volume of talent, hands-on manufacturing fluency and practical decision-making confidence that gets unlocked in the next five to eight years,” he said.

“This is not a marketing initiative; it is how India will move to higher productivity, reduced wastage and more intelligent factory planning standards,” he added.

Adding an industry partner’s perspective, H.S. Manikandan, Chief of Sales and Marketing at Pidilite Industries (Fevicol joinery business), underscored the shared commitment behind the collaboration.

“It’s a privilege for us to partner with Biesse and with the Hettich Poddar Institute, where Biesse has taken the partnership to the next level. We at Pidilite strongly believe in skilling and upskilling, and we are playing our small part in supporting this mission. We look forward to taking this initiative even further,” he said.

The inauguration set the tone for what the Mumbai centre aims to be: a vocational and application-oriented institute with industrial-grade panel processing capabilities where employability and entrepreneurship are direct outcomes of learning.

Technology days

Biesse’s ‘Wood Technology Days’ ran 5-6 November 2025 and focused on live demonstrations, applied workflows and digital integration. Visitors were taken through guided tours, faculty briefings, student interaction labs and demonstration cells that recreated modern modular furniture production lines.

K.N. Prahallada, Chief Programme Officer (Advanced Woodworking Training & Development) at Biesse India, explained the intent behind each installation. “Each machine and software module here is selected to mirror a real production floor,” he said.

The Rover Gold-G 1232 CNC machining centre gives trainees exposure to multi-operation routing, drilling and shaping within a single automated cell. The Akron 1440 J edge bander teaches precision edge finishing, glue control and material handling at industrial speeds.

He described how the software and IoT platforms complete the learning loop. “B-Solid and Spazio3D let trainees move from design to CAM programming and simulation, and B-Opti demonstrates how nesting and panel optimization lower material costs,” he said.

With Sophia IoT, participants can view real-time performance analytics and predictive maintenance, the same data-driven approach required in ‘Industry 4.0’ factories.

Live demos illustrated how CAD/CAM planning, machining intelligence and production data can be connected into one learning ecosystem to reduce setup times, improve material utilization and speed up batch workflows.

The 2-day programme deliberately bridged theory and practice so students and working professionals could experience an integrated digital manufacturing chain from design to finished component.

Biesse India’s association with HPWWI in Mumbai builds on a series of successful CSR-led collaborations across India aimed at nurturing talent and strengthening industry capabilities.

They include the HPWWI in Faridabad (Haryana), with Biesse’s cutting-edge woodworking machines for complete panel processing and CAD/CAM software to support comprehensive training programmes.

It has also tied up with KIET Group of Institutions in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) to establish the Centre of Advanced Woodworking (CAW), equipping the facility with advanced machinery and software solutions for modern furniture manufacturing.

At the Institute of Wood Science & Technology (IWST) in Bengaluru, Biesse is the technology partner of the Advanced Woodworking Training Centre (AWTC), providing machines and software used in short-term and 1-year diploma courses.

Prabhallada summed up the aim succinctly: “When students understand how machines, software and data converge, they don’t just learn how to run equipment, they learn how to think like future manufacturers.”

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