An AM Perspective, Series Recap

I recently completed a 7-part series of blog posts sharing my perspective as a veteran of the aerospace and defense additive manufacturing.?I've loved hearing from many of you, both in the comments and directly as I published these, and I look forward to continuing many of those discussions.

Recap:

Part 1 – Am I an Additive Manufacturing outsider yet?

• My personal discovery of the value of AM came from having printed tools come to the rescue on two different projects.
• There is a significant quantity of polymer AM parts flying today, and it's because the impact of AM in A&D can be significant, and some of the table stakes requirements like traceability and repeatability have been addressed.

Part 2 – Where’s the real value in additive?

• Design - Gets all the hype and offers the greatest long term value, but is not yet having the impact it could due to multiple constraints and barriers.
• Supply Chain - Where the money is being made today. Not taking full advantage of AM-enabled design, but because of flexibility, the flat cost-curve and the resulting low volume economics

Part 3 – Mass production or just production of mass?

• Printing is an alternative process which is optimal for AM-enabled designs and low volume economics. It does not and should not replace manufacturing technologies where there is already a good fit.
• Something about a microwave cookbook from the 70s.

Part 4 – Polymer or Metal??Yes, please.

• Metal AM has the opportunity for the greatest impact due to the high requirement applications it can enable, but because of those high requirements, it also has the highest barriers to entry.
• Polymer AM, in the mean time, is paying the bills for metal AM development while delivering significant (and often underappreciated) value on its own.

Part 5 – The right type of supplier.

• While in-house AM is key to reducing barriers to adoption, specialized suppliers are an enabling force. Especially while there remain gaps in knowledge and qualification processes, consolidating expertise within a handful of highly capable suppliers is key.

Part 6 – Where does it go from here?

• The A&D industry has been revolutionized by composites. True composite AM (multi-axis, long fiber) is the next logical step both for composites and for AM.
• Multi-functionality in design, where the same mass is used for multiple purposes, and hybridization, where AM is combined with other processes, extends AM's light-weighting value.

Part 7 – Unsolicited Additive Advice.

• Play to your strengths.
• Focus on the gaps and hard to manufacture.
• View the whole picture.