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Drone Deliveries: Wilhelmsen Turns to F-drones to Deliver 3D-Printed Spare Parts

Wilhelmsen, one of the world’s largest maritime companies, is making continual progress in the field of 3D printing for its sector. The latest news from the firm is that it will begin using drones to deliver 3D-printed spare parts to its off-shore customers via a partnership with Singapore’s F-drones.

The announcement comes after Wilhelmsen launched its early adopter program for 3D printing spare parts in the maritime industry in December 2019. In February 2020, the company performed its first delivery of 3D-printed spare parts to a Berge Bulk ship. Now, the delivery of 3D-printed spare parts is going to be performed by unmanned aerial vehicles from F-drones, the only drone delivery business that has been authorized by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore to perform deliveries Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight to vessels.

A Series 1 Pro 3D printer printing a part for Wilhelmsen’s spare parts program. Image courtesy of Wilhelmsen Group.

While there has been a great deal of hype around giants like Amazon using drones to drop items off to ordinary consumers, F-drones is demonstrating the viability of such a technology for hard-to-reach locales, such as oil rigs and ships. With electric drones able to carry 5 kg across 50 km, F-drones will be partnering with Wilhelmsen to perform last-mile deliveries with a future goal of delivering up to 100 kg across 100 km. The firm suggests that the use of drones for such operations can reduce costs, time, labor and carbon emissions by 80 percent compared to boats and helicopters.

So far, Wilhelmsen has six customers in its early adopter program, including, in addition Berge Bulk: Carnival Maritime, OSM Maritime Group, Thome Ship Management, its own Wilhelmsen Ship Management, and Executive Ship Management. Involved in the spare parts printing program is the Ivaldi Group, a startup founded by former Type A Machines CEO Espen Sivertsen and invested in by Wilhelmsen. Also linked with the maritime giant is German steel leader thyssenkrupp. All of this activity is located in Singapore, which obviously has an ideal location for seafaring activities, but has also established itself as center of additive manufacturing (AM) activity. Combined, we may see Singapore as becoming the hub for maritime AM.

3D-printed spare parts for maritime. Image courtesy of Wilhelmsen.

As 3D-printed spare parts become established within this sector, we may also see the additive production of replacement components take off in other industries, where the promise of such a scheme has long been touted. Virtual inventory and spare parts 3D printed on-demand seem to make sense on paper, particularly for segments where individual components are specialized and high cost, like heavy equipment, industrial manufacturing, and energy. In the case of the maritime sector, perhaps all that will be needed to push 3D printable spare parts across that last mile is a drone delivery service.

[Feature image courtesy of F-drones.]

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Appliance Maker Miele Offers 3D Printable Accessories on Thingiverse

Though it has yet to reach a widespread saturation point, we are slowly witnessing the birth of 3D printable replacement parts and accessories for consumer goods. The latest evidence of that trend is the new 3D4U platform from Miele, which has released a range of 3D printable parts for its appliances. The German manufacturer has released files for ten items on Thingiverse, all of which can be downloaded and 3D printed for free.

A vacuum accessory that uses a fine mesh to separate valuables from debris while vacuuming. Image courtesy of Miele.

Among the tools that can be 3D-printed are a variety of vacuum adapters, as well as accessories for coffee brewing and common repair work. For instance, there are nozzles for vacuuming different types of surfaces, a holder for attaching extra nozzles to Miele vacuums, and even a device that can be used to blow bubbles from one’s vacuum. Also available are a clip for sealing coffee bags, an accessory for decorating lattes, and a borehole cleaning aid to assist with drilling holes. The latte motif maker has also been uploaded as a blank template, with which users are encouraged to download and modify for their own custom coffee decorating.

The 3D4U Borehole Cleaning Aid: a device for hands-free drilling that connects to the drill and mounts directly to the wall. Image courtesy of Miele.

David Buhl, 3D4U project manager at Miele’s Bielefeld plant, said of the project:

“With 3D4U, we aim to offer our customers additional benefits and put ideas into practice which we were not previously able to implement as part of our comprehensive portfolio of accessories. In doing so, each part reflects our expertise in product development, for instance more than 90 years of Miele experience in floor care.”

