Arcam AB fka AMAVF

[charlie T colton]

3D-Printing Gets Ready to Change Design and Manufacturing

No direct mention of Arcam but a couple of references to GE and Boeing. The article is about where the state of additive manufacturing is today and where it might go in the future.
To get a snapshot of where 3D printing technology is today, we talked with Kent Firestone, COO of Stratasys Direct Manufacturing.

At machinedesign.com - 3D Printing Gets Ready to Change Design and Manufacturing - Apr 17, 2017

A section of the text:

What tasks do you see 3D printing handling for manufacturers 10 years from now? What are the hurdles on the part of 3D-printer companies and on the part of manufacturers that stand in the way of this vision? Then what is your vision for 3D printing 20 years from now?

Firestone: Ten years from now, 3D printing will be an even more integral part of manufacturers’ production process. Thanks to technology and materials advancements, Stratasys Direct Manufacturing envisions more mid- and high-volume production as well as greater proliferation of production-parts manufacturing.

The hurdles to getting there are the same challenges we talked about earlier—equipment and material costs, production speeds, material options, standardization, etc. We’ve started to see a glimpse of what technologies and capabilities are down the road with the debut of Stratasys’ Robotic-Composite and Infinite Build 3D Demonstrators in addition to others like Carbon and the Figure 4. Manufacturers will also have to think about personnel and internal expertise, in-house vs. outsourced production, and supply chain disruption.

It’s hard to say where the industry will be 20 years from now, given how much has changed in the past few years alone. However, we see 3D printing taking on a more prominent production role in the manufacturing world, specifically when it comes to high-volume runs of production parts. It’s likely more large and midsize OEMs will follow the leads of GE, Boeing, and other pioneers in incorporating the technology into their production processes to not only unlock new design capabilities, but also to improve their bottom lines.

Do you see any quantum leaps in 3D printing coming down the pike? If so, can you give us an idea of what they are? Or will advances be more incremental in terms of speed, build size, quality of finished product, materials used?

Developments in design tools and education, along with a surge in industry visionaries, hold the potential to move the industry forward in big ways. Most CAD software is built around current manufacturing methods, which doesn’t allow 3D printing to maximize its design abilities. If new software is created, then education and training will have to follow. In terms of industry visionaries, if more and more major companies follow the lead of GE and Boeing by making sizable investments in the technology, then they will also propel the industry forward. Just like Samsung, Google, and Microsoft had to respond when Apple introduced the iPhone, manufacturing giants have to respond in kind or risk being left behind.




Again, I like the comparison to Apple.