FEATURE u Plastics & Injection Moulding
3D printing is seen as a revolution in design. Changes can be arranged quickly, without the costs of creating new tools
Total cost of ownership – unwrapping the hidden costs of manufacturing
By Henrike Wonneberger, COO and Co-Founder of Replique
one thing in mind: production costs. Like this, new technologies such as 3D printing/additive manufacturing are often seen as expensive. However, production costs are just the tip of the iceberg and to understand the real cost of a part it is necessary to uncover the invisible and look at the total cost of ownership (TCO). TCO describes all direct and indirect costs
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throughout the entire lifetime of a part, and this makes it more complicated to define, but also the most accurate metric to compare certain production technologies, such as injection moulding and 3D printing.
THE DESIGN DISASTER The ‘rule of 10’ states that for each stage of assembly a design defect is not detected, it costs 10 times more to find and resolve. This makes it highly necessary to get the design right within the first step. If a mistake in design happens using injection moulding, the created mould has to be changed, already produced and stored parts have to be scrapped, and production has to start from the scratch.
3D printing is seen as a revolution in design
and prototyping. Design changes can be arranged quickly and without the costs of creating new tools. Moreover, it can work on-demand, just producing the number of parts that is needed, consequently immensely reducing the cost impact of a design mistake in the different stages.
hen thinking about costs of a part, many engineers and purchasers tend to only have
THE MANUFACTURING MIGRAINE To define production costs, a look at fixed and variable costs is necessary. Fixed costs describe investment costs such as for tooling and moulds. Variable costs on the other hand appear per part, e.g. energy costs and salary. Overall, the costs of production change are drastically depending on the production volume. Injection moulding requires relatively high
initial investments in tooling and operating equipment. Once the initial investment costs have been amortised, traditional manufacturing will generally become more competitive, as the costs per unit continue to decrease with increasing numbers. 3D printing on the other hand only requires a 3D file. This results in lower costs per unit for small production volumes.
SUPPLY CHAIN SNARES Supply chain related costs are part of the more hidden cost structure and where OEMs can employ a decentralised production strategy with several smaller manufacturing facilities placed globally, this requires further investment in machinery and labour. Minimum order quantities must be met to make production viable, so storage is required. Parts might get obsolete and have to be scrapped. Additive manufacturing combined with a digital inventory and decentral production can solve several supply chain challenges. A digital inventory eliminates the costs and risks of storage. Parts are available whenever they are needed and can be produced on-demand.
28 December/January 2023 Irish Manufacturing
With a decentral production network parts can be printed at the needed location. By this, 3D printing can not only produce substantial savings but can also mitigate supply chain risks.
CONSEQUENTIAL COSTS There is one further aspect. Consequential costs often occur as a result of a breakdown or other errors, and they are highly dependent on the lead time. In such time-critical situations, 3D printing additionally plays an important role in mitigating the risk of delivery delays (due to an interrupted supply chain), as the part can easily be produced at any local print farm close to the consumer. Even for high-volume parts, where traditional
manufacturing is generally the more cost- effective solution, setting up 3D printing as a supplementary manufacturing method might be economically attractive, giving the OEM the ability to react quickly in case of emergencies. Of course, to benefit from this, that the OEM will need the right partner with a network of reliable suppliers that work in industrial grade quality. Thankfully, there are now companies that can undertake the whole process on behalf of OEMs. Replique offers an end-to-end solution for OEMs from design, qualification, digital storage and on-demand decentral production. For OEMs it’s worth doing a little research into available options to significantly cut costs using 3D printing. After all, who wouldn’t favour relinquishing the complexity of producing and handling parts to another party while reducing their TCO? Replique
www.replique.io www.irish-manufacturing.com
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