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[charlie T colton]

7 Examples of How 3D-Printing is Being Used in Manufacturing Today

It's not a video of the keynote presentation at the CMTS but the next best thing. Kirk Rogers, technology lead at the GE Center for Additive Technology in Pittsburgh, talks more about additive products having better "value added" properties than the technologies used to produce them. Not one mention of lasers or electron beams. Lower production costs depending on volume and lead time reduction are repeated over and over.

At engineering.com -7 Examples of How 3D Printing is Being Used in Manufacturing Today - September 27, 2017

The introduction:

Kirk Rogers, technology lead at the GE Center for Additive Technology in Pittsburgh, seems to think so. In a keynote presentation at the Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show (CMTS), he discussed several examples of how GE is using additive manufacturing today.

To put these examples in context, Rogers outlined five levels of complexity for AM parts:

Level 0 – Jigs and Fixtures
Level 1 – Components
Level 2 – Subsystems
Level 3 – Functional Integration
Level 4 – Advanced Functionalities (self-assembly, embedded functional electronics, etc.)

Rogers was adamant that every manufacturer—from giants like GE to SMEs—should be experimenting with Level 0 in order to get into what he described as the additive manufacturing mindset. “Just like lean manufacturing is a mindset change, additive is a mindset change as well,” Rogers said.


The concluding section:

The Future of Additive Manufacturing

Rogers is certainly optimistic about the prospects for additive manufacturing, particularly in the medical and dental industry, the aerospace industry and even the automotive industry. However, he’s also realistic about the place of 3D printing technology in manufacturing as a whole.

“Of the parts that we’ve made at our additive manufacturing center,” said Rogers “85 percent have required traditional manufacturing technologies, like machining.”

So, although additive is growing at a rapid pace—two years ago, GE had one additive production part; last year, it was four; this year it will be 30 and next year 100—it’s not going to supplant traditional manufacturing entirely.

However, that doesn’t mean you can afford to ignore the sweeping changes additive technology will bring about, even if you’re a small job shop. To that point, Rogers offered the following advice to SMEs: “Don’t go after direct parts: start with the lower levels and if you’re successful, ask your customers about more complex applications.”




(Image courtesy of the author.)



(Image courtesy of the author.)