The APAC region generally covers Australia, the far east asian countries such as Japan and China as well as India. While Japan entered the Additive Manufacturing market much later than others, China is currently one of the largest players in the gloal industry. This report section covers regional reports of contributing local authors, who each are experts in the characteristicy of the regional Additive Manufacturing landscape.
3D Printing activities in China are spread over several regions. In the east, the Shanghai area stands out due to multiple large 3D Printing players and local branches of international companies. Multiple foreign players such as EOS, SLM SOLUTIONS, DMG MORI, GF, OQTON, SANDVIK, EVONIL or DSM have chosen the Shanghai region for their local headquarters and so did other several specialized domestic companies like UNIONTECH, RAISE3D or INTAMSYS. The southern region is very diversified as many consumer 3D Printing companies chose this location. Meanwhile, Guangzhou HEYGEARS which provides AI enabled industrial IOT platforms has accumulated more than 800 million RMB venture funding. The western region builds the third cluster of 3D Printing activities in China with the headquarter of XI’AN (lead by BLT).
China has the largest injection molding footprint globally. Many of the tooling companies such as SHENZHENDMAC are currently adopting 3D Printing mould inserts with conformal cooling. 3D printing frees the cooling channels of moulds from cross drilling restrictions. The internal channels can be designed to be closer to the cooling surface of the mold, with a smooth corner, faster flow, and increased efficiency of heat transfer to the coolant. Another large field of applications are dental aligners manufactured by liquid based 3D Printing technologies. Companies like ANGELALIGN and SMARTEE are pioneers in this field in the region. On the orthopedic implant side, companies such as AK MEDICAL are making strong use of the Powder Bed Fusion technology to manufacture implants. 3D printing is on its way to become the mainstream manufacturing technology in the medical field from models, braces, implants to dentistry. The large Chinese Automotive and Electronics prototyping sectors, well represented by DONGGUANG HENGHENG, actively uses 3D printing mostly for functional prototyping. A quickly developing sector for 3D printing in China is the aerospace industry. Companies from AVIC GROUP, CASIC GROUP or COMAC are making extensive use of Additive Manufacturing for prototypes but also develop applications for serial integration. Besides established industries, many start-ups are extensive users of Additive Manufacturing. The rapidly growing space sector stands out with companies like AAENGINE, GALATIC ENERGY, I-SPACE, LANDSPACE or GALAXY SPACE.
In 2020, we can witness an increasing adoption rate across all industries for 3D Printing. Several years ago, many companies were still reluctant to utilize the technology whereas today every larger industrial company has an internal department or team dedicated to the implementation of 3D Printing. This especially counts for dental, aerospace or even railway industry. Same accounts for universities. Additive Manufacturing experiences an increased amount of public funds and at the same time students have more option to choose 3D printing courses for their training and education.
The Indian AM industry has been very resilient in the midst of the supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic. Despite the challenges, the industry has grown evidenced by new investment in both metal and polymer systems and setting up of new service bureaus.
First set of users in India established AM systems for prototyping and product development early in 1996-97. Since then, users from diverse sectors and interests have embraced AM in India. An important aspect of recent times is the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship among the millennials leading to numerous business models based on AM and design. Start-ups specializing in the supply of customized gifts, patient-specific surgical guides, architectural models, medical devices, educational aids and wearables have seamlessly integrated AM into their business models. Expertise and capability of local manufacturers of AM equipment has also improved considerably from only Material Extrusion to now Vat Polymerization, Powder Bed Fusion systems and hybrid machines. Cost effective, reliable locally manufactured technology will provide a further boost to the Indian AM industry.
ATAL TINKERING LABS, the mission of NITI Aayog (Government of India) for infusing design tinkering skills among the school students has contributed significantly with desktop 3D printers entering thousands of schools across the country leading to a healthy growth of Indian AM start-ups that specialize in desktop 3D printers. Eyeing an emerging global market, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is releasing a policy aimed at promoting 3D printing on an industrial scale and helping domestic companies overcome technical and economic barriers. With country’s thrust on indigenous manufacturing and proclivity of younger generation towards digital processes, upcoming days look bright for AM fraternity.
Major industries adopting AM in India: Barring few instances wherein the Indian enterprises have leveraged AM for high-volume production, majority of the efforts are limited to one-off printing or substitution of conventionally manufactured parts. However, this trend is changing and design owners, engineering service providers and large OEMs in India are now adopting AM. The application splits by industry indicates that automotive, transportation, tooling and engineering are driving adoption. The areas of activity in aerospace, automotive and general engineering will continue to move into low batch production. Customized jigs and fixtures and casting patterns are already being used as standard practice.
Healthcare and dental applications are opening up with widespread acceptance and requirements for orthodontic models, medical devices, pre-surgical and surgical models, training models manufactured using AM. Customized metal implants will drive further growth in India due to the awareness and acceptance by doctors, reduced costs and established standards. A few startups are also working on the bioprinting ecosystem with moderate success.
Bengaluru with the early adoption of the technology and the presence of large aerospace and engineering organization and a thriving start-up culture has established itself as a leading hub for AM in India. Other regions like Pune, Mumbai, Delhi NCR region and Hyderabad have been following suit and make up the leading hotspots for AM in the country after Bengaluru.
Interesting applications: As we can see multiple industries in India are utilizing Additive Manufacturing. In this section I would like to highlight a few interesting applications which were made possible with Additive Manufacturing to give the readers a flavor of the market readiness in India.
In the past year the Indian space ecosystem has grown exponentially with Indian Government and ISRO taking the decisions to promote and guide private firms in space activities by enabling easy access to infrastructure and maintaining a friendly regulatory environment. SKYROOT AEROSPACE and AGNIKUL COSMOS, two Indian space start-ups have been adopting AM to fast track their development process and build complex parts.
