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Industries 3D Printing Just Might Blow Up

OZY and GE are partnering to bring you an inside look into how additive manufacturing is changing the way things are made across industries and across the world.

"Additive manufacturing technologies are evolving at an exponential rate." Janelle Bernales, Boeing Research and Technology

At ozy.com - These Are the Industries 3D Printing Just Might Blow Up - JUN 13 2017

General Electric taps into the advantages of additive manufacturing for various industries it builds products for as well as others such as automotive and jewelry. This includes everything from aircraft engines to hip implants. Vigeant-Langlois says GE uses additive manufacturing to accomplish everything from simplifying supply chains to making more durable parts to producing customized implants for patients.

“We are not only a machine-maker but also a machine-user within the corporation,” she says, something that makes GE stand out — most companies in additive are either one or the other, seldom both. “That gives us unique advantages.” She describes the company as “one of the bearers of [additive] adoption.” At present, additive represents a mere 0.03 percent of production, according to Vigeant-Langlois, but she says that is about to change in a big way.

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“Additive manufacturing technologies are evolving at an exponential rate, and interest has increased dramatically in the aerospace manufacturing industry during the past few years,” says Janelle Bernales, communications specialist for Boeing Research and Technology. “The manufacturing flexibility of [additive] offers the potential to reduce the cost and weight of airspace structures and increase the ability of engineers to design optimized parts purely for their eventual function in a vehicle system.”

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Vigeant-Langlois says currently there is a challenge in finding people who are trained in additive, and who know how to design and bring parts to production.

“The American market for additive manufacturing is significantly underdeveloped relative to its potential,” she notes, adding that some companies are also keeping their additive activities under cover, because it gives them a competitive edge.

GE’s massive gas turbines use parts made through additive manufacturing, allowing for a structure that would be impossible with traditional methods.

“They’re keeping it a secret,” she says.

Still, with additive already disrupting industries, its language cannot remain a secret code forever.

“There’s this misconception that [additive] is ‘not yet for my industry,’ ” she says. “But it’s here for production in a big way. People’s eyes are going to open wide.”




GE’s massive gas turbines use parts made through additive manufacturing, allowing for a structure that would be impossible with traditional methods.

Source GE Aviation