Stratasys, a global leader in additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology, helps Indian aerospace, automotive, healthcare and consumer products industries design and make prototypes, manufacturing tools, and production parts faster and cost effectively.

Several OEMs and Tier-1 companies in these industry segments are its customers who want high value products at very reasonable prices. In an interaction with T Murrali of this publication, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, Stratasys India and South East Asia, said, “We are changing the game by giving industrial production-grade machines at affordable prices. We have a lot of takers for them across industries in the Tier-2& 3 cities also.” Edited excerpts:

Q: In India, is additive manufacturing still confined to R&D for making prototypes? What is the next step in the automotive sector?

Bajaj: The car companies we have in India are globally competitive, keeping pace with what is happening around the world. The differentiation we see as a technology provider is the level of technology adoption by the local OEMs. Similar-sized OEMs elsewhere in the world will have a series of our machines whereas in India they are just 1 or 2 each, most of them with the auto OEMs. It also has to do with the technology adoption rate and the trend of product development and differentiation which came in rather late.

 Secondly, prototyping is a well documented area; people use it day in and day out. Companies like Honda, that do only manufacturing in India, are adopting it for their jigs and fixtures. The third stage we look at is personalisation where one can use the 3D printed part in a portion of the vehicle, which has been done with BMW MINI, and Daihatsu in Japan. We don’t have any use case in India as yet. We are looking at possibilities here.

Q: Are there some applications where it can be used?

Bajaj: Now we are talking about not just back-end or R&D use but actual customer experience. There we are giving tooled-up parts with multiple finishes. There are finite possibilities with the new numbers and quality of parts being manufactured. 3D is also used as a marketing tool. Typically, people look at it as a device to save money or time as this is a revenue generation tool.

Q: So even if you make 10,000 parts, each one can be customised?  

Bajaj: Yes, absolutely; it’s mass customisation.

Q: Do you see opportunity globally and in India to replace traditional manufacturing by 3D, and to what extent?

Bajaj: There is no simple yes or no answer to this. It involves a deep understanding of how the two processes work. If volumes are a few thousands, yes; but if it is in lakhs, then maybe not. The most intelligent organisations would be the ones who would use a mix-and-match of this technology. Additive doesn’t mean it should remove subtractive. Intelligence lies in knowing when to use additive and where to leverage subtractive, and vice-versa. Combining these two will make for a very efficient organisation.

Q: Will this find a key role in low volume parts? 

Bajaj: Yes, as well as complicated parts and in the aftermarket for different models. Even enthusiasts like Jay Leno will find a use for this. In fact Leno has bought a 3D printer from Stratasys to make parts for his collection of vintage cars. It’s a useful tool for motor enthusiasts to make parts that are not available in the market.

Q: Do you see additive manufacturing for lightweighting?

Bajaj: Parts consolidation is a very direct outcome of 3D printing because, for example, it can print a chain with interlock whereas in the traditional process each part would be a separate entity. In an aerospace part we consolidated some 100 plus parts into one unit. In automotive, now many areas for this are emerging for limited production; mass production would take some more time but it will come. When we talk of lightweighting, making prototypes earlier was quite difficult but today with this technology we can make very complex prototypes and validate the design. Once it is validated it can use any method: for low volume additive, for high volume something else. That’s the advantage. Also, in assembly, we can check minute gaps in the line very accurately. Changes in tooling can be done immediately instead of waiting for a long period as customisation has to be done in the shortest period possible.

Q: Would this help reduce the number of iterations?

Bajaj: Actually I can do more iteration by trying out newer ideas. This will help enhance the quality level at the design stage itself. We have to find a balance between the additive and the subtractive.

Q:  Would the customer complaints reduce when you make a product faster?

Bajaj: Obviously, as I am designing quality into the process and product from day one; it helps me take informed decisions. Basically, what the customer wants is a good, tangible product.

Q: What is the response you get from customers who have not taken up this technology as yet?

Bajaj: In today’s scenario there would be very few customers in the automotive supply chain who have not experimented with 3D printing. If they are not using it directly they are getting services done outside. The expectations from customers is different; some want better quality, some want it faster, some cheaper and so on. Most of them are experimenting so that this should become a part of their process.

Q: Are there other concerns than cost?

Bajaj: In India, cost is a big concern; customers want high value at the most reasonable price; they are not looking just for low cost. So there is pressure; that’s why a lot of innovation helps. A company cannot just copy paste; it has to innovate. In 2015 our lowest cost of the printer in FDM series was around INR 60 lakh. Today, we have given the same technology on a different platform for INR 15 lakh. That’s how we are changing the game, giving the same class of industrial production grade machines at an affordable price. This has found a lot of takers for us in the Tier-2&3 cities, not just automotive but across industries.

