For anyone involved in the trillion-dollar metal fabrication industry, managing these issues and expediting parts production unlocks significant advantages. That’s why manufacturers across multiple industries are starting to invest in and experiment with additive manufacturing, or AM.

Business Opportunities in Additive Manufacturing

Conventional manufacturing contains both normal and special processing steps, performed in a series as part of a manufacturing plan. AM essentially combines the two processing types, simultaneously shaping the part and applying thermal conditioning. The economics of doing this vary greatly depending on the type of part made and its intended use. But in some cases, they make a strong case for additive manufacturing technologies.

It might be economically viable to use the additive manufacturing process instead of traditional processing steps when production quotas vary frequently. Imagine you’re expecting to produce 500 parts one month, and the order jumps to 1,500 parts the next month — this scenario makes it hard to plan for receiving/storing raw materials (e.g., cast or forged billets, slabs, rods, etc.) at a warehouse or production facility. In AM, raw materials are in the form of powdered metal feedstock, which is more economical to transport and store. That also makes it easier to produce parts on-site rather than at a distant production facility.

Minimizing waste is another financial benefit of additive manufacturing. The fly-to-buy ratio, which compares the weight of production materials to the weight of a finished product, can be as high as 10 with conventional manufacturing. Because AM can create “near net shape” parts requiring minimal post-build machining, that ratio can get much lower — particularly when also considering metal powder recycling strategies.

As significant as the additive manufacturing impact factor may be, it can’t replace all aspects of conventional metal parts production. Large components like aircraft landing gear can’t meet stringent structural design requirements via existing or near-future types of additive manufacturing, so it will continue to be manufactured conventionally.

AM methods can also create unexpected friction between the standard and special processing steps in production. For instance, 3D printing can produce parts with complex geometry, but that same complexity may make the parts harder; as a result, it might be more expensive to put those parts through post-build machining. The processes used in AM — versus conventional methods — can create parts with complex and variable material microstructures. Even though the underlying metal alloys may be the same, the different processes can produce vastly different material properties that influence performance.

The additive manufacturing process creates exciting opportunities in the economics of a business, but those opportunities are not universal. It’s critical for anyone eager to implement additive manufacturing technologies to evaluate where they can and cannot improve on metal parts production in ways that elevate the bottom line.

Make sure you reach the right conclusions with the help of VEXTEC. Contact us to learn more about how additive manufacturing can boost your bottom line.

Perhaps this was the goal of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam in June when he returned from his economic development trip to Asia unwilling to share details with the public.  Soon after his departure, a flurry of news reports and blogs surfaced wanting to know why he would not share the details of his agenda with the public. His spokesman David Smith’s response was, “we don’t talk about private meetings.”  This left many to speculate if he was courting another automotive manufacturer to open up shop in the mid-state and what incentives and tax breaks were being offered to sweeten the deal.

This would not be too far off base considering the automotive industry in Tennessee has been increasing steadily each year and that Volkswagen recently announced further expansion of their production plant in Chattanooga. Even though the industry is growing at record rates there are real weaknesses which must be addressed in order to sustain the growth rate. The Brookings Institute conducted a study in 2013 titled, “DRIVE! Moving Tennessee’s Automotive Sector Up the Value Chain” and uncovered several challenges that that could stunt the growth of this life line to the state’s economy.  One of these three challenges identified in the study is insufficient private research & development (R&D) resources and shortage of collaborative technology development throughout the Tennessee auto supply chain.

It seems, however, there may be another “best kept secret” here in Tennessee and that is VEXTEC Corporation.  VEXTEC, founded in 2000 and operating in Brentwood, TN, is an engineering and design simulation company that specializes in providing predictive tools and computer aided engineering services in the areas of product reliability, risk assessment and durability prediction for manufacturing companies of structural, mechanical and electronic products.  While it could appear they are a secret in their home state, VEXTEC is well known in both federal and commercial engineering communities across the nation receiving over $25 million from the United States Department of Defense since 2000 and recognized in 2009 by Forbes magazine as “America’s Most Promising Company“.  In fact, they even have a history with Detroit and were profiled alongside Ford Motor Company in an issue of WIRED Magazine on the automotive industry titled, “Why Things Fail: From Tires to Helicopter Blades, Everything Breaks Eventually.”

The next article in this four part series will expand on the WIRED article and how VEXTEC is using probabilistic models and simulation technology to improve warranty management, increase design, reliability within limited testing budget constraints   and decrease production downtime for the automotive industry.  In the meantime, if you are curious and would like more information on VEXTEC’s services and their successes in the automotive or other industries, visit vextec.com or contact us more information.

VEXTEC Corporation is a member of the Tennessee Automotive Manufacturers Association (TAMA).