Additive Manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D Printing is a transformative approach to industrial production that enables the creation of lighter, stronger parts and systems. It is yet, another technological advancement made possible by the transition from analogue to digital processes.
In recent decades, communications, imaging, architecture and engineering have all undergone their own digital revolutions. It has revolutionized the way we think and has ushered in flexibility and efficiency to manufacturing processes. While additive manufacturing seems new to many, it has actually been around for several decades and is rapidly picking up pace. In the right applications, additive manufacturing delivers a perfect trifecta of improved performance, complex geometries and simplified fabrication.
Additive Manufacturing is projected to touch a market of 36 billion USD by 2027 and is predicted that the impact of the AM industry could accelerate to attain a potential of 300 billion USD by 2027. The Indian Additive Manufacturing market alone is estimated to hit 79 Million USD in products and services by the end of 2021 with a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of around 18% in the past 5 years. While increased domestic production, low manufacturing costs and increased utilization across industries and applications will power this growth, the partnership of key AM players with the government “Make in India” initiative will further boost its expanding footprint.
New avenues of Additive Manufacturing adoption are emerging with more industries and applications adopting Additive Manufacturing. Currently, the automotive and electronics industries lead both in terms of overall market share as well as the growth of AM adoption and are trailed by medical, industrial and architectural sectors. Against this backdrop, in order to help this fascinating technology achieve maturity and facilitate the incorporation of AM in Mechanical & Plant Engineering, VDMA India organized the “Additive Manufacturing Symposium – The Game Changer of Manufacturing” for the second time at Taj, MG Road in Bengaluru on Friday, 20th August 2021.
The VDMA event covered various leitmotifs ranging from simulation, machinery, processes, imaging products and materials. More than 80 delegates comprising of industry representatives, academia and media participated at the symposium. The event was conducted in collaboration with VDMA’s partner companies – B&R Industrial Automation, Beckhoff Automation, Festo and Carl Zeiss and our knowledge partner – BTG Legal. The event started with the traditional lighting of the lamp by the Chief Guest – Sreenivasan Balasubramanian, CEO, International Aerospace Manufacturing (IAMPL), Guest of Honour – Friedrich Birgelen, Deputy Consul General, German Consulate Bangalore, Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India and other speakers and dignitaries.
In his welcome address, Mr Nath outlined the impact, benefits, and market analysis of Additive Manufacturing both in India and globally. This was followed by a short speech by Mr Birgelen, who mentioned the impact and management of the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany and some similarities in India. The inaugural session concluded with, Mr Balasubranian enlightening us with a technical presentation “Adapting Additive Manufacturing in the Aerospace Industry. He beautifully introduced this transformative process, highlighted its benefits, and shared some of its applications in the aerospace industry.
Before the commencement of the technical session, the symposium’s knowledge partner – BTG Legal released a paper about “Root Cause Analysis of disputes in engineering contracts and how to avoid them”. The papers were released by the chief guests, guest of Honor and Rajesh Nath and presented by Parveen Arora and Prashant Mara, Partners at BTG Legal. The event had a total of 4 speakers under technical session which started shortly after the tea break. It was kick-started by Rayeshwar Shanbhag, Area Sales Manager, Beckhoff Automation with an interesting presentation about “PC Based Control for Additive Manufacturing”. He was joined by his colleague Pavan Sadarjoshi, Application Manager, Beckhoff Automation.
K S Manoj, Head of Business Development IQS, Carl Zeiss gave us an intriguing presentation about “Holistic Quality Assurance process in Additive manufacturing – from POWDER to PART PERFORMANCE”. His charismatic personality set the tone for the symposium. The third speaker Raghavendra Borelli, Branch Head – Bangalore, B&R Industrial Automation, spoke about “Driving industrialization with Additive Manufacturing Automation”.
The last speaker of the day, Ramesh Ramachandar, Senior Industry Segment Manager, Festo, concluded the session by enlightening us about “Adding Consistency & Efficiency to Automation in Additive Manufacturing”. The technical session was moderated by Manohar S, Regional Head, VDMA India, which was followed by and concluded with an engaging Question and Answer Session. The day ended with Lunch and a B2B Session which offered a good interaction and networking opportunity for both the audience and participating companies.
