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De-Hyper: The US Military Is Not the Best Innovator in Manufacturing https://ift.tt/2Oa9onY When the United States entered World War Two in 1942, the planet would change in ways that now seem nearly irreversible. When the dust was settled, not only did the hostilities allow the U.S. to usurp the role of global hegemon, but Franklin D. Roosevelt’s War Production Board had managed to convert a substantial number of U.S. factories to the production of military weapons and supplies. Whereas the country spent just 1.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on the military in 1940, this number jumped to 37 percent in 1945, the last year that the Board was in place. After the war was over, many of the businesses that enjoyed lucrative government contracts for increased military output felt that source of revenue begin to shrink. If they wanted to maintain similar levels of funding from the feds, they would need the U.S. economy to shift from one of peace to one of war.
In addition to acting as a director for CIP, Hartung has been a critic of U.S. foreign policy and weapons manufacturing for nearly two decades, authoring Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex and other work. We spoke to the prolific defense analyst to learn how it is that the U.S. military comes to represent such a strong presence in the country’s manufacturing industry and the pitfalls that result. For us in the 3D printing industry, this topic is particularly relevant given the position that the defense and aerospace segments occupy in our niche sector. A 2015 report on “Additive Manufacturing In Space And Defense Aerospace Markets” from SmarTech Analysis estimated that vertical alone to reach $600 million by 2022. Compared to roughly $15 billion that the 3D printing industry is worth as a whole, that may be a relatively small number, but the influence of the military can be felt in part by the players that guide the sector’s development. As a part of a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (also referred to as Manufacturing USA), the first federally funded 3D printing institute in the United States, America Makes, was established in 2012 with the Department of Defense (DoD) granting $30 million in funding to a consortium called the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). Manufacturing USA was launched in part on behalf of military manufacturers who, as a part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) Steering Committee, drew up a proposal for the network. The AMP Steering Committee included such defense contractors as Dow Chemical, Northrop Grumman, Honeywell, Intel, Caterpillar, and Allegheny Technologies. All of these members, with the exception of Intel and Allegheny, were at the time members of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a network known to lobby for the increase of the U.S. government’s International Affairs Budget in order to fund U.S. efforts in the Middle East, specifically in Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel. The pilot institute in Manufacturing USA, America Makes, sees private agencies, such as the DoD and Department of Energy, match public funds with private members, such as all of the top military manufacturers alongside numerous universities and other firms, including the leading names in 3D printing. This means that Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Raytheon, and Boeing work side by side with 3D Systems, Stratasys, EOS to drive the additive manufacturing (AM) industry forward. However, if the public body (DoD) and the consortium (NCDMM) that established America Makes are military-oriented, what does that mean for the direction that AM research heads in? Of 73 projects America Makes has directed, 70 percent (51) have involved military applications. 57 percent of the approximately $112 million raised for those programs has come from public funding, leaving the remaining 43 percent to be provided by private partners. Naturally, a military focus in manufacturing isn’t the fault of a specific organization but is really built into the overall patchwork of the country’s larger military-industrial complex. Hartung explained that the sheer size and resources of defense contractors provides them with extra weight in the public-private marketplace.
While the exact amount that the federal government spends on the military varies year-to-year, the decade after 9/11 has seen the U.S. defense budget increase for 10 years straight. This is a record for a nation that spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined, representing about 38% of the world’s total military spending. Under the administration of the newest president, Joe Biden, the country is likely to spend about the same amount as under its previous executive at roughly $740 billion. That is roughly 15 percent of all federal spending and more than half of discretionary spending. This comes despite the fact that U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have dropped from over 180,000 in 2010 to less than 10,000 now. How is it that the budget can increase while the country’s two largest battlefronts have shrunk? Hartung suggests that, the defense industry deploys new enemies, rhetorically, as it influences congress financially. The weapons manufacturers, according to Hartung, inflate the nature of the risks associated with the “threat of the moment”, such as Russia or China, as a sales pitch for obtaining more funding from the federal government.
