India has experienced a profound industrial transformation in recent years, solidifying its standing as a global manufacturing and development hub. This growth has been primarily propelled by ambitious government policies such as the "Make in India" initiative, which actively promotes domestic production and attracts significant foreign investment across various sectors. The energy sector has seen substantial growth, particularly in renewable energy with ambitious targets, alongside continued investment in conventional power. Furthermore, India's aviation sector is booming with increased air travel and fleet expansion, complemented by significant defense spending aimed at bolstering indigenous aerospace manufacturing and procurement of advanced military aircraft.
This extensive and complex industrial growth has directly amplified the demand for nondestructive testing (NDT), which is indispensable for ensuring the quality, safety, and reliability of assets throughout their entire lifecycle. NDT is crucial for compliance with stringent regulations, preventing costly downtime, and extending the operational life of critical infrastructure. In the energy sector, for instance, NDT methods are essential for inspecting boilers, pressure vessels, and piping in conventional power plants for defects and corrosion. For oil and gas, NDT is vital for ensuring the integrity of pipelines and storage tanks, while in renewables, it's used to assess wind turbine blades and solar panels for structural and performance flaws.
The impact on NDT demand is particularly pronounced in the aviation and aerospace defense sectors, where safety and reliability are paramount. In commercial aviation, NDT is fundamental during aircraft manufacturing, employing advanced techniques to inspect composite materials, metallic parts, and complex engine components for minute flaws. It is also the cornerstone of extensive Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) operations, identifying fatigue cracks, corrosion, and other forms of degradation in airframes and critical parts to ensure passenger safety and adherence to strict regulatory mandates. Similarly, in aerospace defense, the push for indigenous manufacturing and the acquisition of advanced military aircraft necessitate rigorous NDT protocols throughout production and maintenance to guarantee the operational readiness, safety, and reliability of high-performance defense assets. In the booming automotive sector, NDT plays a vital role in quality control throughout the manufacturing process, ensuring the integrity and safety of critical components like engine blocks, chassis, welds, and increasingly batteries for electric vehicle drivetrains, all of which are essential for meeting stringent safety standards and maintaining product reliability in a competitive global market.
Despite the solid growth across these industries, cost pressures weigh heavy on manufacturers and operators. Companies are therefore looking to safeguard the quality of their products while minimizing downtime for inspections and repairs and increasing their productivity to be ever more cost-efficient.
Waygate Technologies, a Baker Hughes business, is a global leader in nondestructive testing solutions, dedicated to helping customers from these industries increase their productivity and streamline manufacturing and maintenance processes for cost-effectiveness, while maintaining highest levels of quality and product safety.
A Robust Footprint in India: A Foundation for Innovation and Service
India, with its vibrant industrial landscape, burgeoning technological advancements, a cost-effective innovation ecosystem, and a rich talent pool, is a market of immense strategic importance for Waygate Technologies in general – a market that holds great potential for industrial inspection solutions. Companies from the electronics and automotive industries to aviation, space exploration, and energy are already working with Waygate Technologies to implement or improve their industrial inspection technologies and services. 
OnestopNDT Business Head Govind W. visits Waygate Technologies in Bangalore
Most collaborations with customers in India are driven from Bangalore, where Waygate Technologies for example, operates a critical engineering center that serves as a nucleus for innovation and development, driving advancements in core technologies and segments for Waygate Technologies, such as remote visual inspection (RVI), X-ray and computed tomography (CT), and ultrasonic testing (UT).
A cornerstone of Waygate Technologies' Indian strategy is its state-of-the-art Customer Solutions Center (CSC) in Bangalore. This multi-purpose facility is a vital hub for engineering refinement, application development and customization as well as a local touchpoint for customers to seek training or the help of Waygate Technologies experts in setting up the optimal inspection systems for their manufacturing or quality control needs. Overall, the CSC serves four purposes:
- Engineering Development: The CSC actively supports ongoing engineering development across various NDT technologies, ensuring its solutions are precisely tailored and optimized for local market needs.
- Component Evaluation and Application Development: Beyond standard offerings, the center engages in specialized component evaluation and application development. This bespoke approach addresses unique inspection challenges faced by Indian industries and customers of Waygate Technologies, providing customized solutions and adapting its global technologies to specific regional requirements. The CSC's ability to span across different technologies and industry applications creates a rare depth of knowledge and synergies for local customers.
- Customer Demonstrations: The CSC provides a dedicated space for showcasing Waygate Technologies' advanced NDT equipment, including computed tomography (CT) and 2D X-ray systems as well as remote visual inspection and UT equipment, allowing customers to have products tested before or without investing in an in-house inspection system.
- Training: The CSC is instrumental in training not only Waygate Technologies' sales and service teams, equipping them with the necessary expertise to effectively support customers, but also training customers in new systems. This ensures that customers receive the highest level of technical assistance and operational guidance.
Comprehensive NDT Portfolio: Solutions for Every Industry
Waygate Technologies offers the most comprehensive range of NDT solutions in India, which helps in catering to the diverse and evolving industrial inspection needs of the nation and addressing critical challenges across various sectors.
3D computed tomography (CT) is an advanced imaging technology that is critical for internal defect detection and dimensional analysis without disassembling components. CT solutions find significant applications in industries requiring high-resolution detection performance, such as the automotive sector, including EV batteries, or the aerospace industries for large composite materials and engines, for example. For inspecting dense or large components, high-energy CT systems provide the necessary penetration and resolution. The CSC in Bangalore is equipped with state-of-the-art CT systems for demonstrations and application development.
