Additive Manufacturing is a growing area in the manufacturing of metal and plastics. Metal is well established in other part of the world. USA & China for instance have started using metal additive technology for the proto-modern development and regular component manufacturing whereas in India Metal additive manufacturing has just started now.
Some of the machine that are available are installed in the government organization. In private sector, there are only few installation are done so far. PSG Additive Manufacturing Center was established in 2000 that focuses on plastic additive manufacturing. It is now entering metal additive manufacturing. Producing components for aerospace, defence, general engineering and medical application.
In abroad, metal additive manufacturing is widely used in aerospace and defence sector. In medical field it is used to manufacture regular and customized medical implants for patients.
Now through Indo-US collaboration, a three-day workshop sponsored by IUSSTF, New Delhi has been organized by PSG Institute of Advanced Studies to discuss more about the technology, what are the gaps, what are the research possibilities, scope for collaboration and how this technology can be applied for various needs. 8 international faculties who are pre-eminent in the field of Additive Manufacturing are addressing more than 100 participants from industry, research labs from govt. and private labs apart from academia.
Once metal additive manufacturing is received well like how plastic was received, it will support the country by enabling the indigenous manufacture of aerospace components. This facility is capable of producing a great percentage of defence components required by our country.
For medical implants we need not wait for imports. We can make it in our country easily and at a relatively low cost. With the support of DST, PSG is manufacturing metal additive machines to substitute the highly expensive imported machines. This is a first step and it has the potential to boost Make in India concept. Experts believe that in another 2 to 3 years, metal additive manufacturing will be adapted by the manufacturing sector.