Q: There might be apprehension among your potential customers that if they buy a machine from you they would have to be wedded forever to your company to get the material. Is that true or will they be free to choose their own material from the market for use?

Bajaj: For most of our technologies it is true but we are working on a new technology called SLA which is our only platform where the consumer can buy material elsewhere. The problems with 3D printing are many. Let us say if you make your material open and then the customer comes and says the parts are not printing correctly; then where do you fix the blame? That becomes a big problem. The reason why we keep it to us is not because we want to charge customers more, but because we want to give them 100 percent accurate results all the time. Predictability and repeatability are problems that 3D printers at entry level are facing every day. By controlling the oven temperature and the material properties we are able to achieve 100 percent accuracy. When companies like Maruti tell us there are some challenges, we work with them to sort it out.

It is like when the customer buys a car and goes to the spurious market to get parts. When the vehicle fails they come and complain to us. We check the car and tell them the company is not responsible for whatever parts the customer fits in. Even insurance companies do not entertain such claims. If you want consistent quality and most desirable product performance you will have to stick to some standards.

Q: Do you see Stratasys to become even a supplier to vehicle manufacturers or Tier-1s?

Bajaj: It is not done in India as yet but globally we do run Service Bureaus. The BMW MINI project is all done by our Bureaus.

Q: Is this like software as a service where they can use your facility?

Bajaj: Yes, they have to just give us the software data and we will be able to print it. But that is not the real intelligence of the service bureau. The services we provide are very high-end; redesigning the entire thing, adding more colour variants, giving a new look to the car. These are the kind of services we provide where 3D printing is a part of the process. We take into account all the special requirements the customer wants. We have done complex projects in India and our overseas offices as a service.

Q: Which are the markets that are very attractive, where you have more inroads as of now? Going forward, how will it be?

Bajaj: Automotive is our sweet spot, globally (around 25 percent) and in India (30 percent). I see it as a major place for expansion because compared to global standards the technology adoption with these companies is very low. I believe if they have to compete in testing times like this there is no other way than to come out with products faster and cheaper. Technologies like Stratasys 3D printing are tailor-made for this. Despite the slowdown we are very bullish about the automotive market because of the lack of penetration in it. It’s a technology life cycle, similar to the software industry where the cycle came from the US and went on to Europe and to Asia before coming to India.

Q: How do you compare with aviation as you are the only one certified by the aviation industry?

Bajaj: For aviation, we are limited to plastics at this point in time so the parts made by us are more suitable for the cabin interior. India is more about defence aviation where the aircraft interior is not that critical. While HAL, DRDL, etc are all using our technology, mass proliferation would occur when companies like Boeing and Airbus have their complete setup in India. We need civil aircraft to be manufactured in India to see that kind of growth; there are none at present.

Q: For automotive, what are the key drivers of growth globally and in India?

Bajaj: One is the quest for innovation through rapid prototyping. Two, the product development cycle time has reduced by 50 percent in the last four years. If a new platform time was 3 years earlier, today it is under 18 months. In the past two years, any automotive company that has not come up with newer models at a faster pace has not survived. To keep the momentum going in the market they have to come up with new products. If they have the right product at the right price in India their business will certainly grow. (MT)

 

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User Forum

The 3rd edition of Stratasys India User Forum in Bengaluru recently had participation from over 620 industry leaders and end-users. Organised by Stratasys, a global leader in 3D printing and Additive Manufacturing (AM), the Forum was a platform for professionals to exchange views on the latest 3D printing trends, applications, and the best practices across key sectors in India.

Michael Agam, President, South Asia, Stratasys, said the User Forum brought together several leading brands such as Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland and Honda Cars in the Indian ecosystem, that have used Stratasys’ products to innovate. This reiterates why India is a key market for the company.

Saurabh Singh, Head of Design Studio at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, highlighted how the brand has been able to leverage 3D printing to provide high quality, ergonomically suited and distinctly personalized offerings, thereby enhancing the overall customer experience.

Sundaresan, Vice-President, Electric Vehicles and eMobility Solutions, Ashok Leyland, said that AM helped the company save about 14,138 days of hour-utilization and nearly INR 74 lakh in manufacturing costs. He said Ashok Leyland made clutch housing using AM to carry out fitment checks and it helped to contain the time to three days against close to 60 days in the conventional method. AM helped also to keep the time schedules for the development of blower cover and meet the CMVR regulations. The company made prototypes and parts for the initial production lot. The whole exercise was completed in a couple of days as compared to 90 days in the conventional method. Similarly, the three-axis intake pipe was made in a day as opposed to the usual three months. It also made a scaled concept of the seven-speed gearbox having geometric complexity. For electric vehicles the company made traction motor stator sector in AM, which helped in physically measuring the slot-fill, evaluate ease of winding and measure external portions of end-winding. “For smaller volumes also AM is economical. For advanced mobility it plays a key role in the combustion chamber”, Sundaresan added.