This isn’t the first time a consumer brand has considered 3D printing for the production of accessories and spare parts. The most similar account is that of Hoover, which teamed up with MakerBot in 2014 to host its own 3D printable vacuum accessories. That experiment seemed to have ended then and there. Also in 2014, iRobot invited customers to hack their Roomba 600 series with 3D printable parts.

A tool for sprinkling coffee toppings in predetermined shapes. Image courtesy of Miele.

IKEA and its customers have experimented with 3D printing, given the natural fit for the DIY aspect of building the Swedish giant’s low-cost furniture. For its part, IKEA has sold 3D-printed art objects, a gaming chair prototype, and, most interestingly, adapter tools that allow disabled consumers to more easily use their products. Makers have designed a number of 3D printable spares for the brand’s furniture, which populate model repositories like Thingiverse and MyMiniFactory.

What’s missing for this very feasible concept to take off is the lack of widespread consumer adoption of 3D printers. Prices for desktop 3D printers are now consistently low and higher-end systems are introducing near-industrial- and true-industrial-grade capabilities that could change that, if price, functionality and ease-of-use can meet in the middle to create something that consumers would be interested in purchasing.

Initiatives like this being pursued by Miele will serve to drive the functionality of the technology, but we’re still waiting for a coalescence of forces to generate a perfect storm for consumer adoption. Meanwhile, larger economic problems will likely drive consumers away from what is, for now, a luxury hobby, unless some wonderfully low-cost, highly functional 3D printer emerges as a means of producing goods at a price that beats items mass manufactured in distant countries.

Otherwise, for now, spare parts will likely start out as more viable for industrial applications, such as for heavy equipment and rail sectors, where the technology is already beginning to demonstrate real value.

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Mathematical Model Determines Which Spare Parts Should or Should Not be 3D Printed

A major potential AM application for many industries is using the technology to fabricate spare parts on-demand in an effort to get rid of warehouses that are stocked full of spare parts just waiting to be used. Obviously, this could help save both time and money, but just how feasible is this solution?

(Image: Spare Parts 3D)

Companies now have an important choice to make – continue stocking spare parts, or only 3D printing them when they’re needed. Sounds simple, right? Maybe not. According to Jeannette Song, an operations professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, parts suppliers realize they need to keep spares handy, but since they’re not psychic, and don’t know what will break and when it will do so, they also know that they need a range of parts, in large quantities no less, available in inventory at any given moment.

“It takes up space and capital, and there is the risk of spoilage and damage,” Song said, explaining how inefficient and costly this decision can be.

Having a digital inventory of 3D printable spare parts means that manufactorers can forget about keeping a wide variety of parts on hand just in case they’re needed. However, this approach comes with its own set of issues.

“But that means you don’t have what you need on hand exactly when you need it, because 3D printing takes time. So there’s a trade-off,” she explained.

Song determined that a hybrid approach of the two – printing some parts when necessary, but continuing to keep others stocked – is the most useful way to proceed, but it’s tough to know which parts should be kept in inventory and which ones should be 3D printed. To help manufacturing firms determine the pros and cons of 3D printing on-demand spare parts versus storing spare parts, she came up with a useful mathematical model.

The model is based on an equipment manufacturer that’s moving into a new international market – the utility industry, which relies heavily on spare parts. When parts wear out, or power fails, these companies need to get replacements out to the field quickly in order to restore or maintain service, and not just a few at a time, either. For example, a transformer is typically made of up to 36 different molded parts.

Jeannette Song, R. David Thomas Professor, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

“For utilities, when you don’t have spare parts on hand, it’s a huge disruption. They have to have reliable and responsive supply of spare parts,” Song explained. “Traditionally a firm in this position would have a huge warehouse in every market. But now 3D printing is a viable alternative, so you have two options.”

The manufacturing firm she based her model on will be providing spare parts to utility companies that don’t have the necessary infrastructure to house them. Together with Yue Zhang, currently an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University who helped with the research during her time working toward her PhD at Duke, Song published a paper describing the mathematical model, titled “Stock or Print? Impact of 3D Printing on Spare Parts Industry,” in the Management Science journal.

