Interview – Mr Sumeer Chandra shares HP’s 3D strategy for India

Mr Sumeer Chandra, Managing Director, HP inc, India shared his views with Aditya Chandavarkar, Co-Founder, Indian 3D Printing Network about HP Multi Jet Fusion technology and their strategy and future plans in India.

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Aditya Chandavarkar: What are your thoughts on the major trends in Additive Manufacturing in India?

Sumeer Chandra: 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM) has the potential to transform the manufacturing sector in a significant way. Manufacturing in India has the potential to reach USD 1 trillion by 2025 from USD 310 billion in 2016-17 and is expected to place us amongst the top three growth economies and make us the manufacturing destination of the world by the year 2020[1]. This growth is based on our strong and innovative manufacturing technology and expertise that will lead to long-term economic prosperity and growth.

3D printing presents a tremendous opportunity to help digitalize manufacturing. Initially, 3D manufacturing was more likely to be used for high value and mid to low volume products. However, with the cost of materials going down, this technology is likely to be adopted for more mainstream manufacturing.

Additive manufacturing also has the ability to drive mass personalization for everyone, everywhere. We expect enterprises, small and medium businesses and even start ups to adopt this technology going forward to come up with innovative design solutions and products.

3D Printing presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to embrace new digital technologies that hyper-charge economic prospects, create new manufacturing jobs, educate the next generation of highly skilled labor, and ultimately shape the next hundred years of our country.

We also need to prioritize the creation of new educational programs and incentives for comprehensive training in 3D design, engineering, and the associated skills. This entails not only creating opportunities for workforce training and education, but also providing educators and institutions with the R&D funding they need to foster the growth of digital manufacturing capabilities and ecosystems worldwide.

AC: How does HP technology fit into the current AM scenario in India?

SC: HP is reinventing 3D printing by removing the limits of previous technologies, so industries can reinvent the way they design, prototype and manufacture. Along with our partners, we are accelerating the end-to-end digital reinvention of the $12T global manufacturing industry. Building on our experience of more than 500,000 Multi Jet Fusion-produced parts, we are now scaling our 3D printing business to the next level. From design to workflow to materials to fabrication to post-processing to supply-chain to recyclability, we are helping to transform every step of the value chain.

With the revolutionary new HP Jet Fusion Solution commercial 3D printing platform, HP is removing the speed, quality, and cost barriers that have limited 3D printing to a niche market for so long. 3D printing as a technology is still evolving and in the next few quarters, we expect many path-breaking innovations to drive large scale adoption of 3DP for mass production.

AC: What can we expect from the HP and Imaginarium collaboration in 2018?

SC: HP’s growing partner ecosystem enables businesses to develop game-changing solutions that reinvent the manufacturing industry. As a certified HP 3D printing reseller partner, Imaginarium will bring expertise and knowledge of HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology to customers deploying the solutions, as well as value added services such as the enablement of new applications and industry-leading response time and service quality.

We, at HP, are also setting up a service bureau with Imaginarium where 3DP can be provided as a service. The service bureau will make it easier for designers to test their prototypes, thereby increasing the pace of product innovation, accelerating product development and opening up opportunities for mass customization.

The Indian 3D Printing Network earlier covered the live demo and launch of the first HP machine in India at Imaginarium

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