3D Printing Makes Slow But Steady Inroads into Industry
The process of
building three-dimensional solid objects from a digital design using additive
methods has potential, reports Rachita Prasad
JSW Steel is building a captive power plant at Salem.
The industrial steam turbine being set up needed oil sealing rings, a seemingly
small component but a crucial one for the running of the unit. JSW Group’s
procurement team made inquiries from their usual suppliers and were told that
in a best case scenario, they could manufacture the oil sealing rings in 4-6
months.
This was a typical situation faced often by the
industry where delay in sourcing of a small components often lead to derailing
commissioning timeline. But something different happened this time.
“We were looking at options to compress time and
Siemens offered to make the same component for us through 3D printing,” said
Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director at JSW Steel. “We told them to do it and
they delivered it in a matter of days. We tried it as an experiment and we were
successful,” he told ET.
3D printing, or additive manufacturing — the process
of building three-dimensional solid objects from a digital design using
additive methods — has yet to pick up in the country but experts see
significant potential.
“The market for 3D printing in industry is latent and
is hard to define. It is not a market where the product is ready for commercial
purposes; it is pretty much in the development stage,” said Prashant Jain,
country division lead - power generation services division, at Siemens India.
“Right now, the technology is used more for developing pilots but going forward
more and more parts will be printed for machineries in plants; even those which
are obsolete and the customer is looking for components to replace them,” he
said.
Market research company 6Wresearch has projected
Indian 3D printer market to be worth $79 million, or about Rs 535 crore, by
2021, driven by domestic production, low cost of manufacturing, and increasing
penetration across various applications, along with ‘Make-in-India’ initiative.
The global market for 3D printing is seen growing to
$20 billion by 2020, which will still be only a fraction of the entire tooling
market at the time. Global consultants McKinsey believes the overall economic
impact created by additive manufacturing (AM) could be much higher, reaching
$100 billion to $250 billion by 2025, if adoption across industries continues
at today’s rate. Most of that potential will come from the aerospace and defence,
automotive, medical, and consumer goods industries.
THE TECHNOLOGY
3D printing, or additive manufacturing (AM), could be
a game changer. The technology “prints” or assembles a three dimensional object
layer by layer, where each layer is like a thinly sliced horizontal
cross-section of the object being made. An energy source like laser or electron
beam is used with materials such as metal, polymer or resin in a regulated
environment to convert a 3D design into object, one micro layer at a time.
The traditional methods of manufacturing are based on
subtractive manufacturing, which entails cutting out and hollowing out a piece
of metal or polymer, and are, therefore, restricted by the tools available,
while a 3D printer has the flexibility of manufacturing several types of
designs.
“AM can be used for mass customisation; for instance,
a customer would be able to buy shoes that are perfect fit and customised for
him and not just a best fit,” said Ajay Parikh, business head at Wipro3D. “The
technology also gives flexibility and ability to make complex geometry that
allows designer to keep experimenting with designs. Today, if you are making
jet engine components for a company, you don’t have to commit to a design as
the only option. The freedom and speed in AM can help alter the design in the
next engine, and you can come up with functionally better designs,” he said.
Wipro3D focuses on metal-based AM.
BIG BOYS VS STARTUPS
Technology majors such as Siemens, Wipro and HP Inc,
among others, have spotted the opportunity in this space in India. HP launched
its 3D printing solutions in the country earlier this year, almost a year after
its international foray, and is eyeing collaborations with the government to
expand the scope of business. Wipro3D launched its state-of-the-art solution
and experience centre for metal 3D printing in Bengaluru in March.
Startups, too, have entered the market, primarily by
offering 3D printing services such as designing, prototyping and other related
services, often collaborating with some bigger players. These companies are
catering to several industries like healthcare, jewellery, automotive and
consumer products.
ROAD AHEAD
Challenges are largely the same for big companies and
startups.
“We started our company in 2013 and being one of the
first company to even talk about this technology, we thought that in five years
we could be selling few hundred thousand machines,” said Arvind Nadig,
cofounder of Brahma3, which launched the country’s first locally made 3D
printer. “But the awareness in the market is really low. It is not easy to set
up in India because investments are not coming by as volumes are still low,” he
said.
However, despite the challenges, Nadig is bullish as
there is good traction from defence and education sectors.
All the sector executives ET spoke to said they have
to invest a lot of time and effort to convince potential customers about the
reliability of the technology, strength of the product, and the overall
financial benefit — even if the product cost is higher, the delivery time is
shorter.
JSW is impressed with the technology as a customer.
“We are now looking at this technology seriously,” said Rao who is also the
group chief financial officer at JSW Group. “We are planning to check with
suppliers at the time of placing the order for machinery itself if it is
possible to use 3D printing for some components which can give a savings in
time,” he said.
ET23JUN18
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