“We present a general framework to study the design of spare parts logistics in the presence of three-dimensional (3-D) printing technology. We consider multiple parts facing stochastic demands and adopt procure/manufacture-to-stock versus print-on-demand to highlight the main difference of production modes featured in traditional manufacturing and 3-D printing. To minimize long-run average system cost, our model determines which parts to stock and which to print. We find that the optimal 3-D printer’s utilization increases as the additional unit cost of printing declines and the printing speed improves. The rate of increase, however, decays, demonstrating the well-known diminishing returns effect. We also find the optimal utilization to increase in part variety and decrease in part criticality, suggesting the value of 3-D technology in tolerating large part variety and the value of inventory for critical parts,” the abstract states.

“We also derive various structural properties of the problem and devise an efficient algorithm to obtain near optimal solutions. Finally, our numerical study shows that the 3-D printer is, in general, lightly used under realistic parameter settings but results in significant cost savings, suggesting complementarity between stock and print in cost minimization.”

Completely getting rid of spare parts inventory is often too chancy, but 3D printing some of the parts on-demand can help keep costs down, which is a hybrid approach is often the best. Companies can use Song’s mathematical model, which can effectively calculate which specific spare parts they will most likely need more often, how many of these should be kept in inventory, and which parts aren’t as vital, so they can be 3D printed on-demand when needed.

“If you are operating on a large scale, you still need to keep inventory on hand. But a little flexibility goes a long way,” Song said.

“The big decision is how you rationalize all these parts, which ones to stock and which ones to print. In most cases we find a 3D printer would not be used very much at all, but the firm saves a massive amount of inventory.”

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(Images: Duke University, unless otherwise noted)

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Additive Industries & ArcelorMittal Using MetalFAB1 3D Printer to Make Spare Steel Parts

One of the world’s leading steel and mining companies, ArcelorMittal, is partnering with Dutch company Additive Industries to investigate the use of metal 3D printing to make large spare parts for the steel industry. Additive manufacturing is used to fabricate spare parts for plenty of applications and industries, including maritime, railways, the military, consumer appliances, automotive, and many more. It makes a lot of practical business sense, as 3D printing spare parts offers companies, like ArcelorMittal, flexibility, a reduced production cycle, and on-demand manufacturing; if this happens onsite, it can even save on shipping costs.

3D printed spare parts used in ArcelorMittal facilities: (A) Example of part consolidation application with 316L original part on the left and 3D printed part on the right; (B) example of functional large parts with internal lattice structure made with 316L above 500 mm; and (C) lightweight (hollow) functional spare parts made with Maraging Steel with ArcelorMittal’s optimized parameters.

By collaborating with Additive Industries on metal 3D printing over the last few years, and using the technology to build on-demand spare parts, ArcelorMittal has improved its quality and process performance – allowing the company to print large, complex components that are ready to use.

“Additive Manufacturing is an exponential technology, moving very fast. Our collaboration with Additive Industries is a clear demonstration of our ability to remain at the cutting-edge of this technology: we started by printing small specimens and have now progressed to large size and complex parts,” said Jose López Fresno, Head of the Additive Manufacturing department, ArcelorMittal Global R&D in Avilés, Spain.

Operations in the steelmaking industry require components, and spare parts, that must hold up under difficult conditions. In the beginning of the ArcelorMittal and Additive Industries collaboration, they had to figure out how best to achieve the necessary requirements for component size and quality. But over the last two years of working together, the two have achieved an up to fourfold increase in component size, in addition to improving their reliability and quality. This means that the steel company has been able to increase the amount of applications for its 3D printed spare parts from small size part consolidation to jobs that need complex, functional, large, and strong parts.

MetalFab1 on the day of installation in ArcelorMittal R&D facilities in Avilés.

Now, the two are looking at what metal 3D printing can do for the steel industry with the MetalFAB1 by Additive Industries, which is one of the market’s largest 4-laser metal AM systems.

“Innovation and market leader ArcelorMittal have helped us to stress-test our MetalFAB1 system for critical spare-part production,” stated Daan A.J. Kersten, Co-Founder and CEO Additive Industries. “This enabled us to expand our experience to the steel industry from our main application markets in aerospace and automotive. It has become clear that metal 3D printing is a serious alternative for a large variety of cast parts.”

