Problems drive the AM industry

Before attending the 2023 AMUG Conference, I was told exciting tales of networking lunches, themed evening parties, friendly competitions, and hands-on workshops. This one-of-akind event was filled with enthusiasm, camaraderie, and a commitment to advancing the additive manufacturing industry.

A common discussion point was that additive technology isn’t here to take over or magically solve all manufacturing problems. It’s an innovative solution for creating parts, next to machining and injection molding, that has advantages and drawbacks and lends itself well to specific applications.

Lightweight components with complex geometries are AM’s breadand-butter. Aerospace, defense, and medical are still the top sectors willing to adopt 3D printing and gain the most value. But collaboration across industries is where innovation really takes o .

Keynote speakers Rob Ducey, technical supervisor at LAIKA Studios, and Nicholas Jacobson, MDes, clinical research faculty at CU Anschutz Medical Campus, showed how an unlikely pair of AM enthusiasts could swap stories and solve problems together. Their “Collaboration Between an Animator, an Architect, and a Surgeon” discussion demonstrated the vast use cases for 3D printing and how leveraging the right technology can save lives.

In industry, most manufacturers’ current challenges are volume and scale. 3D printing has been traditionally used for prototyping and low-volume production, but there’s a push to integrate AM into highervolume applications. However, experts caution against viewing additive technology as the holy grail or buying 3D printers without thinking it through. As Diana Kalisz, vice president of materials for 3D Systems, explained on stage, there must be a reason and value for 3D printing.

“One of the biggest challenges to moving 3D printing into manufacturing is that you’ve got to have a champion on the customer side willing to stick their neck out and who knows what they need,” said Kalisz.

Customers often approach AM experts with a list of unnecessary attributes and desires that prompts engineers to go back to the drawing board and understand the problem better.

“Many people have no idea how hard it is to make anything,” said Kalisz.

Yet customers propel the industry every time they speak up about their problems and hint at desired solutions. AM experts who learn from customers build technology around what matters most. Customers keep the conversation going and are encouraged to share more so that the industry and technology can continuously advance.

“Don’t hide your problems,” said Kalisz. “We need to get more knowledge out there so the technology and industry can improve.”

The same can be said for any industry. Instead of shying away or viewing every problem as something that needs to be fixed, we can take a few steps back and learn to embrace failure as a starting point for something new and improved.

DW

Rachael Pasini rpasini@wtwhmedia.com