Brief introduction to several ways in which additive manufacturing technology subverts traditional manufacturing

Driven by “Made in China 2025”, Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology has ushered in a period of rapid development, and the technical bottleneck has been continuously broken, and the market space is huge. It is a technique for manufacturing solid parts by CAD design data and using material layer by layer accumulation method. Compared with the traditional material removal (cutting) technology, it is a “bottom-up” material accumulation manufacturing method. Since the late 1980s, additive manufacturing technology has gradually developed, and it has also been called “material accumulation manufacturing”, “rapid prototyping”, “layered manufacturing”, “physical free manufacturing”, “3D printing technology” and so on.

Brief introduction to several ways in which additive manufacturing technology subverts traditional manufacturing

Additive manufacturing technology eliminates the need for traditional tools, fixtures, and multiple processing steps. It uses 3D design data to quickly and accurately produce parts of any complex shape on a single device, enabling “free manufacturing” and solving many of the past. The formation of complex structural parts is manufactured, and the machining process is greatly reduced, and the machining cycle is shortened. And the more complex the product, the more obvious the speed advantage of its manufacture.
1 Really fast prototyping

For nearly two decades, 3D printing has been used to turn new parts or product designs into real objects. This process is often referred to as rapid prototyping, but it is often not fast, and service providers often take a week or more to deliver a product. But recent breakthroughs in automation have resulted in day-to-day production and shipments in some cases. These changes are breaking the design cycle dramatically. It took a month or three to make three or four design changes during the prototype manufacturing phase, but now it only takes a week. Products get to market faster, and companies save a lot of time and money.
2 Fast design iteration (A/B testing of physical products)

3D printing has expanded from prototyping to first-round production, enabling true market testing and rapid design iteration. Ford (Ford) is an example. In most of the company's history, if engineers want to test a prototype engine, they must make a new mold. This process usually takes six months and costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, Ford can use 3D printing to produce molds in just four days at a cost of just $4,000. Taking into account the significant reduction in time and cost, Ford recently decided not to build a prototype engine for a new car, but to test multiple prototype engines at the same time. Engineers are no longer limited by old industrial processes, able to explore dozens of design changes and rigorously test to improve engine performance.

Advances in 3D printing production will eventually blur the line between prototypes and products. Small companies will benefit from this technology and can launch innovative products without incurring huge inventory costs. Multiple versions of industrial components and even consumer products can be tested for use in the final focus group of the market. A/B testing in the digital world can now be done in the real world.

3 small batch production

According to the traditional production process, the company must make tools or molds before a single terminal component is put into production. If the mold costs $50,000 and costs $0.50 per part, the cost of the first part is $50,000.5! If you produce millions of parts, then this problem will be solved, but if you only produce 500? 3D printing does not have any production preparation costs. Now, for small batch production of less than 1,000 pieces, most companies see 3D printing as an alternative to cost savings. Fast forward to the inevitable and not too distant future, when the cost of 3D printing production drops by 95% or more, the "Made in China" label will become a collector's item.

4 Mass customization

Previously, if you wanted to change your knees, the nurse would take a box and walk straight into the operating room. The doctor would pick the one that he thought would be the most similar to your knee from the five possible knee designs. Now your knees will be scanned and a perfect replica will be printed out for the subsequent surgery. This is an example of mass customization. Mass customization refers to the mass production of a product, each of which is custom made. Invisalign has built a multi-million dollar business to produce orthodontic devices using 3D printing, each of which is fully customizable. Almost every company is now exploring how to use product customization to better serve customers and increase profits.

5 virtual inventory

When manufacturing a new product, the manufacturing company usually also produces a large number of spare parts to meet the needs of 10 years or more. But the cost of holding inventory is high. Costs include production inventories, losses (loss or stolen parts), obsolescence, storage, insurance, tracking and distribution. What is your company's storage fee? How many parts do you need each year? Why not print on demand? With 3D printing production, you can produce what you need at the time and place you need. Virtual inventory can help every company that uses manufacturing products to increase efficiency. As virtual inventory becomes mainstream, inventories around the world will soon be significantly reduced.
Brief introduction to several ways in which additive manufacturing technology subverts traditional manufacturing

6 parts long tail

3D printing not only overturns the initial production stages of multi-year inventory, but also fundamentally changes the way companies think about the end of the product life cycle. Now, a refrigerator that has been in use for 10 years and has normal mechanical operation but has two shelves or a strip is likely to be treated as a waste. After serving for 10 years, all the parts produced for this refrigerator have been exhausted. The manufacturer will consider this product to be "dead" and no longer provide repair services. But with 3D printing production, you now have the "long tails of parts." As long as you keep the digital design files, you can print any part when you need it. Old products that are still useful will not become waste, and their lifetime will not be predetermined due to the constraints of mass production. The “long tail” fundamentally changes the way designers and engineers think and arrange product survival.
Brief introduction to several ways in which additive manufacturing technology subverts traditional manufacturing

7 Production innovation revival

The entry barrier for 3D printing is lower and makes more complex and useful objects possible, opening a new era for product innovation. The proliferation of design possibilities will eventually prompt existing companies to reflect on almost all of their products. Companies are already replacing traditional production methods with 3D printing production in order to take advantage of their outstanding design capabilities and flexible production schedules. General Electric (GE) is using a 3D metal printer to produce a completely redesigned fuel injection system for jet engines, reducing the number of parts from 21 to one, and including geometry that is impossible with any other production method. Shape, which greatly improves efficiency. As companies reshape themselves from redesigning existing products to creating new products that are unimaginable today, this revival of innovation will only get faster and faster.

In summary, additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology provides a historic opportunity for the development and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry. Additive manufacturing can quickly and efficiently achieve the physical prototype of new products, providing a fast technical approach to product development. This technology reduces the technical and personnel technology threshold of the manufacturing industry, helps to promote the micro-manufacturing service industry, effectively raises the level of employment, helps activate social wisdom and financial resources, realizes the restructuring of the manufacturing industry, and promotes the change of manufacturing industry. Strong.