Interview with Kunal Mehta of Blueprint 3D Printing Consulting and Strategy

Just recently Stratasys launched Blueprint. Stratasys has had a consulting arm for a number of years now. The firm wanted to present and establish the Blueprint as independent-minded however. Application development and getting customers from standstill to up to speed in 3D printing is a hugely challenging task. It is rare that people can bridge both the technical side of things and business enough to translate needs into appropriate strategies. Industrializing processes and new materials is also very challenging and each new market or material has its unique challenges. Blueprint will have to also maintain its independence and independent thought while still being a part of one of the largest 3D printer OEMs in the field. Will the team succeed? This responsibility is on the shoulders of the very bright Kunal Mehta, whom we interviewed.

What is Blueprint?

We’re the world’s leading 3D printing consultants. We have 15 years of experience helping clients across virtually every industry. We’re engineers, innovators, analysts, and strategists. We are laser-focused on helping our clients make sense of 3D printing.

So, I pay you and then you tell me to get a Stratasys Printer?

No. We’re technology agnostic. We help our clients find where 3D printing will deliver the most value in their business and make recommendations based on that. Sometimes, the answer isn’t a printer; it could be a relationship with a service bureau, a change in operating model, or upskilling a department. In fact, in the last few projects, our recommendations led to new business models, including suggesting competitors printers.

What kind of engagements have you done?

We’ve done engagements ranging from high-level strategy and innovation, to deeply technical design optimization, at startups and Fortune 500 companies alike. Generally, our engagements fit into one of our seven offerings:

  • Strategic Impact, helping senior leaders understand how 3D printing will impact their business
  • Product Innovation, helping professionals understand how 3D printing can drive top-line growth through innovation
  • Additive Deployment, creating the model for deploying additive in organizations
  • Operational Improvement, diving deep into processes to help clients learn how additive can make operations leaner and smarter
  • Application Validation, validating the business case for specific additive applications before committing to a manufacturing process
  • Design Optimization, diving deep with engineers to realize their design intent using 3D printing
  • Think Additively, teaching clients how to understand design for additive manufacturing with a business mindset

For what kinds of customers would you like to work with?

We bring the most value with engaged clients that are forward thinking and looking to really innovate in their businesses. Those are the types of clients that are willing to take a leap of faith, trust us, and trust what the technology can deliver. These types of clients can be new to additive or can be established power users, and they can be big or small.

What kind of experience do you bring to the table?

The origin of our group was Econolyst, a world-leading additive consultancy, started over 15 years ago, which Stratasys acquired in 2015. That said, the Blueprint team has worked with hundreds of clients and has developed a deep bench of methodologies, tools and thought leadership; but what’s really special about us is that we have deep experience in additive combined with a diverse array of talent. On our team, we have customer experience experts, people who have experience in supply chain, industrial engineers, and we even have a person with a degree in model making.

So, what advice would you give me if I’m a firm looking to use 3D printing?

Start by understanding why you want to use 3D printing and what 3D printing is being used for in your industry and related industries. Spend time thinking about your business case for additive before you start looking at machine specs. Figuring out how 3D printing makes sense for your business is much harder than purchasing a machine. Then come to us to help you understand your business case and generate concepts, ideas and applications.

And if I want to use 3D printing for production?

That’s a risky proposition unless you’re already using it for applications like prototyping, jigs and fixtures, and tooling. You need to get your hands dirty and use the technology for some prototypes or tools first. You need to botch a few builds and learn from that. You’re not going to paint the Mona Lisa the first time you pick up a paintbrush.

On what technologies do you advise customers?

We help clients find the business case for 3D printing. Our methodology informs our technology recommendations. If 3D printing has value for a company, we analyze what is available today and what is on the horizon; we don’t limit the scope by technology, material, manufacturer, or supplier. Case in point, we developed the 6 Business Driver Framework for 3D printing which is described in our recently released book – “The Little Blue Book of 3D Printing,” that can be downloaded directly from our website.

How does a typical engagement work?

We start with a conversation. We start by understanding what our clients are looking to solve. We then create a bespoke approach and leverage our arsenal of tools to deliver.

We live by our values. We are Trusted. We are Enablers. We are Human. That means we’re motivated by our clients’ success, we take a genuine interest in helping and we never forget that we’re working with people. At the end of the engagement, we’ve all learned something, we’ve created demonstrable value, and we’ve had some fun.

What stumbling blocks do companies entering 3D printing often encounter?

If you ask engineering, you’ll hear something about materials. If you ask procurement, it’s all about cost. The truth is that the biggest stumbling blocks are very human issues. Based on talking to our clients and our experience, we have the data on this. Lack of talent, management focus, project ownership, change management… These are the same things that affect every initiative.