Bhushan Chandna, Manager, Business Excellence, Honda Cars, explained how the brand has spearheaded the use of additive manufacturing in the auto sector, especially with the use of 3D-printed jigs and fixtures. (MT)

Digital payment infrastructure company ToneTag has launched an in-car fuel payment system at the Global Fintech Fest 2026.

The solution is developed for TATA.CARS under the name DrivePay and integrates National Payments Corporation of India's UPI Circle framework for Internet of Things devices to enable direct fuel payments at IndianOil retail outlets.

The DrivePay platform integrates payment capabilities into connected vehicle infotainment screens. Drivers can simply pay at fuel stations from the vehicle dashboard without using mobile applications, physical cards, or external payment terminals.

The service also incorporates IndianOil’s XTRAREWARDS loyalty scheme, automatically crediting reward points to customer accounts without requiring mobile number inputs during checkout. Following the initial demonstration at GFF 2026, deployment will begin across IndianOil outlets ahead of a wider rollout.

Vivek Kumar Singh, Co-Founder and Director – Labs, ToneTag, said, "Payments are rapidly moving beyond traditional interfaces such as cards and smartphones, and connected devices are emerging as the next frontier for commerce. With DrivePay, powered by ToneTag, we are bringing an IoT-based UPI Circle payment experience directly into the connected vehicle. This initiative with IndianOil, TATA.CARS and NPCI demonstrates how payment infrastructure can seamlessly extend into connected devices, enabling the vehicle itself to become a secure payment interface. We believe this is an important step towards a future where mobility, payments and commerce are seamlessly connected."

The project combines IndianOil's retail distribution network, TATA.CARS' vehicle hardware, ToneTag's payment processing software and NPCI's UPI transaction network. ToneTag plans to extend its connected vehicle payment systems to additional automotive original equipment manufacturers and mobility providers.

Hyundai Motor India, one of the leading passenger vehicle manufacturers, has introduced the Hyundai Bluelink Remote Immobiliser security feature for the Hyundai Venue and Venue N Line models.

The feature is available on the connected-car-Navigation-Cockpit equipped HX10 variant of the Venue and the N10 variant of the Venue N Line.

The security system allows vehicle owners to immobilise a parked car via the Hyundai Bluelink mobile application, preventing engine restart in scenarios involving key cloning or unauthorised access.

In cases of suspected theft, users can trigger the immobiliser remotely, locking the engine start capability once the ignition is turned off. The system operates alongside network-dependent live location tracking to assist vehicle recovery. For safety reasons, the software does not cut power or shut down an active engine while the vehicle is in motion.

The feature is being deployed via a Controller Over-the-Air update leveraging Hyundai's Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) architecture. Eligible Venue and Venue N Line models sold since November 2025 will receive the update automatically without requiring physical service centre visits. The ccNC system allows over-the-air updates across up to 19 individual vehicle controllers.

Furthermore, From September 2026, the remote immobiliser will be standard equipment on HX10 and N10 variants, with plans for phased implementation across other Bluelink-enabled models.

Tarun Garg, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India, said, “With Hyundai Bluelink now powering over eight lakh connected vehicles in India, we continue to strengthen our connected mobility ecosystem by delivering meaningful innovations that address evolving customer needs. Hyundai Bluelink Remote Immobiliser offers customers greater control and peace of mind by enabling them to remotely secure their parked Hyundai VENUE or VENUE N Line and respond quickly in the event of suspected theft, while incorporating safeguards that prioritise customer safety. Importantly, this feature also demonstrates the future-ready potential of Hyundai’s Software-Defined-Vehicle architecture. Through a seamless Controller Over-the-Air update, we are introducing an important new capability to eligible model variants without requiring customers to visit a workshop.”

At present, Hyundai Motor India offers the Bluelink connected car system across 11 of its 15 vehicle lines in the country, providing functions including emergency crash notifications, vehicle diagnostics, remote telemetry and voice command controls.

Bosch Software and Digital Solutions (Bosch SDS) has entered into a collaboration with Dassault Systèmes in India, aimed at helping manufacturing enterprises accelerate digital transformation across product engineering, manufacturing operations and industrial value chains.