Though the “War on Terror” is still used to justify defense spending, the new threat is China, Hartung says. However, even this new “threat” fails to be a military challenge when held under close scrutiny, according to the analyst:
In addition to the defense-linked players inflating military threats, Hartung noted that there is economic rhetoric for why defense should be awarded so much public funding. Specifically, military contractors and the DoD claim to provide jobs. As an example, he used the F-35 program, which has been criticized for cost overruns, mismanagement, and technological failures. Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon claim that this problematic program is responsible for 254,000 jobs in the U.S., with union workers at factories responsible for the F-35 writing letters in support of the program. This information is then passed around to Congress to prevent elected officials from voting against F-35 funding. However, Hartung argues, these numbers are grossly inflated:
Perhaps most relevant to 3D printing are the arguments related to technological knock-on effects related to defense spending. For instance, military actors conducting metal 3D printing research and development will surely improve that technology for the rest of the AM industry and, therefore, the public at large. It is often argued that these developments would never have occurred without the defense industry. Hartung suggests that innovation actually occurs at a faster rate and more efficiently outside of the rigid structure of the Pentagon’s contracting hierarchy, with historical examples, such as nuclear energy and the internet, used to direct attention away from this fact. In many cases, then, large defense contractors may not be the most efficient or innovative businesses for driving the direction of technological development. Examples of problematic military projects date back to at least the 1960s, when Lockheed’s C5 transport plane became the first development program with a $1 billion cost overrun ($7 billion today) and suffered numerous design problems. More recently, Boeing’s KC 46 aerial refueling aircraft has faced $5 billion in overruns and a plethora of technical issues. In some cases, DoD funding can be used for corrupt practices. Due to big bribery scandals in the 1970s, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was passed that prevents outright bribery of foreign officials, but there are still methods influencing political actors. For instance, offset agreements make it possible for a foreign government to acquire a weapon and, in exchange, the company from whom the weapon is bought will make investments in the recipient country to offset costs. This might include shifting some of the production of that weapon to that country or helping the country advertise some of its products globally. For example, part of the offset requirements by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) includes depositing money into an investment fund. In one case, money from that fund was provided to a U.S. think tank that was supportive of UAE geopolitical positions. In other cases, a company might set up operations in a recipient country that hires relatives of the nation’s leadership that may not be the most qualified to run the business. All of this takes the place of the more straightforward bribery of the past.
While there are areas of innovation within these corporate behemoths, such as Lockheed’s Skunk Works and Boeing’s Phantom Works, Hartung noted that these represent only a portion of otherwise slow and stodgy businesses.
Naturally, with the DoD maintaining over half of the discretionary budget, there is little room left over for social welfare, environmental protection, education and public health. In turn, Congress attempts to insert funding for those types of projects into the Pentagon budget. Meanwhile, some of the bigger threats to the well-being of those in the United States—such as climate change, gross inequality, and even the ongoing pandemic—are left without long-term spending.
The CIP conducted a project dubbed the Sustainable Defense Task Force in 2019 that looked at how the U.S. could maintain superior defense capabilities while spending less money. The task force called for cutting about $1.2 trillion from the DoD budget over 10 years by reducing overseas troop deployments, reducing the size of the armed forces by 10 to 15 percent, not hiring as many private contractors—of which the Pentagon has over 600,000—and not building a new generation of nuclear weapons. Without reducing the security of the country, this would free up funds to be used for making the electrical grid more resilient, investing in alternative energy, and investing in public health with funding that would be relatively small in comparison to the amount spent on the DoD.