Also, there’s a tendency to believe the hype around any technology, but a big part of the story that gets left out is how anything worth doing takes time, effort, and focus. If it didn’t, you’d already be doing it. Consequently, companies often bite off more than they can chew, and they’re the ones who end up getting bitten.

Why is it difficult to design for additive?

Remember, additive manufacturing is a very new tool. Additive has only been technically viable for production for maybe a decade. Like any new technology, it takes time to learn. It took 40 years for computers to become commonly used tools in business… and in many cases, the jury’s still out on whether we’re more effective with computers on our desks. It will take time for most engineering organizations to build up this experience.

More to the point, additive manufacturing grants you a unique set of design freedoms, but it also imposes some constraints. Being effective with additive will require designers and engineers to understand the freedoms and constraints. We’ve created a training offering around this. It’s called “Think Additively.”

From an organizational perspective, why do 3D printing implementations go wrong?

Silos. The most impactful and interesting opportunities in additive manufacturing are at the intersection of engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing, but these groups often don’t work together. It requires a fundamentally different way of collaboration.

Also, people have unrealistic expectations. There is no one silver bullet technology or machine and you’re not going to see an immediate return on investment the first time you print something. Anyone who tells you differently is probably selling something.

What materials are you looking forward to seeing?

More than materials, we’re looking forward to seeing processes improve. Being able to build faster, cheaper, and more consistently, is what is going to be the enabler. Also, we’re looking forward to seeing more process certifications. Once heavily regulated industries like aerospace and rail become comfortable with the consistency of the available printing processes, we’re going to see some interesting stuff.

Where will Blueprint be in five years?

Probably mostly on planes, en route to our clients. But, in general, we want to be a household name in the manufacturing industry. And we want to be able to say that we had a hand in changing a few industries for the better.

Interview with Srinivas Garigipati of Tata Consultancy Services on Mass Customization and 3D Printing

Tata Consultancy Services is one of the largest IT services and consulting companies on earth. Widely known as TCS, they are the firm that powers your banks and insurance companies. TCS has offices in 46 countries, has over 400,000 employees and annual revenues over $19 billion. TCS is active in many different sectors and provides services ranging from Business Process Outsourcing to high-value management consulting, IT infrastructure as well as industrial services. For the past several years TCS has also been setting up 3D printing research and development centers to obtain 3D printing expertise. The company is gearing itself up to help more of its Fortune 500 customers come to grips with 3D printing. We asked their 3D printing head Srinivas Garigipati, Head Research & Innovation, Manufacturing Business Group, Tata Consultancy Services for more info.

What is TCS and what is its role in 3D printing?

Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) is an IT services, consulting, engineering and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for the last fifty years. Here at TCS, we help our customers implement new and emerging technologies, business models, and modes of operation seamlessly—providing them with the knowledge and resources needed to be able to innovate. On the manufacturing front, alongside other emerging digital technologies, we are keen on helping our customers implement industrial 3D printing technologies to help their shop-floor operations in a number of ways. 3D printing being an additive to traditional MFG processes, TCS is actively supporting the planning, engineering design and modeling of early stage 3D printing adoption initiatives across the industry segments. In such emerging technology adoption journeys, we help our customers look past the proof of concept and prototypes into deployments. We assist our customers in realizing their transformational objectives in utilizing technologies like 3D printers to optimize the total cost of ownership, agile go-to market, increase mass customizability, enhance end-user experience, increase customer satisfaction, innovate after-sales services, and more.

What kinds of customers do you hope to engage with?

TCS has a strong manufacturing foot-print where we are currently engaged. We are equally looking forward to working with new customers to help provide them with the contextualization and seasoned guidance through their digital transformation into the era of Business 4.0. We can help manufacturers that are interested in leveraging emerging technologies such as 3D printing that need a thought-leading technology partner in their adoption journey. We offer end-to-end services, starting from the blueprinting through the planning, implementation, and support following the industry best practices. Our technology coverage expands beyond 3D printing, as we specialize in the contextualization, implementation and help in adopting digital technologies such as AI and Cognition, AR, VR, Connected X, Edge, Blockchain, Cloud, 5G, and other emerging concepts and trends to various manufacturing industry and customer scenarios.

What advice do you have should I wish to industrialize 3D printing in my company?

Do not implement 3D printing, or, for that matter, any new technology into your mainstream without understanding how it will affect the entire value chain. Pinpoint specific areas along your value chain that would benefit from the technology. Always ensure to follow an incremental adoption model with a solid long-term plan in place covering the aspects of infrastructure and business transition before taking the leap into a full-scale implementation. Also, don’t innovate simply for innovation’s sake; 3D printing implementation should be a strategic business decision that is made to solve a specific business problem or optimize a pre-existing process.

