How an eight-laser 3D printer could change how metal parts are made

A Bengaluru-based company has developed a metal 3D printing system that can mass-produce high-precision metal parts at nearly half the cost and in a fraction of the time taken by existing machines.

The system can be used not just to design components but to actually manufacture them at scale for sectors such as aerospace and defence.

Until now, metal 3D printing across India was largely limited to testing designs or producing small batches, as the process was too slow and expensive for large-scale manufacturing. The new system, called the iFusion Infinity Series, aims to address this by changing how metal 3D printing can be used on factory floors, moving it from experimental technology to a dependable manufacturing process.

The Metal 3D printing, though existed, its use has been restricted. Companies relied on it to make prototypes or a handful of complex parts, after which production would shift back to conventional manufacturing methods such as casting or machining. This was mainly because existing metal printers worked with one or two lasers, making the printing process extremely slow. A single production job could take several weeks to complete, driving up costs.

This system tackles this problem by allowing multiple lasers to work on the same metal part at the same time. According to the company, tasks that earlier required 400 to 650 hours on conventional dual-laser machines can now be completed in about 140 to 190 hours.

Applications

The product supports a wide range of industrial metals, including titanium, nickel-based superalloys, stainless steel, maraging steel, cobalt chrome, and copper alloys. These materials are commonly used in aircraft components, defence equipment, energy systems, automotive parts, and precision tooling. 

“The biggest shift is predictability. With shorter and stable build cycles, manufacturers can plan production schedules and calculate costs. This allows metal 3D printing to function like a regular production machine rather than a specialised testing tool,” Sridhar Balaram, founder and managing director, CEO, Intech Additive Solutions, said.

One of the biggest challenges, Mr. Balaram said, in scaling metal 3D printing is consistency. While existing printers can produce highly accurate parts, maintaining the same quality across dozens or hundreds of builds is difficult. Over time, variations in heat, laser performance, and powder spreading can lead to differences between parts.  

He added that this product has been designed to address this issue. Each of its eight lasers is calibrated to deliver identical energy, while the software continuously manages how the lasers overlap and interact. This ensures that a component printed in one corner of the build plate behaves the same way as one printed elsewhere.

The cost has been another major barrier to large-scale metal 3D printing. The company claims that its new system can reduce the cost per part by 35% to 50% compared to the existing dual-laser machines, depending on the geometry and batch size.

This reduction, Mr. Balaram pointed out, does not come from cheaper materials, but from higher throughput and better utilisation. “Faster builds mean the same machine can produce many more parts each year, spreading fixed costs such as machine time, manpower, and facility overheads across a larger output. As a result, parts that earlier made economic sense only in small numbers can now be produced in much larger volumes,” he added.