First introduced back in 2015, the unique MetalFAB1 printer has a 420 x 420 x 400 mm build volume, which makes it possible to fabricate large steel spare parts for the mining and steelmaking industries. But at the same time, it also ensures high productivity because it automated the manual steps of regular powder bed fusion 3D printers; this, in turn, equals the lowest cost per 3D printed part.

The modular MetalFAB1 has multiple build chambers, up to four 500W lasers, and can be configured for up to 11 different modules for more productivity or post-processing automation. It’s also well-designed for safety, which is perfect for ArcelorMittal and its focus on operator safety. In addition, 3D printing spare parts can help reduce waste – meeting another of the company’s objectives in terms of environmental safety.

“We are proud to work together with ArcelorMittal, jointly driving the business case for 3D-printed parts in the steel industry,” said Harry Kleijnen, Key Account Manager for Additive Industries. “ArcelorMittal’s typical applications have enabled us to further adapt the MetalFAB1 system to print high density, high volume parts. We are looking forward to expanding the range of applications and materials in this intense and strong collaboration.”

Since the first MetalFAB1 3D printer was installed at ArcelorMittal’s R&D facilities, the company has already used several of the 3D printed spare parts. To see the assembly and installation of the MetalFAB1 at ArcelorMittal, check out Additive Industries’ video here.

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(Source/Images: Additive Industries)

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Siemens Mobility Extends Spare Parts 3D Printing Program to Russia’s High-Speed Rail

The railway industry is one of the more exciting fields to watch the adoption of additive manufacturing, as various companies begin deploying the technology for use in the production of on-demand spare parts. One of the leaders in this trend has been Siemens Mobility Services, which already worked with Stratasys to print maintenance parts for the German and UK rail industries. Now, the German multinational is expanding its rail maintenance operations to Russia.

Siemens has bought two Stratasys Fortus 450mc systems to produce spare parts for its Russian business, just as Siemens Mobility has been awarded a contract to build 13 high-speed Velaro trains for RZD, a Russian train company. Siemens will not only construct the vehicles but maintain and service them over the next 30 years. The contract is third Velaro order from RZD, which already has a fleet of 16 trains in its high speed rail (HSR) line, Sapsan, which runs from Saint Petersburg to Moscow.

Parts of a railway tool 3D printed using the Fortus 450mc. Image courtesy of Stratasys.

Siemens has already installed the two new Fortus systems in its Siemens Mobility Russia locations in St. Petersburg and Moscow. There, the 3D printers will be used to execute the German multinational’s Easy Sparovation Part network in Russia, in which 3D print parts from digital inventory allow for in-house production of spare parts. With the new train contract, this means that Siemens will be servicing 16 existing trains and an additional 13 over the next 30 years using AM technology.

According to the conglomerate, the use of 3D printing has allowed Siemens Mobility Russia to exhibit a fleet availability record of over 99 percent.

“These availability figures would be physically impossible to achieve through external part sourcing and traditional manufacturing techniques alone, but Stratasys’ FDM 3D printers gives us the capability to cost-effectively produce the parts in-house, partially eliminating the need for warehousing or tools for a selected range of items,” said Alexey Fedoseev, Head of Customer Services, Siemens Mobility Russia. “We have already seen the success of the Siemens Mobility ‘Easy Sparovation Part’ business in Germany, where this technology has provided us time-per-part savings of up to 95% compared to traditional manufacturing methods.”

As long as the technology used to make the parts is up to the task, digital inventory has numerous benefits over physical storage. It reduces the space needed to maintain a physical supply, while also making it possible to deliver replacement parts on-demand, on-site, and quickly, regardless of the age of the equipment being maintained. In the case of a train car 30 years from now, the physical parts may not even exist any longer; however, the use of a digital inventory renders the concept of obsolete parts obsolete.

Grab handles 3D printed with Stratasys technology and installed on a Chiltern Railways train. Image courtesy of Stratasys.