What is holding 3D printing back?

3D printings’ slow speed of production and cost compared to traditional subtractive manufacturing processes, unfortunately, is holding it back from becoming a main source of production at this time. To overcome these limitations, technology advancements and the implementation of software programs will be needed to make 3D printing a true mass-scale production option.

What is holding mass customization back?

Cost is one of the key factors. With the increase of mass customization, manufacturing becomes complex and costly. In order for mass customization to become an integral part of the manufacturing process, companies will have to spend and invest in thousands of 3D printing machines and the technology to make multiple small batches of customized product. In addition, the legacy manufacturing processes and highly optimized assembly lines need to be reimagined to support the mass customization. 

How can companies get started with mass customization?

Companies should begin at the top. With commitment from leadership to transform the manufacturing process, committees can then be made to focus on integrating technology and additive manufacturing into the manufacturing process. From an implementation standpoint, companies should also reimagine their customer experience and start the journey with select pilot customers. Companies should begin using 3D printing to build prototypes and figure out how they can create their own customized products by using 3D printing before they firm up their roll out plan.

What new 3D printing developments excite you?

There is plenty to be excited about when it comes to 3D printing. For example, the improvements that have been made in printing. Many companies have successfully printed products made of metal that have passed full load testing and could be the future of 3D printing in automotive, aerospace, and other manufacturing industries. In order for 3D printing to be a large part of the manufacturing industry, the ability to print using alloys is crucial as many products used in the manufacturing industry are made with those materials and not plastics. Composite printing is becoming increasingly prominent as well. With manufacturer’s constant push to meet optimal lightweight and durability properties of the parts and products they create, the ability to 3D print composite structures helps them achieve both creative freedom, as well as the aforementioned qualities that are equally as important. Finally, developments in build platform size and freedom of movement in printers (specifically DMLS) is particularly interesting. By continuing to expand the limitations of size that 3D printers had previously been constrained to, the potential use cases for the technology from an industrial perspective continues to expand as well. Another exciting aspect of 3D print is the way it lays a foundation to achieve mass customization of manufacturing. In addition, it is exciting because it provides a low capex model of manufacturing setups.

What role does software have to play in 3D printing?

Software plays the sheet anchor role in 3D printing.It controls the entire workflow of the 3D printing process. When you have mass-production of a product, you’re going to need a software application to orchestrate the activities that surround a 3D printing environment. Software can manage the estimating, pricing, scheduling, order entry, quality assurance, data collection, billing, and everything required from an end to end perspective to prepare and execute a 3D print. Robust software systems are needed across the value chain to realize the mass customization through 3D printing. Software plays a key role even in the customer engagement, experience and satisfaction.

What 3D printing materials excite you?

Significant research is being carried out to discover new printing materials with efforts directed at including biomaterials for printing parts, food, tissues, and organs for transplants and drug testing. There is a lot of untapped potential of the use of 3D printed materials in the Manufacturing, Healthcare and Life Sciences industries.I’m looking forward to the continued research regarding these materials.

Interview with Matthias Schmidt-Lehr of Metal 3D Printing Consultancy Ampower

Matthias Schmidt-Lehr of Ampower is a 3D printing consultant with deep experience in manufacturing for 3D printing. He’s worked for technology development institute Laser Zentrum Nord (Fraunhofer IAPT), its manufacturing spinoff Bionic Production and has been involved with a number of notable projects in industrializing manufacturing for 3D printing. Together with his colleagues, he does strategy, training, part qualification and research on 3D printing for Ampower. Ampower a Hamburg based metal 3D printing focused consultancy firm with deep experience with some of the leading companies using metal 3D printing to manufacture. Ampower has been positioning itself as the team that gives you analysis based on real metal 3D printing experience in manufacturing. We interviewed Matthias to find out his vision on what is happening in 3D printing and what is holding the market back.

Dr. Maximilian Munsch, Matthias Schmidt-Lehr and Dr. Eric Wycisk

What is Ampower?

Ampower is the leading consultancy for Metal Additive Manufacturing. We are supporting SMEs as well as large cooperations on their way of adapting industrial Additive Manufacturing in the fields of corporate strategy and operational excellence.

Why should I work with you? 

Our experts have more than 10 years of experience in industrial Additive Manufacturing applications. Our reference customers are leading market players like Trumpf, HP and Oerlikon as well as major industry OEMs such as Volkswagen or Airbus.