One of the steps that needs to be taken to be able to even have a national discussion about this topic, according to Hartung, is to make the federal budget more transparent. The Pentagon budget is nearly impossible to decipher in part due to the fact that money spent on private contracts is included, as well as classified R&D and procurement programs. Additionally, most of the budget is expressed in language that is inaccessible to the public. In 2020, we saw many 3D printing firms, as well as manufacturers at large, shift production due to the significant need for medical supplies due to spikes in COVID-19 cases and supply chain disruptions from the pandemic. There were, of course, wide-scale efforts to 3D print face shield parts, but there were also more innovative examples of the use of 3D printing, such as completely novel nasal swabs for COVID testing. This demonstrated not only the potential for additive manufacturing to act as a stop gap measure during supply chain disruptions, but also entirely new approaches to design and manufacturing. Perhaps even more significant were the examples of manufacturers that retooled their production of standard commercial products, such as auto parts, to ventilators. In one instance, a ventilator company even temporarily made its product open source in order to quickly expand the pool of potential manufacturers to meet demand. These cases demonstrate that the possibility exists to shift away from a permanent war time production to one of peace. Based on the United Nations’ likely under-precautious accounting, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will need to be reduced by more than 45 percent by 2030. Therefore, it is likely that we will need to retool our manufacturing and transportation infrastructures entirely in an unprecedented amount of time. However, the War Production Board showed those in the U.S. that it is possible to completely change how and what a society manufactures. And, given the fact that the U.S. military is the largest institutional user of fossil fuels, reducing its footprint may be the place to start. The 3D printing industry is still a young one, so it may not be too late to divert its energies away from military applications and toward something more sustainable. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 30, 2021 at 07:32AM
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BotFactory awarded $750K U.S. Air Force Grant to Develop Electronics 3D Printer https://ift.tt/31tsDMc BotFactory has been selected by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) AFWERX technology accelerator program to develop a fully-automated desktop machine for on-site, on-demand 3D printing and assembly of printed circuit boards (PCBs). Through a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant worth $750,000, the New York-based 3D printer solutions provider will be working closely over a 15-month term with partners at the 402nd Warner Robins Air Force base lab in Georgia. The project began in March 2020, when BotFactory received a $49,971 grant to work under a Phase I SBIR contract, awarded by USAF to create a fully-automated desktop printer capable of fabricating complex circuit boards. Envisioned directly from a digital design with no human interaction during the entire process, the device would lend a hand to USAF airmen and engineers to rapidly iterate new electronic devices, reverse engineer existing ones, and provide a means to replace broken, aged, or legacy systems to sustain Air Force assets. In the second SBIR stage, BotFactory announced it has received funding to deliver a prototype and train the USAF end-users to apply the adapted solution in their operational environment. This way, additional testing can be done in the field before providing feedback and moving to the third phase. This highly anticipated and relevant last status in the SBIR contract offers companies the unique opportunity to transition their efforts into a hardware product that will benefit the USAF community or the private sector. So, why is this device needed at USAF? Electronic devices have become an embedded element within every facet of the U.S. military, from drones and other aircraft to synthetic vision cameras and sensors. There have even been electronic textiles in various military applications throughout the last decade, like soldier uniforms. Even more so, in the future, we can expect to see more bespoke 3D printed electronics designed and integrated within military uniforms and accessories. But, according to BotFactory, prototyping PCBs is an expensive, time-consuming task. While the technology has advanced dramatically, creating them for prototyping and small-batch production has not. Moreover, creating circuit cards requires noxious chemicals to plate the highly conductive traces (the equivalent of a wire for conducting signals), stencil, and dispensing systems for placing solder paste. Placement of the parts requires advanced machinery and skilled workers, and a carefully monitored and managed reflow oven system for connecting parts to traces stated the original SBIR Phase I award information. Each board needs many processes to be validated, tested for conductivity, and repaired if needed. This means the USAF spends millions of dollars every year contracting third-party vendors for the PCB development. Instead, an in-house 3D printer would give a USAF engineer a handy tool to guarantee a functional