Waygate Technologies also provides comprehensive 2D X-ray field radiography solutions for both traditional film-based radiography and modern digital radiography. Its digital imaging team in India is at the forefront of developing AI-based applications to enhance defect recognition and streamline inspection processes, moving towards a more efficient and accurate future.
Employee operating an industrial computed tomography (CT) system in Waygate Technologies’ Customer Solutions Center in Bangalore
Ultrasonic testing (UT) solutions are widely used for detecting flaws, measuring thickness, and characterizing materials. In India, UT is particularly vital for energy sector and steel applications like plate, tube and weld inspections, ensuring the integrity of critical infrastructure. Waygate Technologies’ dedicated UT software development team in India further enhances these offerings, providing localized and specialized software solutions for their widely known Krautkrämer product line.
Employees at the Bangalore CSC working on Krautkrämer ultrasonic testing devices
Remote visual inspection (RVI): RVI technologies, including advanced video borescopes, are essential for inspecting hard-to-reach areas in complex machinery, minimizing downtime and maximizing efficiency. The engineering center in Bangalore is actively involved in developing RVI solutions, particularly for engine inspections and Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) operations in the demanding aerospace sector. In addition, borescope technology is regularly used for maintenance in the power generation sector.
Software and AI Capabilities: Powering the Future of NDT from India
A significant competitive advantage for Waygate Technologies in India lies in its robust software and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Its dedicated digital team, responsible for the cloud-based inspection data management platform InspectionWorks, is entirely based out of India, underscoring the country's pivotal role in Waygate Technologies' global software development strategy. This team is also at the forefront of developing AI-based applications across the company’s NDT portfolio, transforming how industries approach inspection. One focus of these AI-enhanced tools is assisted defect recognition (ADR), which helps streamline inspection processes and addresses the challenge of increasing shortages in highly skilled inspection staff.
Waygate Technologies, for instance, has developed in-house analytics specifically tailored for aerospace inspection tasks, including automated blade counting and an AI-based defect detector for aircraft engines. Working together with global OEMs in addressing predominant MRO inspection needs, Waygate Technologies integrated these analytics into next-generation borescopes to make inspections faster and more efficient.
The Mentor Visual iQ+ video borescope delivers comprehensive inspection findings
Next to these globally designed AI-tools and software platforms, the digital solutions team of Waygate Technologies in India also localizes and customizes software for its inspection systems, as well as analytics and reporting software for customers in market and the company is exploring partnerships with companies in India to develop customized inspection solutions.
India's vibrant ecosystem of young, skilled talent in software development, AI, and machine learning is, therefore a critical asset for Waygate Technologies. The country boasts numerous institutions providing high-quality education in these fields, creating a large pool of young talent who can become the engineers who shape the inspection solutions of the future.
Navigating the Indian Market: Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic Imperatives
Waygate Technologies emphasizes a customer-centric approach, combining local expertise with its global reach. It tailors its solutions to regional needs while leveraging its global innovation network, ensuring that its customers in India receive world-class technology adapted to their specific operational environments.
The industrial inspection market in India presents several unique challenges and distinctive characteristics compared to other regions. For example, pressure on cost-effectiveness weighs heavily on industrial companies across all sectors. And while sales cycles can be lengthy and bureaucratic in general, particularly India’s public sector has very strict procurement norms. The government’s “Make in India” initiative furthermore drives a preference for locally manufactured products. Through its local presence, Waygate Technologies understands these requirements and works with customers to not only offer cost-effective solutions but deliver lasting value. The local team has also established relationships with private and government partners to navigate procurement needs. Lastly, the company is exploring and building partnerships with local manufacturers to support the government’s onshoring initiative.
Indian customers also highly value quick turnaround times for service and repairs, often expecting 24/7 availability, which Waygate Technologies is addressing through a robust and responsive service infrastructure, meeting these high expectations along the lifecycle of its NDT solutions.
India's rapid industrialization, coupled with proactive government initiatives and increasingly stringent quality standards, is driving a substantial demand for advanced industrial inspection solutions and thus creates manifold opportunities for NDT providers. This demand is particularly pronounced in high-growth sectors such as electric vehicles (EV), semiconductors, and aerospace (including defense), where Waygate Technologies already sees its expertise is highly valued.
The pressure on cost-effectiveness also means that the Indian market provides a cost-effective environment for research, development, and innovation. This efficiency allows Waygate Technologies to develop and refine its solutions effectively, making them more competitive globally and accessible to a wider range of customers.
Lastly, India offers a vast and highly skilled talent pool, particularly in engineering, software development, and emerging technologies like AI and machine learning. This human capital is a critical asset for the innovation and development efforts of Waygate Technologies, allowing the company to continuously expand its software and AI capabilities beyond its core team in India and capitalize on the increasing demand for smart, automated inspection solutions.
Waygate Technologies is more than just a provider of NDT solutions in India; it is a partner in progress. As part of the Industrial & Energy Technology business segment of Baker Hughes, Waygate Technologies is part of a wider office and workforce infrastructure in India that encompasses some 3.000 employees across ten offices in major operational hubs, including Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Coimbatore, and Kochi.
Contact: bakerhughes.com/waygate-technologies