What kind of customers do you have?

Our customers include companies along the entire Additive Manufacturing supply chain from powder and system manufacturers to end users. Strongly represented industries are currently automotive, aviation and medical.

What are some of the major things holding back 3D printing?

Cost competitiveness is a major challenge that has to be tackled to create business opportunities. Also, industrial 3D Printing is still a niche technology and the lack of knowledge and experience leads to slow adaption rates.

If I am a company wanting to use 3D printing, what advice do you have for me?

Always start by building up knowledge and experience with first applications. Some successful AM players went through at least 2 years of learning before the first rollout of products. Secondly, team up with strong partners. Many of the obstacles on the road to success have been dealt with already and cooperation leads to a significantly accelerated adaption curve.

What about if I wanted to industrialize 3D printing for manufacturing?

Industrialization means that experimentation is over. Quality management, procurement, production and job floor planning have to be included into the team as well as personnel qualification becomes very important. Quality has to be priority No 1. Part failures due to lack of qualification efforts will lead to severe disappointment of internal and external stakeholders, especially with such a new technology.

What are some of the most exciting developments in 3D printing right now?

Emerging technologies with higher productivity and lower cost like HP MJF technology or the next level of Binder Jetting technologies are exciting to observe. At the same time, the amount of innovations is making it difficult for users to define and follow up with the right technology strategy. Over the years to come, we will see a further and steady increase in productivity. More 3D printed end user applications will become viable and will lead to overall significant growth of the technology.

What is the Additive Manufacturing market like in Germany?

In Germany, industrial Additive Manufacturing has a comparatively high market penetration. Of course, it is still overall a niche technology. But in many industries, German companies cannot compete as cost leader on a global market. They have to differentiate their products and services. Additive Manufacturing fits this business strategy and can help to provide new applications with added value.

Do you think that desktop 3D printers will be used to manufacture?

In certain applications with high degree of individualization, low volumes and low quantities, this is already the case. A good example are industrial drone manufacturers. User-customized components are manufactured overnight using desktop 3D printers and shipped the next day. As soon as high manufacturing volumes are required, cost effectiveness due to economies of scale will make desktop 3D printing less likely. Additionally, demanding industries require a qualified production in an industrial manufacturing environment.

What are some emerging applications in 3D printing that you are the most excited about?

In terms of industrial applications, I am still fascinated by just in time individual medical products. The fact that endoprosthesis for bone replacement, dental implants and hearing aids are now tailored to customers within a very short manufacturing time, is just the starting point of a more and more customized world we will live in.

A lot of people are excited about binder jetting metals and MIM FDM but I see a lot of issues with shrinkage and deformation, you?

The sintering process remains the major challenge. Due to these issues, the mature MIM and PIM industry has restrictions in design and limits in size for sintering metal parts. Some players in binder jetting, such as Markforged and Desktop Metal, decided to develop their own debinding and sintering processes. While certainly risky, this route might lead to disruption and improvement of the sintering process. In any case, users who adapt those technologies should look into conventional sintering to gather experience.

Do you think that DMLS will continue to dominate orthopedics and aviation? Or will other technologies replace it?

Sinter technologies are now at the stage DMLS or laser powder bed fusion as we say, was 10 years ago. In short term, high investments in hardware, knowledge and established processes will prevent a fast substitution of laser powder bed fusion with other suitable new technologies. In the long run, sinter technologies will certainly cover applications in aviation and medical, if they prove to be better suited and more cost effective.

What about EB PBF?

Especially in medical and aviation, electron beam powder bed fusion is very successfully used for production of titanium alloys. However, the technology struggles with the dominant patent situation of the market leader and, consequently, lack of competition. Sole source generally hinders innovation and a broad adoption of a manufacturing technology. Once major patents expire, competitiveness in the EB-PBF market will certainly increase. In the meantime, other technologies progress fast due to the competition and make huge steps in an open environment.

What do you think of the prospects of the DED technologies?

Direct energy deposition technologies lack the enormous hype that LB-PBF and other 3D Printing technologies experienced. We notice a steady growth rate with little disappointments. DED technologies will revolutionize the casting, tooling and forging markets. However, we are still talking about a niche technology that will only be successful for demanding applications. We hope that some of the currently upcoming and very promising proprietary DED technologies will be open some day to enable disruptions in this field and prevent the same situation that EB-PBF is currently in.

How close are we to seeing 3D printing used at scale in automotive?

Still very far away! The productivity level of high-volume throughput technologies such as sheet metal forming, casting, forging or injection molding is on a completely different scale. The added value of 3D Printing to a component will not be enough to achieve cost competitiveness for large batch sizes. A game changer, however, can be the increased need for customization and even faster innovation cycles that will make conventional tool bound manufacturing more expensive than tool free production. We expect first applications in annual volumes above 100.000 in 10-15 years.

