STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
Ford Motor Co. is exploring how large-scale one-piece auto parts could be printed for prototyping and future production vehicles. Ford is the fi rst automaker to put the Stratasys Infi nite Build 3D printer to use.
Desktop 3D Printers The proliferation of desktop (under $5000) 3D printers con- tinues unabated. Almost weekly, a new company emerges with a clone machine that mimics fused deposition modeling (FDM) from Stratasys, or a variation of stereolithography (SL), originally commercialized by 3D Systems. Most of the FDM clones use ABS or PLA, while the SL clones use photopolymer and often digital light processing (DLP) in combination with LEDs. Many of these machines are going to companies of all sizes for concept modeling and limited prototyping. It often does not make sense anymore to tie up $300,000 machines to produce early design models when much of it can be done on inexpen- sive 3D printers. According to our research, the average selling price of desktop 3D printers is $1055, so many educational institutions are buying them in large numbers to equip entire labs and provide opportunities for hands-on learning.
Number of Startups
Startup companies of all types are seemingly coming out the woodwork. An almost endless number of ideas around software, cloud services, materials, and machines are lead- ing to hundreds of new companies and business models worldwide. As with most startups, they are small and being
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AdvancedManufacturing.org | April 2017
rolled out locally, so unless you can read the native language Web sites (Chinese, Korean, etc.), it is diffi cult to know much about some of them.
Large Organizations Major corporations and brands are offering, or preparing to
offer, AM machines, materials, and/or services. Among them are Canon, GE, HP, Lenovo, Polaroid, Ricoh, Siemens, and Toshiba. Others include Alcoa, Autodesk, BASF, Dassault Sys- tèmes, Dow Corning, Praxair, SAP, and Toshiba. The level of commitment that these companies have made thus far varies, although the actions taken by some have been surprising. Meanwhile, other large corporations are gearing up to manufacture signifi cant parts and products using AM. Most of them have used AM for many years for aesthetics, ergo- nomics, fi t and function testing, and some types of tooling. Using it to deliver production volumes, however, is an entirely different animal. Among these companies are Airbus, Aston Martin, Jabil, Honda, Lockheed Martin, Reebok, Stryker, and Under Armour. Jabil, for example, is one of the largest con- tract manufacturers in the world and has built an AM team of more than 30 employees. One year ago, it consisted of fewer than fi ve people. John Dulchinos, vice president of Global
Photo courtesy Ford Motor Co.
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