PCB. BotFactory’s proposed system offers airmen the capability of rapidly prototyping designs from scratch or reverse-engineering legacy devices to sustain assets on the ground and in the sky. Taking the factory to the desktop translates to “no paperwork” and “no exposure to outsiders” of U.S. intellectual property, which is under the control of the country’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Overall, airman productivity is expected to increase, while labor costs could be reduced. Furthermore, the private industry has the same problems as the USAF, which broadens the proposed technology’s utility to the $1.5 trillion electronics industry. Quote request Are you looking to buy a 3D printer or 3D scanner? We're here to help. Get free expert advice and quotes from trusted suppliers in your area. Powered by Aniwaa Working with the Reverse Engineering Manufacturing and Restart Team of Electronic Maintenance Group (REARM) at the USAF’s 402, BotFactory says it will focus on reverse engineering legacy systems, often redesigning from scratch everything from avionics boxes, wiring harnesses, cables, front panels, faceplates, and displays. Fabricating and assembling electronics is a major bottleneck, and while 3D printing is heavily used for enclosures and other elements, REARM has been looking forward to additive manufacturing (AM) for electronics. The goal is to create fully-tested and validated PCBs, so the company’s proposal includes ideas such as AM techniques to print the traces and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze and monitor the fabrication and assembly process. In Phase I, company experts expected a four-layer, 100×100 mm PCB with 50 parts to take four hours to be made, from start to finish. For BotFactory Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Carlos Ospina, “integrating Inkjet Printing and Pick-and-Place capabilities for PCB fabrication is something no-one is doing, and we’re excited to work with the USAF to fix a problem that is so critical to US National Security.” The award comes at a time when President Joe Biden’s administration has specified electronics as a critical area of importance and made an array of policy updates aimed at bolstering U.S. private-sector innovation, the defense STEM workforce, and the environmental resilience of military infrastructure and operations. Furthermore, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2021, which authorizes $8 million in funding toward “Hybrid additive manufacturing” and “Next generation additive manufacturing and 3D printed electronics,” as part of military research, development, test, and evaluation. Interestingly enough, Congress also authorized $14 million in AM processes qualification, 3D printing of unmanned maritime systems, and use of cold spray AM for polymeric composites. Supporting local efforts for PCBs’ in-house development is crucial since the U.S. has become increasingly dependent on imported microelectronics. In fact, the U.S. military depends on foreign countries, especially China, for critical materials, which could become a problem in a crisis or conflict. This risk has been acknowledged by both political parties and reaffirmed by a presidential executive order, also known as the Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains, on the thirty-sixth day of Biden’s administration. Also concerned about imported PCBs, Congress enacted the bipartisan Creating Helpful Incentives for Producing Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act in December 2020 as part of the NDAA, which authorizes an array of R&D initiatives as well as a subsidy program for domestic semiconductor manufacturers. PCBs themselves have become difficult to source, providing a powerful argument for investing in AM. Traditional manufacturing methods are not as quick and cost-effective as 3D printing, proving this is yet another industry where the technology can thrive. Creating 3D PCBs for future embedded electronics can open the door for more exciting new applications and markets if this trend continues. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 30, 2021 at 07:02AM How Your 3D Printing Service Can Be Part of the MaaS Revolution https://ift.tt/3fsviy2 If you’re reading this, you’re most likely familiar with the concept of Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS), but in case you’re not, it’s essentially the idea of different businesses sharing... The... View the entire article via our website. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 30, 2021 at 06:32AM
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J.Kois https://ift.tt/3dhUQuP Jakub Kois is an illustrator from North Poland, now based in Prague. He creates handmade posters and screen prints alongside mixed techniques and materials including oil pastels, inks, and paints. After growing up in Poland, Jakub decided to move to Czech Republic, where in Prague he became engaged in a collaboration with Martin Atanasov as “MMHMM”. The duo focused on creating illustrations and books amongst other projects, but their main output was printing posters. During this time Jakub started to gather all equipment needed to make a functional printing studio. The result was a small, manual, screen printing operation where the he and Martin were able to produce most of their work.Today, Jakub focuses on his own projects, predominantly in poster form. He uses screen printing when the work is suitable to the technique, whilst also creating illustrations by hand using analogue methods. Jakub states that he tries to “avoid digital steps” in the printmaking process, preferring to use charcoal on emulsion and traditional printmaking practice. He is also excited by photography and enjoys experimenting with this from time to time. Jakub’s prints focus on analysing the human condition, whilst keeping the context of nature in mind. He says; “Cells and plant biology are some things that I still try to learn and understand fully, as they seem to hold the key to better interpretation of things and the processes that surround us”. Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/2DhgcW7 March 30, 2021 at 04:57AM Mosaic Unveils Array: Automated System to Scale Multimaterial, High Temp 3D Printing https://ift.tt/3dmeMNa With a mission to deliver 3D printing to the factory floor, the Mosaic Manufacturing team has revealed an entirely new automated system expected to revolutionize workflows by creating a scalable infrastructure, unlocking increased throughput, and decreasing part costs. This combination of ideal benefits is only possible thanks to the company’s automated Array system, made up of four multi-material 3D printers that can run for over 72 hours with no operator intervention. Array’s ecosystem relies on a host of technologies, including Mosaic’s proven Palette add-on, which was developed to allow multi-material 3D printing for any desktop printer, along with its new Element HT printer, Canvas software, and its exclusive 3D printing material line. Starting at $59,999, Mosaic will begin shipping the first Array units in December 2021. As part of the highly anticipated launch, Mosaic is also unveiling the latest iteration of its flagship Palette technology which incorporates even more materials into a single part, helping democratize access to multi-material printing – a functionality usually reserved for inkjetting printers that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Since its foundation in 2014, the Canadian-based business has increasingly focused attention on reducing the total cost of 3D printed parts and creating a scalable infrastructure to drive the adoption of 3D printing in high-volume applications. Through this new technology, Mosaic says it has developed a solution to bring the cost of a 3D printed part down by up to 95% while increasing the throughput of one operator 17 times. For example, Mosaic can reduce the cost of a $20 3D printed part to $1 at scale, and instead of one operator running a maximum of 15 3D printers, a single person can now run the equivalent of 250 3D printers. This highly ambitious technology is part of a mission to enable scalable output of fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printing. According to Mosaic, the current 3D printing infrastructure follows a linear cost function, which means that the cost for each unit produced remains the same no matter how many units are made. So, if a part costs $5 to make at a volume of 10, it will also cost $5 if the volume is 10,000. Like many other companies, Mosaic has been pushing to change the scalability of 3D printing to replace traditional manufacturing techniques. In fact, Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder Chris Labelle said that the new technology’s impact on manufacturing comes from the benefits of scaling 3D printing applications. After three years in the works, Array could help access “flexible output, mass customization, faster turnaround times and unrestricted part geometries” in production volumes of hundreds of thousands of parts per year, continued Labelle. One of the key characteristics of Array is its robotic system, which has the capability to remove and replace print beds to ensure it is always productive, even when the operator is not around. This automation has the power to transform 3D printing into a continuous and “lights-out” manufacturing process. Each Array has four novel Element HT printers built inside designed from the ground up to allow flexible output, up to eight materials printed in a single print, and able to churn out high strength materials – including PEEK and ULTEM. Every Element HT 3D printer has a 35 cm3 build volume with a heated build platform, high-temperature nozzle, and a heated chamber. Operators can also access soluble and breakaway support material to have freedom of geometry on their print. Element HT is also available as a stand-alone printer, called Element, in a low-temperature configuration but with the same core technology, available in November 2021 for $5,999 or more, depending on the chosen model. Quote request Are you looking to buy a 3D printer or 3D scanner? We're here to help. Get free expert advice and quotes from trusted suppliers in your area. Powered by Aniwaa Both Element and Element HT have embedded Palette X units, the industrialized version of Mosaic’s patented Palette technology. Based on the skeleton of the new line of Palette products, Palette 3 and Palette 3 Pro, the latest model of the material handling system enables swapping materials between prints and printing up to eight colors or materials in a single part. Array is already enabling high throughput FFF 3D printing in 3D printing service bureaus, manufacturers, and educational institutions. Additionally, Labelle expects the technology will be an ideal asset for customers in automotive, aerospace, and healthcare.
