Sigma Labs Inc (SASI)

[GetRich1day]

Well said Jackle. I always encourage investors to watch what's happening in the AM industry. There have been delays but things should be ramping up later this year.

Airbus is renegotiating delivery schedules for its revamped A320neo jet and has told some airlines it will be delayed by about two months, industry sources said.
The European planemaker missed a 2015 target for delivering the first aircraft, an upgraded fuel-saving version of its best-selling medium-haul jet, by a few weeks due to what it described as issues with documentation for new Pratt & Whitney engines.
Industry sources have pointed to delays in deliveries of the newly-developed Geared Turbofan engine from its U.S. manufacturer, a subsidiary of United Technologies.
There was no immediate word on the number of aircraft affected or the full range of expected delays.
Airbus and Pratt & Whitney confirmed they were in talks over deliveries, without elaborating.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-a320neo-idUKKCN0VE1IC

Pratt & Whitney, the entity that manages the engine business of the United Technologies, claims that it has about 7,000 orders for the engine. However, nearly 44% of the company’s 6000 suppliers are unable to ensure timely delivery and quality control targets of the company. This has put the engine delivery schedules of the company in jeopardy. To avoid the delays, the company has resorted to duplicate manufacturers for engine parts. However, it is yet to yield significant results.

General Electric, the main competitor of United Technologies, is currently in the process of ramping up production of its single-aisle engine, the LEAP, developed under a joint-venture with French engine manufacturer Safran SA. GE holds the largest market share in the single aisle jet category. Both conglomerates do business with the same suppliers. This has put the suppliers under tremendous pressure.

The indicative price of LEAP engine is $13 million. However, aircraft industries pay only $3.7 million for the engines. This corresponds to a whopping discount of about 70% on the listed price. As the research firm Cowen found, to manage the competition, United Technologies had to trim its price for the GTF planes. That was more evident after CFM International (a subsidiary of GE) became the main engine supplier for Boeing 737.

Since new aircrafts are not developed frequently, the engine manufacturers are more concerned with grabbing as many orders as they possibly could as the opportunity will not present again for a long-span of time.

United Technologies also had an issue with its software recently. The software that manages the engine was sending out ‘nuisance messages’ while flying. Similarly, a key engine component had to be tweaked to avoid the need to cool the engine before starting it again.

http://www.top10binary.net/united-technologies-turns-bearish-on-supply-chain-issues

It's important to understand the relationships in the AM industry. The fuel nozzles are being built for the LEAP engines. The LEAP engines are going into Airbus A320 NEO, Boeing 737-MAX and the Chinese-produced COMAC C919. Any delays in the supply chain will impact when those fuel nozzles will start being mass produced at the world’s first high-volume 3D printing plant.