What polymer materials are you most excited about?

We see major industrial applications of polyamide materials by HP and EOS. The market entry of HP certainly had a huge impact and ends the lonely market leadership of EOS in this field. This development will bring new drive to the polymer material map. However, as long as we have no replacement for glass fiber reinforced polymers a wide adoption is still not to be expected.

Are there any emerging metals that you are excited about?

Lately, we have seen promising developments of copper processes with satisfyingly high process stability. The copper market is very interesting since it covers a great number of complex and high value applications which are suitable for Additive Manufacturing.

How do I start making qualified 3D printed parts?

A certain background knowledge is helpful, of course. First of all, you should start to think additive. This means you design the part with material only where it is needed. Topology optimization can help here. This way, you will reduce costs and generate a business case. Secondly, you have to understand your Additive Manufacturing process. It is the same as with any other manufacturing technology. The more you know about the specific process, the better the design will be. Finally, you need to produce the part on a qualified system and validate all manufacturing processes. But that’s where we start to get into detail.

How does your cost calculation tool work?

The cost calculation tool we put on our homepage is rather simple but gives good estimates of manufacturing cost for some LB and EB-PBF alloys. Since part complexity is almost for free in Additive Manufacturing, the tool is mostly driven by the total manufacturing volume. After entering volume, parts per batch and alloy, the tool calculates part cost range for low and high build jobs. For a more sophisticated tool, it is of course important to understand all cost factors that we describe in our make or buy study.

Why is it that when you ask a client to select a part for 3D printing that they always pick the wrong one?

First and foremost, lack of experience. And secondly, we tend to choose parts that we want to simply “replace” by 3D printed parts. This will usually not work. The best business cases evolve when designing a new assembly and having 3D Printing in mind – thinking additive.

Wipro 3D and its plans in the 3D Printing Market Interview with VP Ajay Parikh

Wipro is an $8 billion 164,000 employee Indian technology company. The company runs large outsourcing and technology implementation projects, and is one of the world’s largest IT firms. May may be surprised that Wirpro has a 3D printing arm. Moreover, Wipro 3D was set up in 2012. Wipro 3D has grown to be a metal 3D printing service provider that also offers 3D printing consulting, 3D printing engineering services, research services. The company is aiming to be a full spectrum player for 3D printing offering everything from sketch to the setting up of complete 3D printing service centers. We were very curious to see what Wipro 3D was up to and spoke to Ajay Parikh the VP and Business Head, Wipro 3D to find out more about the company’s plans.

Why is Wipro active in 3D Printing?

“Additive Manufacturing and related know-how is going to play a dominant role in how we conceive, design, produce and use objects. AM is going to push the limits of material science, and allow us to explore frontiers, never before imagined and disrupt manufacturing and supply chain processes globally. Wipro3D is Wipro’s initiative to be part of the future of manufacturing.

If we go by numbers, leading analysts had assessed the size of the additive manufacturing Market at USD 6 Bn in 2016, and expect it to grow to USD 16 -20 Bn in 2020 at a growth rate of 27%. They attribute this growth to the Metal AM market owing to an increase in its industrial applications. The growth of Metal AM is expected to be 42% with Aerospace, Automotive and Medical segments driving the growth.”

Is adoption on the rise?

“We assess adaption maturity of new tech essentially based on type and extent of end-use adaption, the ecosystem maturity and how rate at which the technology is evolving. If we look at the rate of enterprise adaption across the globe, it’s been pretty rapid in the last few years, metal 3D printing being the highlight. The entry and investments of large players like GE, HP in addition to entrenched incumbents such as EOS, Stratasys etc, further reinforces confidence. Besides a select set of full suite solution providers with global aspirations offer services ranging from Additive Consulting, Engineering, Manufacturing and R&D to turnkey solutions are driving up adaption.”

How do your consultants work with customers to help them get into 3D printing?

“Our Consultants study the client context, analyse opportunities and identify use cases that deliver the maximum benefit of Additive Manufacturing. We work with clients to design, redesign and adapt new and existing designs and geometries to 3D printing, work on material solutions, as well as end use prove outs, as well as process capability to reach regular and predictable use of additive manufacturing in their business operations. The central consideration in our engagement will customers is the business value that we can generate for the customer with 3d printing.”

Are you primarily focused on metal printing?