One of North America’s largest jersey manufacturers, Athletic Knit, turned to Mosaic’s team to adopt its Palette technology to print custom, colored jersey components. The company had begun outsourcing portions of the supply chain overseas to keep up with the increase in consumer demand. However, this led to terrible lead times. Mosaic is now offering much more than Palette. The Array product line allows Athletic Knit to hit its cost targets, throughput requirements, and end product specifications by utilizing scaled and automated 3D printing. Now, Athletic Knit can offer highly customized jerseys, a quick turnaround time, and best of all, 3D printing’s flexibility also allows the technology to be set up at the customers existing production facility. This means they can access on-site production even during a worldwide crisis, like during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Mosaic did not just create a four-printer automated system; the team is also working on an even bigger Array model, the Array Production platform, which has the capability to hold up to 24 Element HT 3D printers. Array Production will be ready in less than three years and is expected to provide companies that want to switch to 3D printing technologies with a different, scalable, and industrial technology to churn out more parts faster and at ideally scalable costs. Labelle said the technology would address a market of manufacturers that are creating hundreds of thousands of parts per year, seeking to replace traditional manufacturing techniques with highly scalable 3D printing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 30, 2021 at 12:17AM 3D Printing Financials: SLM Solutions Reports Losses of €30M for 2020, Revenues Up 26% https://ift.tt/2PBADbh SLM Solutions (AM3D.DE) reported a €30 million ($35 million) loss for the year ending December 31, 2020, with revenues at €62 million ($73 million) versus €49 million ($58 million) in 2019. A global provider of additive manufacturing (AM) technology, SLM started 2021 with high expectations as the company returns to its pre-pandemic growth path, showing a 26% year-over-year revenue improvement and a market-leading gross margin of 53%. Furthermore, with the launch of the NXG XII 600 system – a 12-laser machine designed for high-volume, serial production – the company completed its ambitious project to develop a system they hope will push the entire industry towards powder bed fusion (PBF) AM. On the business side, CEO Meddah Hadjar left the company in January 2021 due to private reasons and has since been replaced by Sam O’Leary. O’Leary was previously in the role of Chief Operating Officer and is deeply experienced in AM, having overseen the development of the NXG XII 600 laser beam platform. Trading under the ticker symbol AM3D on Germany’s Frankfurt Stock Exchange, SLM shares roller-coastered since the beginning of 2021, dropping to values as low as €15.26 ($18) and peaking to some of the highest stock prices in a year, over the €24 ($28) mark. After the 2020 earnings announcement on March 25, 2021, shares plummeted to €16 ($19), only to bounce back the day after, following an earnings call in after market hours. According to financial analysis platform Simply Wall St., shareholders have seen SLM stock price up an impressive 137% in the last twelve months, a very optimistic outlook that certainly beats the loss of about 3% per year over the last half-decade. Generally weighing more on the long-term performance over the short term, Simply Wall St. sees the recent improvement as a hint of a “(positive) inflection point within the business,” but leaves room for speculation on whether the increase will be sustained. Based out of Lübeck, Germany, SLM said it recorded a 32% decrease in machine orders down to €46 million ($54 million) compared with the previous year at €68 million ($80 million). Out of the overall annual sales, 73% stem from the company’s core “machine business” segment, which comprises devices from the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) division together with options such as powder sieving stations and other peripheral equipment. Here, sales rose 28%.
Despite the economic and operational challenges that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in two of the company’s key end markets – civil aviation and automotive – the industrial adoption of metal-based AM and, in particular, SLM’s laser PBF technology has begun, said SLM. In fact, pandemic-related pressures on the global supply chains and traditional manufacturing practices have highlighted the many benefits presented by additive technologies, which the business sees as an inevitable accelerator of adoption. Additionally, with the introduction of new, more productive machine generations, metal AM has become more cost-competitive, said SLM. For 2021, SLM targets revenue growth of at least 15%, supported by a strong machine backlog of €30 million ($35 million) and an EBITDA recovery expected to continue throughout the rest of the year. 2020 already saw a 43% improvement over the previous year, driven by strong growth in the second half due to increasing vaccination levels in key markets. For subsequent years, management estimates an acceleration of revenue growth due to the positive effects of the introduction of SLM’s NXG XII 600. Chief Financial Officer Dirk Ackermann even forecasted that the economic environment would slowly normalize, and the COVID-19 burdens will ease during the second half of 2021. Earlier in March, SLM plans to use proceeds of €15 million ($18 million) from the second tranche of its convertible bond 2020/2026 to scale-up manufacturing of the NXG XII 600 and expand the required services network. Even more so, the 3D printing manufacturer is assessing plans to establish a presence on the West Coast of the United States to be closer to key customers and evaluating a potential secondary listing of shares in the country via a Level 3 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) offering, which represents an initial public offering (IPO) on U.S. exchanges. Despite market restrictions due to the pandemic, SLM Solutions managed to increase sales and continue work on developing the NXG XII 600, which was officially presented in November. Expecting a significant recovery in the global economy for 2021 and 2022, based on the increased availability of vaccines and further fiscal stimulus measures around the world, management is anticipating that global economies will recover, particularly in the most important target markets for SLM, which includes the U.S. and countries of the Eurozone, leading to more robust demand for metal-based AM machines. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 29, 2021 at 09:02AM Dana Inc Deploys Markforged 3D Printers for Auto Parts Business https://ift.tt/31sPM1d On the financial front, Markforged has obviously made big news this year with its SPAC merger; however, it’s on the ground that these businesses need to make an impact in order to ensure their longevity. The 3D printer manufacturer has had no shortage of industrial customers and one of its latest is a key player in the automotive sector. Dana Incorporated (NYSE: DAN) is a roughly $8.6 billion company by revenue, with 36,000 employees across 33 countries, and supplies critical drive and motion systems, along with a number of other products across the automotive industry. In turn, its solutions are featured on the vehicles of such companies as Ford, FCA, Renault-Nissan, and PACCAR. And, in 2020, the Fortune 500 firm began tapping into the power of 3D printing. It began by determine which printers would be the best investment for the company. Terry Hammer, Vice President of Light-Vehicle and Global Core Engineering at Dana, noted, “Dana took a very structured approach to additive manufacturing. We wanted to define the value first.” This led Dana to Markforged, from whom it purchased two X7 and two Metal X 3D printers, deploying one of each in its Maumee, Ohio and Trento, Italy facilities. The goal from the start was to be able to replace specialized tooling in the most cost-effective manner. After establishing a game plan, the company began exploring how best to use the technology. Kelly Puckett, Senior Manager of Additive Manufacturing, said, “I’m tasked to ensure Dana uses additive more frequently or in a better way,” matching Dana’s motto of “People Finding A Better Way.” The two businesses then collaborated significantly to ensure the successful use of the technology, with Markforged actually improving and even establishing some of its products and services as a result. This included Enterprise Eiger, Markforged University, Turbo Print, and Blacksmith. Over 150 Dana employees participated in Markforged University, to provide engineers and designers with the tools necessary for effective use of the equipment. Since it acquired the equipment in 2020, Dana has already begun achieving what it set out to do. The Power Technologies division in Ontario, Canada has used the X7 to create functional forming dies for stamping sheet metal into proof-of-concept designs. This makes it possible to test goods and prep for customer analysis more efficiently and at scale.
In Italy, X7 machines are used to produce internal tooling and fixtures. This includes fixtures that hold gears that micro-grinding hydraulic part surfaces. In the past, these pieces were machined out of high-density ABS sheets, but the parts would become too expensive when small holes needed to be milled into them. By 3D printing these fixtures, however, Dana has generated 70 percent in cost savings and a 90 percent reduction in lead times for fixtures, all without seeing any of the 3D printed tools break in a year’s time.
Since the initial purchase of Markforged 3D printers, Dana has rolled out the machines across seven countries. In addition to the U.S., Italy and Canada, the automotive manufacturer is relying on Markforged equipment in Brazil, Germany, India, and China. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 29, 2021 at 08:32AM 3DPOD Episode 55: Ethan Escowitz, Arris Founder & CEO https://ift.tt/3m0q4e1 Ethan Escowitz, whom we interviewed here, co-founded Arris, which hopes to revolutionize the world of composites. By combining molding and 3D printing, his company’s innovative technology can make parts with good surface finish almost automatically. It can also lay down continuous fiber in different compositions or concentrations across the part. This allows the company to reinforce parts or change properties of the part at certain areas, for example, modifying radio frequency properties or altering torsion in a determined way. The company hopes that it can play a role in drones, sports gear, cars, consumer electronics, and beyond. Arris is a really exciting startup with a lot of potential and we really enjoyed speaking with Ethan about the possibilities. Podcast (podcast-audio): Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 29, 2021 at 08:02AM
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Ingersoll 3D Prints Massive Helicopter Blade Tool for Bell Helicopter https://ift.tt/3w9fEgL Ingersoll Machine Tools Inc. is continuing to demonstrate the applications for the world’s largest polymer 3D printer, the MasterPrint. This time, it 3D printed a 22-foot-long vacuum trim tool used for producing helicopter rotor blades. The company worked together with helicopter manufacturer Bell Textron Inc. to produce the part, which used 1,150 pounds of ABS plastic with 20% chopped carbon fiber fill to produce a single part in 75 hours of continuous operation. Once the mold was printed, the MasterPrint switched to its five-axis milling head to machine the surfaces and necessary tooling features, in order to ensure full vacuum tightness, in one week.