The partnership combines Dassault Systèmes’ capabilities in Virtual Twin Experiences, Product Lifecycle Management, Digital Manufacturing and Manufacturing Operations Management with Bosch SDS’ expertise in contextualised data products, manufacturing transformation, energy optimisation, IT/OT integration and machine-level intelligence. It also draws on both companies’ global industrial AI expertise. Early momentum has been demonstrated through an engagement with a leading Indian electric vehicle manufacturer, where Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA Apriso MES platform and Bosch SDS’ manufacturing transformation capabilities are being deployed to enable intelligent, real-time connected operations, yielding improvements in production efficiency, quality and digital traceability.

Under the collaboration, the two organisations will jointly work across several identified areas. These include AI-enabled manufacturing transformation and Agentic AI orchestration through the Bosch Cognitive Factory platform; Digital Thread and traceability across engineering, manufacturing and lifecycle operations; contextualised data products and enterprise intelligence; energy management, sustainability transformation and an Energy Management Platform; smart factory, connected operations and IT/OT convergence with machine-level intelligence and Digital Product Passport and regulatory compliance readiness. Joint market engagement will extend into heavy engineering and process sectors, leveraging the complementary domain strength and technology depth of both organisations.

Bosch SDS will serve as a Consulting and System Integration partner to Dassault Systèmes across the identified transformation areas, spanning engineering, manufacturing and enterprise operations. Both organisations will jointly innovate and develop solutions to support customers in deploying end-to-end AI, Digital Thread and AI-enabled Digital Product Passports across product and manufacturing value chains.

Dattatreya Gaur, MD & CEO, Bosch Software and Digital Solutions, said, “Manufacturing enterprises today are looking beyond isolated digitisation initiatives towards connected, intelligent and autonomous operations. Our collaboration with Dassault Systèmes brings together two highly complementary strengths in Industrial AI: Bosch SDS’s deep expertise as a technology partner and practitioner across manufacturing, operational technology integration along with the Bosch Cognitive Factory platform, and Dassault Systèmes’ leadership in Virtual Twin Experience and Digital Thread capabilities. Together, we are uniquely positioned to help manufacturers accelerate AI-led transformation across the entire product and manufacturing value chain with greater speed, intelligence and scale.”

Ramesh Ramaswamy, Global Sales Head, Bosch Software and Digital Solutions, said, “The future of manufacturing will be defined by how seamlessly enterprises connect engineering, operations, data and AI across the value chain. Through this collaboration, Bosch SDS and Dassault Systèmes are bringing together complementary strengths to help manufacturers move from fragmented transformation efforts to truly connected, software-defined and intelligent operations. This creates a far stronger foundation for manufacturers to scale innovation, resilience and operational agility in the AI era.”

Deepak NG, Managing Director, India, Dassault Systèmes, said, "Our collaboration with Bosch SDS marks a major milestone for the manufacturing industry. By connecting our virtual twin technology with their industrial expertise, we are helping factories adopt AI much faster. This will create highly connected and sustainable operations. Together, we look forward to helping companies innovate and grow in the digital era.”

Tata Motors and PETRONAS Lubricants India have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a collection and recycling program for used automotive lubricants.

The two companies will launch the pilot project simultaneously across Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to evaluate a scalable model for lubricant waste management.

The initiative creates a traceable system for collecting, storing and processing used lubricants through registered recycling channels, with the goal of converting collected waste into re-refined base oil.

Tata Motors will utilise its authorised service centre network to facilitate collection, while PETRONAS Lubricants India will oversee the logistics and transfer of used oil to certified re-refiners. The collaboration aligns with India's Extended Producer Responsibility regulations governing hazardous waste disposal.

Binu Chandy, India Managing Director at PETRONAS Lubricants India, said, "Achieving true circularity in used oil begins when re-refined base oil is reintegrated into finished lubricants. Our collaboration with Tata Motors marks an important step toward building a scalable model for used oil circularity and reflects the strength of our channel network as we work to significantly reduce our carbon footprint across operations."

Vikram Agrawal, Head of Spares and Non-Vehicle Business, Tata Motors, said, "At Tata Motors, practices and partnerships promoting sustainability are integral to advancing circular economy principles and creating meaningful environmental impact across the automotive value chain. Through our collaboration with PETRONAS Lubricants India, we are taking a significant step towards establishing a structured framework for the collection, recovery, and recycling of used automotive lubricants. This pilot initiative aligns closely with our commitment to responsible resource stewardship and supports India's broader sustainability ambitions. By bringing together the complementary strengths and expertise of our two organisations, we aim to assess the viability of a scalable used-oil recycling model that can drive long-term value and contribute to industry-wide progress."