“Yes. Our focus is metal 3D printing and we see merit in offering complete suite of services such as Additive Consulting, Additive Product Engineering, Reverse Engineering, Series production of parts using Additive Manufacturing, R&D solutions as well as design, set up and operations of captive centres. We also offer process capability improvement programs. Given Wipro’s strength in business solutions, we can offer an integrated digital manufacturing solution including automation and iot use cases working closely with other businesses of Wipro.”

How do you work with customers in a design and engineering capacity?

“3D printing allows designers and engineers to completely rethink the way they approach product engineering. Given our strong background in product as well as additive engineering, we work with customers to analyse existing geometries, conceptualize products to take advantage of the freedom of design and manufacturing that 3d printing brings, and design the entire manufacturing process to assure repeatability and reliable , functional performance of the product in service conditions. These services are based on our deep understanding of various aspects of the technology. We thoroughly understand the deep interconnect between Additive Engineering, product engineering, materials science, pre-build, build and post-build strategies, to finally prove-out components that meet customers’ production and service condition needs. Design offerings are offered either as a standalone service, or as a part of the complete component realization solution.”

You also have 3D printing capacity in-house? In which technologies?

“We have a fully integrated Additive Manufacturing Centre in Bangalore, India catering to domestic and international customers, adhering to best practices and standards in Additive Manufacturing. We have a full-fledged design studio, best in class industrial grade metal 3D printers, a comprehensive post-processing shop as well as full-fledged materials characterization lab. While we currently use powder bed fusion as the default additive manufacturing technology, we are in the process of including various other technologies to suit specific industry applications. We are also in the process of manufacturing a purpose built machine to meet the demanding needs of customers.”

Do you focus on a particular market, vertical or application at all?

“Aerospace, Space, Defence, Energy, Automotive and specific applications in Healthcare are some of the sectors that we currently serve with a domain led focus.”

What are some examples of 3D printed parts that really add value?

“An appropriate selection of components and AM technology to address specific business case is important for a sustainable AM program within an enterprise. Wipro3D has a structured and systematic consulting framework that helps customers design an entire roadmap.

For a “successful” use case, the AM intervention needs either improve functional performance, improve manufacturing efficacy, reduce time to market or address supply chain issues.”

Wipro3D assists the space, aerospace and Défense with mission critical service ready components, that are proven out including components that are in space. We also offer industry For Healthcare too we offer optimized components that result in improve system design as well as performance. The Automotive industry is under constant pressure to release new products and Wipro 3D is helping compress their time to market with high fidelity prototypes for automobile and two-wheeler manufacturers in various subsystems. The Injection Moulding industry has benefitted from the freedom of design and manufacture afforded by AM with the freedom of design that AM offers.”

In which industries do you see 3D printing becoming strong in the immediate future?

“As you know, Aerospace, Space, Defence and Healthcare are at the forefront of AM adoption We feel major growth in usage of AM will also come from Automotive, Oil & Gas, and Industrial sectors employing different variants of metal AM technologies.”

Do you think that clusters of desktop systems will compete with industrial systems in manufacturing?

“Both systems have unique and mutually exclusive use cases and as such we see them coexisting.”

Do you think that one particular technology will win out over others?

All 3D printing technologies will co-exist with each other given the variety of applications, engineering needs and service conditions across industries.

What is Wipro’s ambition in 3D printing?

“We aim to be among the leading global full suite players in metal and advanced materials additive manufacturing solutions.”

What would be your top tips to a large company wanting to explore 3D printing? What are some of the roadblocks for manufacturers when switching to 3D printing?

“It is critical to find the right applications within the enterprise and identify the right type of additive manufacturing technology to create proper use and business cases. Enterprises need to work with the right Additive Manufacturing solution provider, which whom the enterprise can co-create and execute a long term adaption roadmap A systematic adaption roadmap is key. A good AM solution provider can make a big difference. Another aspect is executive sponsorship. If this is not on the board’s agenda, there is pretty good chance it’s going to be limited to prototyping. Moreover, you need high resilience. When it comes to enterprise adaption, certainly Return on Capital Employed, Utilization, Service life, comparison to conventionally manufactured components in terms of mechanical properties are top of the mind considerations. As in any case, early adopters face a steep learning curve, but one which is to come in handy, as the technology matures and use cases grow. Start now, with a strong business outcome objective, ideally working with a strategic solutions partner.

