Toyota and Wipro 3D partner to build AM Center of Excellence in India

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) and Wipro 3D have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish an additive manufacturing Center of Excellence at the Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI) in Bidadi, India. The facility will provide hands-on training in AM technologies for industrial production, with Wipro 3D supplying technical expertise, workforce upskilling programs, and structured modules including internships, apprenticeships, live industry projects, and certification courses. On the production side, the CoE will support rapid prototyping, assembly aids, and on-demand parts manufacturing, which TKM states will reduce lead times and improve assembly line flexibility. The TTTI, established in 2007, doubled its annual intake to 2,400 students in 2023, with half the places reserved for female candidates.

This partnership fits the recurring pattern of automotive OEMs using AM primarily for tooling, jigs, fixtures, and prototyping rather than serial production — the industrial-tooling vertical remains the economically significant but media-invisible backbone of automotive AM adoption. Toyota’s approach here is notably conservative: rather than building in-house AM capability or pursuing high-volume metal part production, the company is investing in workforce development and low-risk production support applications. This aligns with the broader automotive AM pattern where narrow, qualification-light use cases (assembly aids, rapid prototyping) dominate, while serial-part adoption remains limited to a few high-value applications. The India location is strategic, leveraging the government’s Skill India Mission and the country’s growing position as an AM manufacturing hub, though the scale is modest — a single training center rather than a production facility.

From an expert perspective, this is a practical, low-capital move that builds AM literacy within Toyota’s Indian operations without committing to production-scale investment. The real test will be whether the CoE graduates transition into roles that drive AM adoption in Toyota’s supply chain, or whether the program remains a standalone training exercise. For now, it’s a sensible workforce development initiative that aligns with Toyota’s Kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement, but it does not signal a shift toward production-scale AM in automotive.