Page 4 - Logistics News August 2017

Thought Leadership

6 Ways Companies Can Maximize

3-D Printing’s Potential

Kent Firestone , COO at Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, courtesy IndustryWeek.

Lighter parts, more durable parts, increased design freedom, on-demand part production
... all are great, and all just scratch the surface of what additive manufacturing can do.

NOW THAT 3-D printing is safely beyond the added diffi culty in the manufacturing process.
hype phase and has become an established part Businesses still getting their feet wet with 3-D
of many companies’ product development and printing can get a fast win by using it to build
manufacturing processes, there has been a greater manufacturing tooling and bridge production
understanding of the technology’s technical and components.
business advantages. With that, more users are
benefi tting from lighter and more durable parts, Integrate into the Product Development
increased design freedom and on-demand part Cycle
production. It’s well-established that 3-D printing works well
But that’s just scratching the surface of 3-D with prototyping, but the technology has much
printing’s potential. more to off er. Beyond prototyping, 3-D printing
There’s still room to maximize the technology provides solutions for applications like architectural
across their entire value chain, from design and modeling and production parts, making it a
engineering to the production fl oor and beyond. In highly utilizable technology across the product
a hypercompetitive industry like manufacturing, it’s development cycle. Companies that take full
important to leverage all the tools at your disposal. advantage of additive understand the extent of its
Here are six ways you can make the most of 3-D production capabilities, including what applications
printing. the technology can serve for them.
Of course, this tip is dependent on what
Manage Shorter Lead Times industry — or industries — companies operate in
While it can take months to build parts via because they may not yet need to widen its scope.
traditional manufacturing, 3-D printing can build But for those with multiple needs, like prototyping
parts in just days or hours. There is no time lost and production parts, using additive could off er a
developing a tool or waiting for a fi rst shot off the major benefi t.
mould. Design fi les are sent straight to the printer
for fabrication, then post-processed as needed. Use More Than One Process, Material
It can also expedite product development since A company that’s adept at 3-D printing will
any design tweaks don’t require added set-up understand how to use numerous processes and
costs for machining or tooling production, which materials and which are most benefi cial for specifi c
can lead to delays. With 3-D printing, all it takes is a applications. They will experiment with metals and
quick update to the design fi le, helping companies plastics. They will test various processes — direct
get to market quicker. metal laser sintering, fused deposition modelling
and laser sintering, for example – and learn which
Design for Function ones make sense for which applications. Doing
One of 3-D printing’s biggest benefi ts is its design so expands companies’ 3-D printing knowledge
freedom. Using traditional manufacturing methods, and better positions them to reap the competitive
companies tend to design parts more for the advantages. Additionally, failure to experiment
manufacturing process rather than the part’s beyond what’s comfortable — or beyond what
function, which means they could be left with a everybody else is doing — can leave companies
part not fully optimized for its intended use. With stagnant.
3-D printing, there are no such compromises.
Designers can maximize a part’s function through Break Down the Manufacturing Silos
its design because 3-D printing allows them to Two processes are sometimes better than one.
incorporate challenging features directly with no Using 3-D printing in conjunction with traditional

4 August 2017 | Logistics News