Peekay Group’s State-of-the-Art 3D Printing Facility Opens at Bengaluru Airport City

2022-07-22

A state-of-the-art 3D printing facility is now operational at the Airport City that is being developed in the BLR Airport premises. The Peekay Group in partnership with Bengaluru Airport City Limited (BACL) inaugurated this first-of-its-kind facility, that focuses on engineering, design and collaboration.

"We are excited to inaugurate this state-of-the-art 3D printing facility at our Airport City and partner with the Peekay Group. This facility will act as a catalyst to help transform our Airport City into a technology hub. From healthcare to sustainable construction and aerospace, 3D printing helps develop a culture of creativity and scope for scaling innovation across industries. This technology will further help consolidate Bengaluru’s strategic position as a knowledge-based economy, and as the Silicon Valley of India. A technology hub coupled with upcoming world-class retail, dining, and entertainment facilities will make our Airport City a truly global destination,” says Rao Munukutla, CEO, BACL.

The facility houses a production centre and an experience zone that will train individuals and students in 3D printing. It will also be an incubation centre for those who want to ideate innovative solutions. One of the aims of this new set-up is to increase awareness about 3D printing applications and to train technology experts who want to upgrade their skills.

“With our vast experience and the trust for quality, delivery and cost which we have built over the last few decades, we are confident that Peekay can contribute immensely towards skill development, design-based thinking, and optimisation of products for customer benefit. Over and above this, we intend to tie up with world-renowned universities to embark on various training programs and symposiums to nurture the enthusiasm and creativity in today’s youth by utilising design-based reasoning as a foundation to synchronise all manufacturing processes,” says K.E. Shanavaz, Joint Managing Director, Peekay Group.

Additive Manufacturing popularly known as 3D Printing is used widely in industries like architecture, construction, automotive, aerospace, military, biotech (human tissue replacement) jewellery designing, education, and other fields. Going forward, the Peekay Group plans to install a 3D metal printing unit to cater to the niche demand from the aerospace industry. “With the various additive manufacturing processes, we are planning to add to this facility, we believe we can create a considerable number of high-quality jobs in the aerospace industry in the future. Furthermore, the social impact will be notable with the adoption of ‘The Go Green’ concept which will spearhead the reduction of our carbon footprint,” adds Shanavaz.

The global 3D printing market size is estimated to reach US$ 62.79 billion by 2028 and is expected to witness a CAGR of 21.0% from 2021 to 2028. McKinsey predicts that Additive Manufacturing could have an economic impact of $550 billion annually by 2025.

Traditional manufacturing impacts the environment negatively, however, 3D printing is an eco-friendly technology that reduces carbon footprint significantly. The giant 3D sand printing machine that is installed at Airport City is the first of its kind globally. It is the most efficient and environmental-friendly machine with no carbon emission-- in line with Bangalore International Airport Limited’s sustainability framework. The Airport City is developed as an international gateway to a Sustainable, Smart, Vibrant city celebrating a culture of innovation. The collaboration between BACL and Peekay is a significant milestone for future endeavours in this space.

“We are actively making our Airport City truly smart. Our smart streetlight system is the first of its kind in an airport ecosystem in India. We have been awarded the ‘Most Innovative Best Practice for Project Digitalisation of Infrastructure Development in Bengaluru Airport City’ by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII),” added Rao Munukutla.