STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
industry will use AM for production, but it is still too costly for mainstream parts at companies such as Audi, Fiat Chrysler, and Toyota. These and other auto companies are carefully evaluating systems, materials, and costs, and planning for the day when they can adopt AM for the production of some types of parts. With recent advances in AM, this day could come much sooner than later.
Printing of Electronics
AM systems for printed electronics have been commer- cialized by Optomec, Nano Dimension, and others. A time will come when it will be possible to print electronics into the interior of an enclosure, rather than designing an enclosure to accommodate a printed circuit board. However, this will likely develop years in the future. It is currently possible to print conductive materials for antennas, sensors, and strain gages, even inside the walls of a part. This is currently the business opportunity and “low-hanging fruit” for the printing of electronics.
Challenge and Opportunities
The AM industry is faced with many challenges and obstacles. Near the top is the cost of industrial machines and materials for production applications. In the recent past, it has been simply too expensive to use AM for the production of most parts and products. This is expected to change as more patents expire, novel methods are developed and commercialized, and competi- tion drives prices downward. A major challenge is an un- derstanding of design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) in the current workforce. Wohlers Associates esti- mates that far less than 1% of prac- ticing engineers and designers that need to understand DfAM have the appropriate knowledge and skills. If a company wants to manufacture with AM today, it is usually neces- sary to apply strong methods of DfAM, such as consolidating many parts into a lesser number of parts. In building a strong business case, it is also important to design parts that use less material and are lighter
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in weight—strengths of AM, yet relatively few people have the experience or tools, or even a basic understanding that would allow them to do so.
Another big challenge is the necessary know-how and labor involved in postprocessing parts after they have been removed from the AM machine’s build chamber. For metal parts, as many as 10 or more distinct and often expensive postprocessing steps may be required. If many of these steps are not streamlined or automated in some way, the expensive labor involved can make it next to impossible to justify the cost of using AM for production. Companies that have successfully adopted AM have invested a lot in postprocessing methods and automation, but they do not share this intellectual property with others for competitive reasons. A database of methods and know- how is not available, so most companies must shoulder the burden of developing these methods on their own. This is expensive and time-consuming, especially with so much trial and error involved.
Jobs
As the AM industry expands, so does the need for people with experience and special skills in AM. As compa- nies increasingly manufacture parts with the technology, the need for knowledgeable and experienced people will magni-
Prototype of a center console begins to give an idea of the scale of parts that can be manufactured using the Statasys Infi nite Build printer.
Photo courtesy Ford Motor Co.
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