“In the last ten years, I would say the Indian tooling ecosystem has really invested in new technologies. The number of 3D scanners sold to tool rooms, the adoption of design software, and inspection software all have grown,” says Amar Kulkarni, Global Product Evangelist, Polyworks Software India Pvt. Ltd
Neha Basudkar Ghate
Q. Why has 3D metrology become so significant in the tooling industry today?
This is not something that’s a new development. 3D metrology has always been there for quality inspection and process control, particularly in the tooling industry. But in sectors like automotive and aerospace, the necessity has grown there’s a much stronger need for evidence.
When parts are manufactured, the first few trials what we call the first article inspection or throughout phase have become very critical. People really want to validate their dies before they are shipped. And the easiest way to validate is with 3D metrology, because in die making the parts are complex in shape.
3D scanning is the best way to measure those complex shapes, and that’s why 3D metrology is transforming the whole approach to quality inspection.
Q. What do you see as one of the main challenges in the Indian tooling ecosystem?
In our ecosystem, particularly if you ask me this in the context of India, one of the big challenges is skill. At the college or education level, students don’t really learn these tools on their own. So, much of the learning only happens once they start working, and then when companies procure these tools, the responsibility often comes back to suppliers like us to train them properly.
The challenge is, we never know what level of knowledge they already have, and accordingly how much more we need to train them. Very often, we don’t just end up training them on the tool itself we have to train them beyond that. There is some excitement in doing this, but still, skill remains a real challenge in the ecosystem.
Q. How are you addressing the skill gap in areas like 3D metrology and tooling?
The low‑hanging fruit is really the supplier itself, because the academic system isn’t there, and there’s no wider ecosystem outside to train and skill people. So, we have to take the responsibility of training our customers and the engineers they hire. That’s the reality until a point comes where the education curriculum includes 3D scanning, 3D metrology, data management where engineering students start learning these things as part of their studies and tooling colleges begin teaching them.
Until that time, the responsibility is on us. That’s why we’ve built the necessary infrastructure. If you look at the work PolyWorks has done worldwide – and not only in India – we’ve set up our own ecosystem on how we support our customers. We train them in the local language, in the local time zones, and with local facilities. That, I think, is the big difference we bring. And this is the way to overcome the challenge until the education system itself matures to take it forward.
Q. How do you see the Indian tooling industry keeping up with global competitive requirements?
A: If you have to meet global competitive requirements, you need the right infrastructure to do that. You can’t rely on old systems to deliver new results. By adopting advanced technologies locally, you bring yourself on par with the best, because these technologies are already being used in countries like Germany, France, Japan, and the US. So why not in Indian tool rooms as well?
In the last ten years, I would say the Indian tooling ecosystem has really invested in new technologies. The number of 3D scanners sold to tool rooms, the adoption of design software, and inspection software all have grown. From our side, we are quite satisfied with the response we’ve seen from the industry. At least the top commercial tool rooms in India almost all of them now have digital metrology as part of their daily work. So, it is very much on par.
This shift has been happening for the last ten years, and yes, it accelerated after COVID, but it didn’t start with COVID. Even before, there were conscious investments being made. For example, adoption of CAD/CAM software in tool rooms in India began twenty years ago and has kept pace with global standards. Maybe in other manufacturing segments there is still some lag, but when it comes specifically to tooling, I firmly believe the top tool rooms in India are right up there with advanced 3D methodologies worldwide.
Q. What major shifts do you see coming in the tooling and manufacturing ecosystem?
There are two areas where I see a big shift coming.
The first is the increase in the intensity of reverse engineering. Earlier, reverse engineering was mainly about benchmarking components. Now, it has become a way to maintain digital twins. Companies want to keep a digital twin of their dies, their parts, even their fixtures. In some areas, they want to eliminate fixtures altogether, and 3D engineering especially 3D inspection and 3D reverse engineering makes this possible. That, I believe, is going to be the first big shift.
The second shift is even bigger. Most companies today are looking at software for their processes not just for design and inspection, but to connect everything. The core activities are already being done, but now companies are saying that- I want all my inspection machines connected to a central database. I want my CAD model to carry all the product manufacturing information, and I want that captured right down to inspection. I want to get rid of paper. I want digital SOPs.
And this trend is already happening. The need is very clear, and companies have already started asking us for data management solutions that can link all their measurement devices. The solutions exist, the question now is how we meet this demand fast enough.
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