ADAPTING TO THE DIGITAL AGE

AM technology brings in lot of advantages, in terms of part consolidation, light-weighting to mass-customization, faster Go-To-Market cycle time for new designs and a digital inventory, says Gopal Madabhushi, Global Director – Globalization & Global Locomotive Engineering Leader, Wabtec

- Niranjan Mudholkar

Congratulations on establishing the Additive Manufacturing Center in Bengaluru recently. How important is this initiative from the perspective of developing the additive manufacturing ecosystem in India?

The world is witnessing a rising demand for digital manufacturing and 3D printing is enabling this journey across several industries such as transportation, industrial, medical and consumer products. Additive Manufacturing (AM) ecosystem is growing at a rapid pace in Asia pacific as well as India markets to cater the needs of the industry. The Wabtec Additive Manufacturing Center is another step in our Industry 4.0 journey as we continue to integrate smart digital technologies and production systems to drive innovation and deliver cutting-edge solutions to our customers. Our India Additive manufacturing center is also a Center of Excellence (C0E) in MJF (Multi Jet Fusion) technology for the Global Wabtec Corporation. This CoE in the India will enable faster adoption of AM technology and this center opens up this expertise to be leveraged by the Indian AM community and users. This is a significant initiative for Indian AM ecosystem and the partnerships that enable more offerings in terms of better AM technology, materials and bring in design expertise to cater to the 3D printing services requirements of the Indian industry. Bangalore is also one of the regions, which houses many 3D printers because of its proximity to key aerospace sectors and many multi-national design companies in the IT corridor. We are proud to say that we are one of the first to adapt the MJF 3D printing technology commercially in India.

How would you analyse the evolution of additive manufacturing as a technology both in India as well as globally?