Infosys, the world-leading Engineering and IT services company, and Renishaw, a world leader in metrology and additive manufacturing technologies, today announce a strategic partnership to offer an end-to-end product development service using metal additive manufacturing (AM) technology.

The two companies are combining their engineering expertise and global resources to help customers accelerate their deployment of AM, also known as 3D printing, for volume production of end-use metal components. Infosys will apply its efficient engineering processes and design for AM knowledge to manage product development projects from concept through to launch. Renishaw will support Infosys through its global network of Additive Manufacturing Solutions Centres, which provide access to the latest Renishaw metal AM technology, backed by application engineering expertise, post-processing capability, and metrology.

Whilst additive manufacturing is changing the way that components are made, its bigger impact is on the design of products themselves. AM enables products that are lighter and more efficient in their use of resources, that facilitate exceptional heat transfer, that are integrated with fewer joints for greater reliability, or that are customised to adapt perfectly to a specific application. These gains in product capability are transforming AM into a mainstream manufacturing technology, used in series production of high performance parts for aerospace, medical, automotive, oil & gas, mould & die and consumer products.

“Additive manufacturing enables us to design and make innovative products with spectacular gains in performance and efficiency,” says Sudip Singh, Global Head, Engineering Service at Infosys Ltd. “Infosys has developed a rich knowledge base of AM design best practices, coupled with powerful design tools to analyse and optimise product designs, so that we can take full advantage of the flexibility that AM offers.”

Infosys provides end-to-end product development and sustenance services to clients of multiple industry segments across the globe. These services include concept/preliminary/detailed design, design, analysis, optimisation, design for manufacturing and product costing. Infosys is able to bring its cross functional and technical expertise in providing value engineering services. Infosys is currently focusing on AM as part of its Industry 4.0 journey.

When adopting any disruptive new manufacturing technology, firms 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’s network of Solutions Centres, located across Europe, North America and Asia, lowers this entry barrier by providing cost-effective access to machinery, facilities and AM expertise. Equipped with the latest AM machines and staffed with knowledgeable engineers, the Solutions Centres provide a confidential development environment in which firms can explore the benefits that additive manufacturing can bring to their products, and quickly build their knowledge and confidence in AM as a production technology.

Each Solutions Centre features Incubator Cells – private development facilities containing an AM machine and all the ancillary equipment needed to set-up, build and refine a new product design. Renishaw can also provide pre-production capacity where the productivity and capability of the AM process can be established. Support is provided in the form of operators and applications engineers, as well as access to a range of machining, finishing, treatment and metrology processes.

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

The two companies are currently working together on projects for customers located in Europe, Asia and North America.

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