SO YOU want a trinket to gift, a case for your smartphone, or perhaps a pen stand to tidy up your work table? Or, maybe, a box of toffees to sweeten up your day? The easiest thing to do would be to order it online, but why would you want to get it delivered home, when you can put it together in roughly the same time and, that too, with the help of a few clicks? That?s the question people like Arvind Nadig and his partner Nikhil Velpanur are betting their careers on.
The duo hadn?t set eyes on a 3D (three-dimensional) printer till a year ago, but they now are building their own machine?a bit of electronic gadgetry enclosed in glass casing, into which one needs to feed in plastic wires, and out comes a pen stand, a piece of jewellery, a smartphone case, or pretty much anything one has a design for, in just a few hours. The toffees? Well, that requires chocolate to be sent through the machinery, and the duo has to cover some ground before their machine can achieve that. Right now, their ink is largely thermoplastic, which includes nylon.
Their company, Brahma3, is just one of the many Indian entrepreneurs getting an early start into the exciting and game-changing world of 3D printing. ?We want to play with material. Why not print in chocolate, tissues or cartilage?? says Nadig, co-founder of Brahma3, a start-up whose first product ?Anvil? is printing a plastic pen holder in an adjacent room in their workshop in a quiet, residential neighbourhood in Bangalore?s leafy Malleshwaram. A roll of pink plastic wire is being fed to the machine, which has a built-in tablet as the interface to select the design and order a print. A component called the extruder melts the plastic and its nozzle is creating layer upon layer in an intricate design. It?s a process called additive manufacturing, and in four to five hours, you have a 7-inch tall pen stand. The firm has 100 pre-orders for the printer that costs around R1.25 lakh, and is currently talking to investors to raise funds to scale up.
Gaining traction
Globally, printing the unthinkable?food, houses or even organs?has either been demonstrated already or is getting there, while companies like GE are betting on how the technology can alter the world of manufacturing. The American technology giant that manufactures jet engines, steam turbines and locomotives has over 300 3D printing machines currently in use across the company. Closer home, it has installed a 3D printing machine at its plant near Pune to create models, rapid prototypes, tooling and fixtures out of plastics.
?We are in an evolution phase and will consider low volume production parts for industrial application moving forward. We are also evaluating 3D printing using metallics,? says Amit Kumar, supply chain leader, GE South Asia. The use of the 3D printer is gaining traction across various GE businesses because it can help speed up new product introduction and offer quick feedback on design errors and manufacturability, besides the reduced investment in tooling and machinery. ?With industrial 3D printing technology, it?s possible to create an object in a few hours from its 3D model without developing and validating tools and fixtures, whereas in traditional manufacturing, it normally takes several days to design, manufacture and validate tools and methods before the actual manufacturing can start,? adds Kumar.
But what?s also making the whole idea of a 3D printer a rage of sorts is its perceived potential to become a consumer device?like the personal computer revolution that changed our lives, say its proponents. In India, there are clearly the beginnings of a 3D printing sub-culture, driven largely by enterprising youngsters, who see a market for relatively inexpensive machines in various professions, like architecture or jewellery design, besides a growing tribe of do-it-yourself (DIY) enthusiasts. ?Last April, there were barely two or three manufacturers and very small ones based on the RepRap initiative. This year, I was surprised to see the number increasing,? says Zalak Shah, a research analyst at Gartner. ?It?s definitely a transformation because now we have local people who are manufacturing it and it?s not just companies from the US. This is what we call the maker community, which is a vibrant one.?
Two men who are part of that community are Sohrab Kothari and Sagar Shah, both 27-year-olds, who operate out of a one-room office in Mumbai?s Vile Parle. They spend their days conceptualising 3D designs that a large machine?which almost touches the ceiling of the room?brings to life. The Vile Parle office isn?t that impressive but that hasn?t come in the way of their company, Sahas Softech, from clocking revenues of R50 lakh a year by executing 3D printing projects for clients ranging from small- and medium-sized companies to government agencies and some large corporations. The products they make range from footwear and toys to the prototypes of entire townships planned by construction companies. Kothari, Shah and their third partner, Samkit Shah (also a 27-year-old and a management graduate), founded Sahas two years ago. ?We knew we wanted to do something on our own and were brainstorming about potential business ideas,? Kothari says, adding: ?We actually came across the idea of 3D printing on Google.?