According to the partners involved, this fabrication process saved months of manufacturing time, with traditional aluminum molds usually requiring between four and five months to make. In comparison, the 22-foot tool only took a matter of weeks.
Like the rest of the aerospace sector, Bell has been experimenting with 3D printing. In 2016, a 3D printed part flew on the Osprey helicopter developed by Bell and Boeing. It has also been researching the possibility of using metal parts made with laser powder bed fusion. After demonstrating the possibilities of the technology by making the world’s largest 3D printed boat, Ingersoll’s MasterPrint has embarked on more practical matters, such as 3D printing molds for wind turbine blades. Molds and tooling seem to be a key demonstrator technology for large-scale polymer machines such as the MasterPrint and Cincinnati Incorporated’s BAAM 3D printer, both developed in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. On the one hand, these massive components showcase the potential for large-scale polymer 3D printing. At the same time, tools are for indirect manufacturing and don’t have the same standards requirements as end parts. As companies get more comfortable with the technology and develop the appropriate standards, they can move on to producing end components. However, the cost- and time-savings alone make the ability to 3D print specialized molds and tools worthwhile for such unique items as rotor blades for helicopters. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 29, 2021 at 07:32AM SPEE3D Continues Global Expansion by Installing Metal 3D Printer in El Salvador https://ift.tt/3djTWOq Australia-based company SPEE3D develops and supplies high-speed metal AM solutions (hence the name) that use its patented cold spray-based Supersonic 3D Deposition additive manufacturing technology (SP3D). First the company successfully deployed its massive 3D printers in the US and its home country of Australia, where they’ve been used for military applications. Next, the technology made its way to Brazil a few months ago, when SPEE3D signed a reseller agreement with Sao Paulo technology company Infocus Laser Systems. Now, the company has announced that it’s continuing the global expansion by moving further into Latin America, thanks to a new agreement with El Salvador AM service bureau 3D in Metal. SPEE3D wants to use its extremely fast metal 3D printers to make manufacturing simpler on what it calls an “international scale.” Now that its WarpSPEE3D printer is being installed in El Salvador, it’s just one step closer to its goal. The WarpSPEE3D, which weighs approximately 3500 kg, can print copper and aluminum parts at speeds up to 1,000 times faster than conventional methods of manufacturing are capable of achieving, and with a maximum deposition rate of 100 g per minute, it’s no wonder the parts it creates measure up to 1 x 0.7 m. With this kind of technology now available to it, 3D in Metal will almost definitely have an advantage over competitors.
The metal AM service bureau specializes in equipment and software distribution, as well as consultation, to fill the high demand for replacement metal parts. As only the second Latin American company to own a WarpSPEE3D printer, 3D in Metal is positioned to, according to the release, “steer the frontier” for the regional market’s high-tech manufacturing industry. Quote request Are you looking to buy a 3D printer or 3D scanner? We're here to help. Get free expert advice and quotes from trusted suppliers in your area. Powered by Aniwaa The continuing demand for spare parts isn’t always easy to fill, especially in more remote locales, and with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic still wreaking havoc on the supply chain and international trade, it’s even more difficult to fill these types of orders, though SmarTech Analysis notes that the crisis has had “both a positive and a negative” impact on metal AM service bureaus like 3D in Metal. But according to SPEE3D, 3D printing is typically a more sustainable and affordable technology in these cases, and this new collaboration with 3D in Metal could prove to be invaluable to the Latin American manufacturing industry.
SPEE3D is offering its assistance and support to 3D in Metal to deliver the huge WarpSPEE3D 3D printer to El Salvador, as well as in exporting and managing the installation and external training as well. (Source: SPEE3D) Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com March 29, 2021 at 07:02AM |
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