Interview with Fabian Alefeld of Additive Minds, 3D Printing Training, Consulting and Application Development

One of the things holding 3D printing back is the lack of Application Development Consultants. Imagine the dawn of the asphalt age, bitumen production increases as maps are filled with squiggly lines where fields once stood. Cars roll off of vastly expanded production lines while workers who built them on cue, queue in lines for new automobiles. Where do we see the constraints of this automotive revolution? We don’t really see them at the time, just like we can’t fathom the effects. Decades on suburbs emerge, nations have changed and the citizens of the first world are all connected by a web of white lines on hardened petroleum, a new future being patrolled by cars propelled of earth’s crust cured dinosaur. We are, I believe, at the forefront of just such a revolution. But, rather than connecting all the points of the known world we will connect all the points of our imaginations with the makable.

All our dreams unmade will become things. We have machines and materials being pushed by millions in investment. New 3D printers, 3D printing technologies, and applications emerge daily. Many companies are trying to use 3D printing for manufacturing and are exploring many uses of the technology in the supply chain. But, what apart from institutional decay and inefficiency is holding them back? If we go back to our automobile example, and truly by now as allegories go if it were a horse and carriage the horse would have long been whipped to death, what is lacking is driving instructors. We can build the machines and making the materials is ramping up, we have designers that are learning and companies that are exploring. Excited business development folks have filled their powerpoints with more hockey sticks than the NHL. Everyone who dares think knows that 3D printing will change a lot of things in many industries. The hype may have subsided but now the wave of adoption is being pushed behind closed doors. Sadly these companies know that the road to the future is there but maybe don’t know that they can’t drive. This is especially the case with those being ‘helped’ by consultants that perhaps are good at consulting but have no industry knowledge to speak of let alone practical experience with commercializing our technologies. A comedy of Excel, these limited Value chain morons embarrass themselves to no end.  My favorite thing applied to those that perhaps should stick to hugging clouds or helping your local government with its blockchain challenges in, “they don’t even know how to ask the right questions.” Imagine asking an abstract expressionist used to dripping paint everywhichway to make a subway sign legible to thousands. The bull excrement artists are indeed artists but we need those that can actually teach and explain, not mystify. Meanwhile, I think I’ll place my trust in a sign maker who is paid to make something that points people to the right way rather than a tech term maker who is paid to play buzzword bingo.

Image: Tobias Hase. A portion of the Additive Minds team in Krailling near Munchen. Fabian is the one in the charcoal suit.

Happily, there are a few consultants in our corner who do actually know what they’re talking about. These people are called Additive Minds (there are a few others as well). Additive Minds is an academy, a series of demo locations and consulting services geared toward letting customers industrialize 3D printing for manufacturing. Born from laser powder bed fusion giant EOS these consultants are helping companies go from a standstill towards driving towards the future. We spoke to Fabian Alefeld of Additive Minds to find out more.

What is Additive Minds? 

Additive Minds is an applied engineering and consulting group in the field of industrial 3D-Printing. We support organizations in various industries to transform themselves to enter production with additive manufacturing (AM). Our team consists of more than 100 experts globally, that guide companies through their individual AM transformation and transfer the necessary knowledge organizations need to become successful. To date, we’ve performed more than 300 projects globally, all with the objective of growing the AM market and creating trust in industrial 3D Printing.”

What do you do?

“As the manager for the consulting business of Additive Minds, I oversee all consulting activities within the North American market. This focuses on identifying challenges and opportunities AM creates for organizations and translating those into long-term projects. Currently, I am building a team in the US that, jointly with customers, identifies value chain opportunities and applications with a technical and economic feasibility to be produced using AM. We then work with our engineering teams of Additive Minds to develop those organizations into successful AM production chains for innovative applications.”

Give me an example of a project? 

Laser Powder Bed Fusion Spare parts for Daimler Evobus, notice the textures and surface finish.

“With Daimler Evobus, Additive Minds proved that manufacturing spare parts additively can create a positive business case for OEMs by simplifying the spare part supply chain. Here, Daimler and Additive Minds screened a portfolio of more than 300,000 parts and identified 2,000 metal and polymer parts that could be produced additively. In the current first production stage, Daimler is 3D printing 20 of those with EOS technology. Within such projects, we are keen to transfer as much knowledge as possible – this means, that the next part screening and application development phases within Daimler can happen without the support of Additive Minds.

Other projects include setting up centers of excellence within organizations to establish sustainable AM practices or extensive application development for metal and polymer applications and taking those into validated production.”

Is this application development? 

“Application development is a core expertise of Additive Minds, and our work with Daimler Evobus is one example of this. When it comes to establishing production standards for AM, process parameter development is often underestimated, even though AM can significantly reduce production cost or optimize part properties such as surface finish and density. Out of our 100 experts, one of our teams alone has more than 100 years of experience in AM – consisting of only five people. With experts like that, we can provide organizations with the expertise they need to establish a clear path forward and stay ahead of their competition.”