It helped that Sagar Shah?s extended family had a printing business, which helped them gain some insights into basic principles of printing. But 3D printing is a bit more complicated. So the trio reached out to well-established global firms like Stratasys and 3D Systems, which are leaders in consumer and industrial 3D printing and manufacturing solutions, for in-depth understanding of the processes and the machines. Since none of them was from a technical background, they also learnt the principles of computer-aided design (CAD). Sahas had a turnover of R7-8 lakh in the first year of operations, and its topline has grown more than sevenfold since then. Apart from the Vile Parle office, the company now has another workshop in the eastern Mumbai suburb of Mulund, which is overseen by Samkit, and the company has executed about 120-150 orders till date.
Role model
One of the biggest uses of 3D printing in India is for the manufacturing of prototypes that companies rely on to assess how the final product to hit the market will look like and also address any shortcomings or quality issues that might arise. Some of the sectors that make heavy use of this technology include automobiles and construction. As Kothari puts, it is like an ?insurance policy? for a company before it goes ahead with incurring expenditure on making a product or executing a project. To cite an example of the kind of work Sahas does, imagine this: the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) wants to build a flyover in the bustling western suburbs of Mumbai. Before they build the flyover on the ground, they need to do an analysis of the shape that the structure needs to take, the amount of land they would need to reclaim from existing settlements, and simulate various situations to minimise the potential of calamities. So, the authority calls upon a company like Sahas to use their 3D printers and make a prototype of the flyover and the surrounding neighbourhood, and use the model made by them to test the viability of the project. Sahas puts together the model piece by piece using the several 3D printers that they own.
While Sahas is a relatively new set-up, others like Imaginarium India, which has been around since 2009, is one of the biggest players in the Indian 3D printing services market, catering to large companies like Titan Industries and Mahindra & Mahindra. ?Before the advent of 3D printing, the first models (prototypes) had to be hand-made,? says Guruprasad K Rao, director of technology and operations at Imaginarium, explaining the reasons for 3D printing services becoming popular in India. ?This not only demanded skill but also entailed a time-consuming process, which needed expensive materials and often led to wastage. With 3D printing, you can make the same models at a fraction of time with no demand on human skill.?
Some of the other benefits of 3D printing include a high degree of customisation to suit the specific needs of individual customers, even if for something as small as the sole of a shoe. Also, 3D printing might help make the entire supply chain in the manufacturing process more effective, as products can be made at centres where demand exists and transportation costs can be minimised, Rao says. ?It has the potential to check on urbanisation by making goods available in rural markets,? he adds.
Imaginarium has been promoted by H Dipak and Co, a Gujarat-based family business, which is the largest maker of princess-cut diamonds in India. It began as a support service for the promoters? existing jewellery business, where 3D printing is used to test designs, shapes and sizes, before precious metals and stones are used to craft the actual products. Realising the potential that 3D printing services held for other businesses in India, it was spun off into a separate company and grew into an established entity under the leadership of Ankit Mehta, the second-generation entrepreneur of the family. It is a professionally managed organisation at present with 200 employees catering to more than 3,000 customers.
Though the Mumbai-based company did not divulge exact numbers, Rao states that Imaginarium?s revenues have grown 25-30% annually over the past six years. It caters to sectors like aerospace, automotive components, white goods, architecture, medical equipment and others, besides jewellery. With firms like Sahas and Imaginarium doing brisk business, sellers of 3D printers can?t be too far behind. Stratasys, a Nasdaq-listed company, is one of the largest suppliers of these printers globally, including in India. Ido Eylon, general manager, south Asia, Stratasys, says his company sees India as a high-potential market for the future. Eylon, based in Singapore, says as per some estimates, the Indian manufacturing sector is expected to be worth $1 trillion by 2025, and that presents a significant opportunity for the 3D printing business and suppliers like Stratasys.
?We have been present in India for the past 20 years and the 3D printing technology is even older than that, but a lot of people don?t know that the industry dates that long back,? Eylon says. ?There has been significant growth in the past few years, as the technology has matured and many new industries have started adopting it,? he adds.
Mirroring global growth
Stratasys ended the financial year ended December 31 with revenues of $484 million, more than double its turnover in 2012. While Stratasys did not share India-specific sales numbers, Eylon says, globally, the 3D printing market had grown close to 30% in the past three years and its own growth in India mirrored the global growth in the industry. As per Wohlers Report, which tracks the global 3D printing market, the industry is estimated to be worth $5 billion by 2015, and double of that by 2021. From the customers? point of view, 3D printing has helped them save on precious time and money that would have been otherwise required before getting their strategies right.
