Not long ago, additive manufacturing was just a concept — and 3D printers mainly took up space in university laboratories. But take a look now. Additive manufacturing technologies are now priority investments for Tier 1 and Tier 2 manufacturers. There is still work to do before these approaches “transform” manufacturing as we know it, but there’s an undeniable momentum behind the additive manufacturing process.

Companies are mostly using additive manufacturing technologies in experimental ways, purchasing a few 3D printers and setting aside a portion of their R&D budgets to discover what different types of additive manufacturing can — and cannot — do in a real industrial setting. Comparing test specimens that come out of a 3D printer against the products of conventional manufacturing reveals the untapped potential of the additive manufacturing process.

This approach makes sense. As an innovative and unique option, there’s still a lot to learn about how this method fits into complex production processes on a global scale. Figuring out the ideal applications requires users to address both the good and the bad, with plenty of additive manufacturing issues and opportunities to expect along the way.

The Challenges Facing Additive Manufacturing

At the outset, it’s critical to acknowledge that 3D printers can’t match the scale of conventional manufacturing processes. Printing a few parts is relatively easy, but printing a thousand or more each day is a more complex undertaking. It requires the careful coordination of space inside printers, airflow, raw materials, and staff — and that’s just to fulfill relatively low production quotas. How much they can print and how fast production can expand are the main factors limiting the growth of additive manufacturing technologies.

Developing products of consistent quality is another prominent additive manufacturing issue. Most manufacturers evaluate quality using ASTM-standardized tests developed for conventionally made products and considered the “bare minimum” in terms of quality. Customers in industries like aerospace and medical devices have much higher standards and, absent any certifications specifically tailored to additive manufacturing, they can’t trust printed products to meet or exceed their precise specs.

Finally, the additive manufacturing process requires raw materials that existing supply chains aren’t set up to handle. The suppliers that provide raw materials for forging and casting processes aren’t the same ones that provide the metal powder feedstock for printing metal parts. That reality makes it harder to recalibrate supply chains, and it raises the risk that material shortages will exacerbate issues with scalability and quality control.

The challenges facing additive manufacturing are sufficient, but they’re not insurmountable. Recognizing these challenges — and the need to confront them — opens interested parties up to the opportunities that additive manufacturing presents.

What Additive Manufacturing Brings to the Table

Here’s what the additive manufacturing process brings to your product development:

1. Printing noncritical parts that don’t need an engineering assessment. Building parts like brackets or wiring harnesses is relatively cheap and fast though additive manufacturing compared with conventional means. For example, when the U.S. Air Force needed to replace a part notorious for failure but also out of production, it turned to 3D printing instead of conventional manufacturing. And the Air Force plans to do the same for other noncritical parts.

2. Producing oft-replaced machine parts. Additive manufacturing technologies can also produce tooling components used to fix industrial machines. When technicians can print the parts they need on demand, it lowers the cost of maintenance and shortens any downtimes. By and large, the additive manufacturing process eliminates the need for tooling and all of its accompanying costs.

3. Creating high volumes of small parts. Perhaps the most significant opportunity is the ability to produce small batches of highly specialized components — like parts for an old aircraft or an orthopedic implant that fits a specific patient’s knee. Conventional manufacturing can’t deliver this level of granularity and on-demand accessibility, but it’s the principle of additive manufacturing.

Every company will interpret the opportunities and challenges facing additive manufacturing differently, but few will deny its place in today’s factories. VEXTEC can show you how to make the most of this technology, by using predictive computational modeling and simulation to help better understand the performance of metal AM parts. Contact us to start exploring what additive manufacturing can offer your business.