SKYROOT AEROSPACE has unveiled Dhawan-1, which is an indigenously developed fully cryogenic rocket engine which runs on LNG as fuel. The Dhawan-1 cryogenic engine is 3D printed in its entirety using powder bed fusion metal additive manufacturing. AGNIKUL COSMOS, has also developed and fired a fully 3D printed rocket engine. It is called Agnilet and this higher stage semi-cryogenic engine has been produced as a single component in one run of a 3D printer.
3D printed luminaires were launched by SIGNIFY, earlier called PHILIPS LIGHTING, in India. A 3D printed luminaire typically has a 47 percent lower carbon footprint than a traditionally manufactured metal luminaire, excluding electronics and optics. The final product is also two-thirds in weight compared to a conventional luminaire, which ultimately translates to a 35 percent carbon emission reduction during shipping.
The Indian Defence Research & Development Organisation for making the country’s first indigenous machine pistol ASMI extensively used 3D printing for the development and prototyping process. The weapon was developed in a record time of four months. LARSEN & TOURBO (L&T) construction one of India’s largest construction companies revealed India’s first 3D printed two story Building.
Major suppliers and ecosystem: The majority of the leading global companies from the Additive Manufacturing supply chain including software, OEMs, Material and allied products are present in India today. EOS has the largest market share in India in the metal systems. STRATASYS, 3D SYSTEMS have the maximum number of installations for polymer systems and SLA systems respectively. All the software providers also have presence in India including MATERIALISE, MSC HEXAGON, ANSYS, SIEMENS, AUTODESK, DASSAULT SYSTEMS, NTOPOLOGY and ALTAIR.
Major universities: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT’s) centers along with IISc Bengaluru have been at the forefront in terms of research for Additive Manufacturing in India along with a few NIT centers and few private institutes. IISc has setup aSmart Factory and Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence at the Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing (CPDM) to build a globally competitive DED system to deposit high-performance metallic alloys for aerospace, defense and medical implant segments. All Major IIT’s in India now have research groups working on different projects ranging from development of technology, process’s, materials, bioprinting and more. IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Calicut, IIT Ropar, IIT Madras and others have significant activities on the AM front. CSIR is one of India’s premier research institutions and there is activity on the AM front across the different labs on various areas of Additive Manufacturing. CSIR has also recently signed a collaboration agreement with FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE to work together in advancing AM research and adoption in India. Few Universities like IIT Bombay, COEP (Pune), NIT Warangal and National Institute of Electronics & IT are offering various courses ranging from Diplomas, M-Tech to Postdoctoral studies. Many Universities in India are offering Additive Manufacturing as an Elective subject. There is ongoing research and academic activities in relation to AM at various other institutes including PSG TECH, VIT VELLORE, BITS PILANI, SASTRA and others, because of the sheet magnitude of the activities we have touched upon only the few major developments.
Additive Manufacturing continued to prove its relevance in the Oceania region in 2020, with the global pandemic highlighting a number of supply chain issues that adversely affect with ability of Australia and New Zealand to provide critical supplies in a number of different industries. The Australian government in particular has shown support for manufacturing by committing extra funds towards programs that support collaboration between business and research, and by taking a more proactive approach in setting policy to support domestic manufacturing. Research in Australia continues to be comparatively cheap to conduct owing to favourable exchange rates and attractive R&D incentives through funding bodies.
Defence and space, medical, and resources, are becoming the predominant industries that utilise Additive Manufacturing, and this is where the majority of the AM activity is occurring. New programs such as the Hunter Class frigate are prime possibilities for the inclusion of Additive Manufacturing technologies. In addition to that, sustainment programs are growing their use of AM for spares and repairs. Publicly listed companies such AMAERO INTERNATIONAL and AML3D are proactively working with primes such as BAE SYSTEMS, ASC SHIPBUILDING, and AUSTAL, to name a few, to investigate where AM can be best utilised. A different but promising approach is being taken by SPEE3D, a company that have developed machines based on Cold Spray technology, by putting their machines in field trials to print parts on demand on the front line. This has led to sales to the Navy and the Special Forces, with a hope that the US and Europe will follow suit.
Many companies are forging strong international links by establishing satellite offices and subsidiaries in global locations. AML3D has established an office in Singapore, AMAREO INTERNATIONAL has established a facility in the US, and SPEE3D now has a presence in the US and Europe. For AM to really take off in this region it is clear that businesses must be globally focused. The reverse trend is true for GOPROTO, a Californian based business that has established a subsidiary in Melbourne. Recent Australian acquisitions of a service bureau and a scanning/reverse engineering business, in addition to their own facility, have seen the business expand rapidly in short period of time.
Medical 3D printing continues to have a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand, both in R&D and in industry. Melbourne-based 3D printing company 3DMEDITECH was very quick to respond to the global pandemic by designing, printing and testing nasopharyngeal swabs for COVID-19. 3DMEDITECH are also supporting the development of ventilators made by GEKKO MEDICAL with 3D printing of various parts. 3DMEDITECH ordinarily make dental aligners and baby helmets, but were able to use their in-house design expertise, and their 3D printing facility to quickly pivot to swabs and ventilator parts.
The STRYKER medical research project with RMIT University, University of Sydney, St Vincent’s Hospital, and the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre has catalysed more than AU$12 million dollars (7.6 million EUR, Ed.) of research effort developing intellectual property for patient-specific implants. This project is a one-of-a-kind approach focused on commercialisation of the unique lattice designs enabled by AM that have been developed at RMIT. The project will lead to direct opportunities for Australian businesses to become medical suppliers to STRYKER, and will cement Australia’s place as lead innovators in medical AM.
Published: 28 February 2021
Source: AMPOWER 2021 / authors as described