“The manufacture and delivery of an additional 13 new Velaro trains will see us work on multiple vehicles over a long period of time, and within very strict time constraints. As a result, 3D printing makes for a perfect add-on to aid our production and provides us with the flexibility to replace and create parts ourselves, anytime they are needed,” Fedoseev said.

The Fortus 450mc systems have the ability to 3D print using industrial-grade materials that can operate in the extreme temperatures that Russia is known for. Stratasys also offers materials that meet the regulatory certifications necessary for 3D printing interior cabin parts.

According to Grand View Research, the global railroads market was valued at $508.5 billion in 2016 and is expected to hit 829.3 billion by 2025. Growth is due in part to the continued industrialization of countries like India and China, as well as the global electrification of transportation infrastructure in the face of the climate crisis.

While the U.S. has been continually thwarted in its attempts to establish any real HSR lines, China’s HSR system has become the most extensive on the planet. With that in mind, there is little doubt that the U.S. will eventually establish some HSR as it reduces its dependency on fossil fuels. Whether or not it will be able to do so before our ecosystem is beyond repair is another story.

In order of most to least high-speed rail lines: China, Europe, Russia, the U.S. The U.S. has two small corridors from Boston to Washington D.C. and D.C. to Perryville, Maryland that are classified as HSR. Images courtesy of Wikipedia.

As HSR grows, so too will rail maintenance. Within that market, the railway maintenance machinery segment was valued at $4.24 million in 2018 and is expected to reach $7.44 million by 2025, based on research from 360marketupdates.com. It’s highly likely that this subsegment will feature AM.

This is not just because of Siemens’ use of the technology in the space, such as the aforementioned maintenance programs in Germany and the U.K., but Deutsche Bahn is a part of a larger Mobility goes Additive network dedicated to the use of AM in rail and other industrial sectors. Dutch Railway is also using 3D printing for the production of spare parts.

In other words, not only is the railway industry growing, but so is 3D printing spare parts for trains, which will naturally segue into producing end parts. This is indicated by a recent announcement by a 2018 Wabtec. GE Transportation merged with industrial train part manufacturer Wabtec in 2018, which then bought GE’s H2 metal binder jetting system with the plan to use it in the production of up to 250 components by 2025. At that point, Wabtec won’t be the only company 3D printing end parts for the railway industry. Manufacturers globally will be saying it’s “all aboard” for additive.

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Metal X 3D Printer Begins Operations at U.S. Military Base

Markforged can happily claim to be a pioneer on a number of fronts in the additive manufacturing (AM) industry: 3D printing reinforcement fibers, low-cost metal 3D printing, unique quality control systems, software and more. While there are surely other new technologies on the horizon for the Boston-based startup, the most exciting offering from the company at the moment may be its metal 3D printing system, Metal X.

Demonstrating the capabilities of the Metal X, the U.S. military recently showed off its new Metal X system in a story for Stars and Stripes. In December, III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) began running a Metal X system at its 3rd Maintenance Battalion shop at Camp Kinser one of the U.S.’s highly controversial military bases on the island of Okinawa.

The shop is staffed by 12 marines who repair parts for U.S. weapon systems and vehicles for all III MEF units, which occupy numerous bases across the small, Japanese island, as well as several bases on the larger island of Honshu and additional locations in South Korea and Hawaii. Typically, the crew has had to rely on CNC machines to make parts. As our readers know, this process can be costly, time consuming, and wasteful of material.

Quincy Reynolds with the Metal X 3D printer at Camp Kinser in Okinawa, Japan. Image courtesy of Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes.

While the shop has had plastic 3D printers for the past four or five years, they have typically been reserved for prototyping. The Metal X system will make it possible for the military to 3D print metal end parts on demand. So far, these parts have included gauges for .50-caliber machine guns, sockets for wrenches and a piece to test weapon optics at the armory.

The Metal X extrudes metal powders bound together in a polymer matrix in a method similar to the traditional fused deposition modeling associated with desktop 3D printing. These “green” parts are then placed into a debinding station in which liquid argon washes away the plastic binder. The now “brown” parts are then placed into a furnace which sinters the metal parts for up to 27 hours and up to 1482°C, resulting in solid metal parts.

