Renishaw, one of the world’s leading engineering and scientific technology companies, aims to be a major contributor to additive manufacturing in India.

Renishaw, the global engineering technologies company, has opened a new Additive Manufacturing Solutions Centre at Pune. The new facility, opened in June 2016, will provide a secure development environment in which customers can expand their knowledge and confidence using additive manufacturing (AM) technology. The Solutions Centre is equipped with the latest AM systems and staffed by knowledgeable engineers to allow fast access to deploying the technology, all at fixed predictable costs.

Additive manufacturing, often referred to as metal 3D printing, is widely recognised as a transformational manufacturing technology that will impact on everything from components in aircraft engines and satellites, to dental restorations and surgery for facial reconstruction. Renishaw, which is the UK’s only supplier of metal AM machines, sees the new Indian centre as a cornerstone in its ambition to be a major contributor to the adoption of AM in the established and fast growing high technology Indian manufacturing sector.

Rhydian Pountney, Renishaw’s Director responsible for Indian Sales and Marketing Operations said, “We are delighted to be opening the first Solutions Centre in India. The thrust of the additive manufacturing centres is to create a platform on which to work in close partnership with our customers to help them realise the benefits of AM in their products and manufacturing processes.”

“Renishaw’s vision is to make AM a mainstream manufacturing technology, used in series production of high performance parts for aerospace, medical, automotive, oil & gas, mould & die and consumer products. The technology will enable companies to design and make innovative products with spectacular gains in performance and efficiency,” said Clive Martell, Head of Global Additive Manufacturing.

When adopting any disruptive new manufacturing technology, companies will go through a rigorous assessment process to understand the potential benefits, and to prove the reliability and capability of the production process. The investment in time, resources and equipment to achieve this can be significant.

Renishaw Solutions Centres will lower this entry barrier by providing cost-effective access to machinery, facilities and AM expertise. Solutions Centres will provide a confidential development environment in which firms can explore the benefits that AM can bring to their products, and quickly build their knowledge and confidence in AM as a production technology.

Marc Saunders, Director – Global Solutions Centre, comments, “Whilst AM can create complex geometries in a single process step, some level of finishing is generally required to produce functional products. Renishaw’s knowledge of metrology, machining and finishing processes can help customers to develop an integrated manufacturing solution for their innovative new product.”

Whilst the new Pune Solutions Centre highlights Renishaw’s continuing investment in the development, manufacture and application of AM technologies, it also maintains the company’s long term commitment to the Indian market. It will sit alongside Renishaw’s existing key strategic additive manufacturing development locations in the UK, USA, Canada, Germany and China, with additional centres also planned for other key markets.

In a practical move, the Invitation Cards for the inauguration were built on additive machine using IN625 with a build time of 4.25 hour per card and weight/volume of 29.3 grams/10.978 cm3. The Inauguration Plaque was made on additive machine using a SS sub-straight with IN625, build 1 mm high fonts. The gift – pen drive swivel was made on AM machine using titanium metal.

Renishaw has been trading in India for over 30 years and it established a representative office in Bangalore in 1993, which was converted to a wholly owned trading subsidiary in 2000. Today the company has offices in five cities, plus resident sales engineers in other key areas. In Pune, Renishaw has a 80,000 sq.ft building which houses a customer demonstration and training facilities, a procurement operation to directly source high quality components from Indian vendors, a large software development team, and a 100% Export Orientated Unit (EOU) which manufactures certain products that were previously procured and where assembly costs are critical to competitiveness. Total employee numbers within India now number 340.

For more information, visit www.renishaw.com/solutioncentres