What’s the best way to take a company from knowing nothing about 3D printing to being able to use it for manufacturing?

Image: Tobias Hase

“This transformation usually starts with identifying potential disruptive levers within their own value chain. From there, we identify applications or potential new solutions where AM adds value by either improving the part performance or the supply chain in addition to having economic feasibility. This all counts towards achieving competitive advantage for our customers and taking them from the initial step into a highly efficient production of innovative parts within the shortest time possible.”

What are some of the key institutional barriers to adopting 3D printing for manufacturing?

“Within organizations, there’s still an experience gap that exists with AM technology and not fully understanding how to best implement AM into current operations.  Comments like “we tried this a few years ago and it didn’t work – AM is not ready” are often said. We work to overcome these mindsets by developing first concepts and a business case to show that the technology has matured from an engineering point of view and has become more economical to convince the purchasing department.

On the other hand, organizations need to invest in key knowledge holders and make sure that they can spread and transfer that knowledge internally. In some projects, we are even certifying internal personal through an Additive Minds led training program that includes workshops and e-learning modules.”

What is tricky if I want to do manufacturing with AM?

“The challenge in implementing AM is educating people so they can think in a new way about manufacturing and then transforming production processes.

Educating people sets the basis, allowing them to think differently and removing barriers in their way of thinking to completely reimagining manufacturing.

On the other hand, the transformation of production means understanding how to incorporate AM into existing production workflows as well as incorporating AM into existing quality systems.”

Image: Tobias Hase

What are product categories and industries that are ripe for AM adoption?

“Almost every industry has an AM pioneer or at the very least, is working on AM applications. The aerospace, medical and tooling industry are already at a quite ripe state and other industries such as automotive are using AM for high performance parts or simplifying their supply chain. Nevertheless, we are at the beginning of transforming manufacturing, as AM currently owns 0.02 percent of the global manufacturing market with a global revenue of $2.5 billion USD.”

Manual labor is still a considerable component of 3D printed parts, how can we reduce this?

“Manual labor will be reduced through automated unpacking and post-processing as well as a seamless digital integration. We are currently working on such solutions with our partners Premium Aerotech and Daimler through our NextGenAM project. Nevertheless, organizations need to distance themselves from looking at AM from a cost-per-part point of view. Rather, organizations need to look at their whole value chain and identify the great opportunities than AM can add. This will justify manual labor of the application and can reduce supply chain complexity or create a competitive advantage.”

I keep thinking that each and every technology will have its own ideal part and application. Do you agree? 

“AM will never be the only technology and disrupt 100% of the traditional manufacturing. Within the AM market, there will also not be only one technology. All players within the AM market are currently jointly working on growing the market, securing trust in this technology. And each different AM technology will have its fields of applications.”

Do you think that SLS (powder bed fusion) will be mainly a technology for medical applications or be used more broadly in manufacturing?

“DMLS and SLS will are already out of the medical niche and used in aerospace, automotive and other industries.”

How long would it take a company to adopt metal printing from knowing nothing to making their first parts?

“We need to distinguish between making first parts versus serial production in a restricted industry.

For making parts, we have educational programs that allow manufacturers to build their first parts independently on EOS standard process parameters within two weeks.

If we are talking about for example an aerospace company that wants to newly develop parts, take them through certification and get into production with a statistical process control and a quality system in place, it can take about 12 to 18 months with external support such as Additive Minds. Without external expertise, this is a risky project, as organizations then need to go through a trial and error phase, which is both time and cost intensive. This is because it is hard for organizations to acquire resources with AM expertise, which are rare and expensive. Companies faced with the option to train existing or new hires and ramping up their learning curve as fast as possible.”

How do you train people?

“Since we founded Additive Minds, which was roughly 4 years ago and originally called AM Consulting, we have developed several methodologies on how to transfer knowledge. However, trainings are only the beginning of implementing AM into organizations. We focus on long-term engagements within projects, where we start with trainings and applied workshops and then transition into a co-engineering and co-creation phase. Through this process, Additive Minds takes over a larger role in the beginning, and step by step transfers the lead to the employees of our customers. That way, knowledge is transferred first and then applied and customized to each and every employee and organization. This is how we secure long-term success for our customers, not long-term dependency on Additive Minds.”

Who are your trainings for?

“Additive Minds focuses on organizational AM transformations, where we provide trainings, workshops and customer specific engineering and consulting services. The goal is to engage new business models in new markets with completely new engineering approaches, enhanced quality management and even digital integration. We need to work with and focus on stakeholders across organizations. From C-Level, purchasing and engineering, to finance and machine operators, all need to be “Additive Minded” to transform such projects into a long-term success.”