3D Printing, in recent years, has taken the technology world by storm. It has opened up a new pathway to realizing a realm of new design and manufacturing. Unlike traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques, 3D printing reverses the approach producing a three-dimensional object based on preset specifications provided by a computer file. That may sound complicated, but what it means is we can essentially manufacture anything we want provided we can design an accurate 3D model of it.
Morphedo, led by Manya and Sushil, the once college batchmates who are now happily married, is trying to do just that. They’ve revolutionized the way the product engineering industry in India approaches manufacturing by making 3D printing technology easily available and accessible. They work actively with R&D teams at Startups, Government bodies and large organizations to help them reduce their product development cycle, and go-to-market time. Morphedo is also recognized as an innovative startup by the Indian Government under the Startup India Scheme.
Beginning of the Journey
Manya Jha and Sushil Baranwal, the founders of Morphedo, were still college students at the time when they arrived at the idea of starting a company. Both Manya and Sushil were always fascinated by the idea of entrepreneurship and knew that they wanted to start a business together. After completing their B. Tech in Electronics, they were pursuing their MBA at BIMTECH in Noida when they founded Morphedo in 2015.
Morphedo was formed with the intention of raising the bar in the manufacturing technology space that could benefit their customers. Their biggest challenge was deciding which emerging technology was the need of the hour in the Indian market. Technology is constantly evolving but the rate of widespread adoption of new technology generally always lags behind the rate of innovation.
Initially, Morphedo launched as a 3D printing service that offered customers the opportunity to create their own custom designs for accessories like earrings and necklaces. Still students at BIMTECH, their college incubated Morphedo and provided them with a workspace to begin operations. It wasn’t always smooth sailing though, as Manya soon realized that their target audience was not as receptive to their services. Customers simply didn’t feel the need to pay the higher fees customized products when they could already avail readymade products from the market. Business was still coming in, but getting customers on board was an arduous task with limited returns.
The Turning Point
Soon after their graduation, Manya and Sushil shifted to Delhi where they started working out of a small two-room apartment. Dissatisfied with the way their business was going, Morphedo made the transition from a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) to Business-to-Business (B2B) modus operandi.
We were happy to see that the firms valued the technology we were bringing in to optimize their processes
SHARES MANYA
It was in the B2B sector where Manya found that Morphedo’s services were far more appreciated by other organizations. Businesses acknowledged that 3D printing technology was extremely beneficial to product design and manufacturing and noticeably contributed to workflow improvements across the board. The B2B format helped with customer retention as businesses would tend to come back with additional designs or ideas they wanted to have developed.
Morphedo’s Growth and Business Partners
After shifting their focus to servicing businesses and industrial requirements, Morphedo expanded their offerings to include a wide range of services. The company works as a technology partner for a lot of big brands as well as government bodies. As their contracts began to grow larger in scale, Morphedo ventured towards design and prototyping, while also focusing on research and development innovating in various fields such as Robotics, IoT, Aerospace, Defence, etc.
Luckily we did not have to focus on marketing at all. Our clients were so happy with our work that they would refer us to other businesses. Sometimes people would reach out to us based on our existing projects
Manya explains
The rate at which their business grew resulted in them requiring considerably more office space than their small apartment. They kept shifting to larger apartments every few months until they ultimately decided to move operations to a commercial space. They rented an office in Noida that could accommodate eight people, which again, they soon outgrew. After shifting offices every 8-9 months to keep up with their rapid growth, they’ve finally settled at their current base of operations that can accommodate up to fifty people in the office space along with a workshop.
Though both Manya and Sushil are from the same background and are equally proficient at the technical aspects of the company, usually Sushil manages the business development at Morphedo and Manya looks after the technology. “As a bootstrapped startup, founders have to be proficient in all aspects related to running a company”, Manya further elaborates.
Morphedo has had numerous projects with several major names in the industry including Nestle, HMEL, DRDO, Mahindra Defence, Indian Air Force (IAF), etc. That said, Manya asserts that being a start-up, they haven’t had the manpower to devote to marketing so their primary source of future contracts is through referrals given by past clients. This makes their list of clienteles all the more impressive, with recurring contracts coming in purely based on the quality of their services and word of mouth.
Major Projects undertaken by Morphedo
Morphedo designs products based on custom specifications provided by their clients and has had many high-profile contracts since its formation in 2015.
“Now at any point in the product development process, if it is an electromechanical product or IoT or AI-based product, we can provide the customer complete solutions, right from ideation to prototyping to mass production,” says Manya.
Manya adds that Morphedo recently worked on a project involving the development of an HVAC Air Filtration System – UVHeal SafeAir. She describes it as a UV Disinfection System intended to be used in Centralized AC configurations. The project has already been adopted in several parts of Dubai. The system is designed to be installed in both public as well as private spaces to minimize the risk of spread of airborne viruses or bacteria.
Another project undertaken by Morphedo was the design and manufacture of IoT enabled devices for e-rickshaws water dispensers deployed by Bharat Jal.
Morphedo is also working with the Ministry of Defence and DRDO to develop a Total Air Temperature Probe (TATP). This probe will be used as a Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) in Low Combat Aircrafts.
Future Plans
Morphedo is currently looking to build a concrete 3D printer, CONSTUM, an idea that is something right from the realms of Science Fiction. The 3-D printer extrudes concrete and creates structures on-site required for construction activities. This concrete printer will have applications in building entire houses, effectively eliminating the requirement of heavy machinery for laying concrete blocks. This idea was conceptualized once they realized there was a need to construct affordable housing without the heavy dependency on human labour and machinery. CONSTUM allows for construction of complex concrete designs while also keeping in mind sustainability of the solution.
Morphedo is constantly looking to innovate and has established itself in the product development and product engineering industry. Like most start-ups, Morphedo came from humble origins; driven by the desire of two individuals, Manya and Sushil, to make an impact. Completely bootstrapped since day one, the team at Morphedo have only themselves to credit for all their achievements thus far. Their innovative ideas along with the ability to adapt and evolve in different situations, exemplified by their custom designs/solutions is indicative of just how talented the individuals at Morphedo are. Actively involved in R&D with several start-ups, Government organizations and International Companies; Morphedo has shown their prowess providing services across every component of the product development spectrum.