The Sahara Force India Formula One racing team, for instance, claims to have benefitted greatly from the use of 3D printing services. In January 2013, Sahara Force India announced it was tying up with US-based 3D Systems Corp, a leading supplier of 3D content-to-print solutions for a multi-year partnership. William Ponissi, digital media and website coordinator of the Sahara Force India team, said in a blog post on the 3D Systems website, dated September 13, 2013, that access to 3D Systems? printers helped them overcome a significant challenge that they faced in the racing season that year. Due to a change in rules in the middle of the season, Pirelli, which supplied tyres to the Sahara Force India team, had to change the build of its tyres. ?Such a change can be costly for a team?in every sense,? Ponissi says. ?Resources have to be diverted to understand and adapt to the new materials, and the way the new rubber works with the car means a redesign of some key parts is needed.?
Ponissi explains that before every race, a Formula One team had to test each component upgrade in a wind tunnel where a 1:2 model of the car was fitted with several variations of the new components. This was followed by the simulation of a high-speed environment that yielded data that was subsequently analysed to achieve optimisation. 3D Systems? printers allowed the team to create ?the required number of variations at a fraction of the cost and time that would be required to have the same in carbon fibre (the printer used a substitute material in the form of special ceramic-filled resins to churn out prototypes of the key parts of the car). The market for 3D printing in India is clearly gaining momentum and companies like Sahas are planning to tap into private equity investors to fund their expansion. Kothari says his company is in touch with some private equity firms that are interested in funding their growth. Once they complete three years of operations next year, Sahas plans to raise R5-6 crore to buy more printers and grow the business.
Copy, paste
The technology, incidentally, isn?t a new idea. It is more than a couple of decades old, but what has driven the surge globally over the past few years is that many patents are expiring and there?s a wealth of open source software available. The RepRap (replicating rapid prototyper) was created in 2005 by Adrian Bowyer, a former University of Bath lecturer, as a desktop 3D printer that could print plastic objects, and using which you could make yourself another printer. A sort of freely available self-replication machine. The machines being marketed by local entrepreneurs in India sell for about R1 lakh or more. Gartner estimates the emerging Asia-Pacific region?s market for 3D printers (priced less than $100,000 and excluding DIY kits) to grow at a CAGR of 89.3% to shipments of 14,822 units by 2017 from 610 units in 2012. Some reckon the 3D printer isn?t going to get into homes on the scale that personal computers did, though they agree it holds great potential in several sectors such as education, and that it has made a huge impact in the DIY area.
?A 3D printer will never be a household device, however magical it might seem. There were strong applications that drove the PC revolution. If you look for similar patterns in the 3D printing world, there aren?t any,? says Varun Perumal, co-founder and CEO of Mintables, a Hyderabad-based start-up that is building 3D scanning technologies. ?We felt there were enough 3D printers out there but creating content for these is the concern. Most people go to a website, download and print,? he adds.
His firm is hoping to launch its first platform this year which is aimed at providing the tools, using which people can create a design for, and print, 3D objects. It is exploring avenues such as medical reconstructive surgery and archaeology. Prosthetics, for example, is one area where such tools would be helpful, as doctors can scan a patient?s existing limb to design and print an artificial one, says Perumal.
The medical possibilities seem huge indeed, just like the case for manufacturing, because you don?t need to create a mould to make an object.
?A doctor at the surgery table may face a dilemma as to how much of tissue he has to remove. It would be better if he has an exact model in hand,? says Santanu Dhara, associate professor in the medical science and technology department at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. As part of their research, his lab has been using polymers as ink to print cancellous bones, the spongy bone typically found at the ends of long bones, close to joints. ?Now we are venturing into skin. We are studying how we can print skin directly onto a wound,? he says, adding his lab is in the process of acquiring a 3D bio-printer for the job. It should also be possible to print an organ or a tumour using which in-vitro studies can be conducted, he says.
Designs on the future
The need for prototyping is also expected to drive demand for printing as a service, considering enterprise-level printers can cost anything between R5 and 10 lakh. ?Corporates may also not have a regular requirement, and it makes more financial sense to buy the service,? says Viral Sachde, whose Bangalore-based company, Cycloid System, manufactures printers and also offers printing services.
The firm, started in 2012 with funding from the Technology Development Board, gets orders from researchers, designers and engineering students to print thermoplastic objects. Besides, Cycloid also participates in various events to create awareness about 3D printing.
?It?s through these cases that it is possible to promote this,? says Brahma3?s Nadig, adding they are converting their workshop into an experience centre where people can hang around, create designs and print them using various materials. ?Anybody who uses 3D software will need a 3D printer,? he adds.
Across India, 3D printing is gaining traction fast and capturing the attention of the Indian manufacturing sector, budding entrepreneurs, and the global sellers of such machines. Clearly, the dimensions are limitless as far as the future is concerned.