“Whereas with our new metal 3D printer, that opens up a whole new world for us,” shop foreman Staff Sgt. Quincy Reynolds said. “This piece of equipment is able to save time with the multiple prints and then you’re able to have a completed [piece] … that does not need any machining.”

Whereas a marine might spend eight to 12 hours machining a single component, the metal 3D printer can produce multiple parts at once. Once the initial layers are printed successfully, the solider can move on to other activities. In turn, one user can work on four projects at a time. Because the furnace the staff is using only holds about half the capacity that the Metal X can print, the shop will be upgrading to a larger furnace.

“We’re asking units, ‘Hey, just give us a problem. Let us figure out the solution for you,’” Reynolds said. “Right now, the sky is the limit honestly with this printer. If you can think of it, we can literally do it.”

A .50 caliber machine gun gauge 3D printed by the U.S. military forces in Okinawa using the Metal X 3D printer. Image courtesy of Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes.

From the description provided in Stars and Stirpes, the Metal X system is delivering on an endeavor that the U.S. military has long been pursuing: the ability to 3D print metal components on demand. The long-term goal for the military is to be able to make parts as close to a warzone as possible, potentially within portable fablabs.

Because the U.S. spends more on its military than the next seven countries combined, it has the expenses to research these cutting-edge initiatives and more. As the largest military force in the world (coincidentally also the largest polluter), the U.S. is under a seemingly constant need to develop its capability versus others that might challenge its hegemony. It has garrisoned the planet with over 1,000 military bases located in 80 countries, representing 95 percent of the globe’s total military installations (for comparison France, the U.K. and Russia have about 10-20 foreign outposts each and China has one).

As a result, the U.S. military is exploring a wide range of experimental 3D printing applications. Others include 3D printing meals for soldiers, 3D-printed grenade launchers, 3D-printed ship hulls, skin 3D printers for rapidly healing wounds.

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Interview with Tibor van Melsem Kocsis of DiManEx on 3D Printing in the Supply Chain

DiManEx is Dutch company that wants to bring 3D printing to the supply chain. They’re focussing on one of the most promising and challenging areas in 3D printing, how to identify parts that are suitable for 3D printing so they can be used for spares. DiManEx hopes to help firms identify good parts and then successfully print them as well. The regulatory, performance and print challenges there are considerable. Tibor van Melsem Kocsis is DiManEx’s CEO and he hopes that his firm will be the one to solve these challenges. If they can then they’ll have a very valuable capability on their hands. What’s more, companies would be very likely to deepen and broaden a long term relationship with a key partner that could guide them from a 3D printing standstill into spare part production. Furthermore, if they can prove that they can do this and maintain part performance and certification then people would not be very likely to shop around for less trusted firms. It will take a lot of convincing, knowledge and long sales cycles to get firms to the point where they’re printing spares though. We interviewed Tibor to find out more about the firm and what it hopes to achieve.

What is DiManEx?

DiManEx is an end-to-end platform that makes 3D printing easy for supply chain teams. We help you identify the right parts for Additive Manufacturing, digitize your inventory and print parts on demand through a network of industrial-quality facilities.

How is it different from Shapeways. Xometry, 3DHubs?

Supply Chain Optimization is the core element of our offering. For us 3D printing is an exciting technology, and a means to an end, not a goal in itself.We don’t just offer access to a manufacturing network, we provide a comprehensive service that helps companies find out what they can print, what they can’t print, and what’s beneficial to print from a supply chain stance. We start from the data, as well as immediate supply chain problems our customers need to address. We are also not a marketplace and assume end-to-end responsibility, from part identification to delivery to the end use location.

Where do you hope to be in five years?

We know that by then, even more than today, supply chains will operate in a highly networked environment, enabled by data and analytics, as well as end-to-end automation. Our big idea is to transform industrial supply chains in the same way e-commerce has disrupted retail. In the next five years, we want to become the preferred platform for companies that want to transition to digital inventory and optimize their global supply chain with digital manufacturing technologies like 3D printing.

What markets do you focus on?

We work mainly with companies in discrete manufacturing, in a wide range of industries, and companies with parts-intensive supply chains in Europe and the U.S. They are all focused on improving fundamental aspects of their business by solving specific supply chain issues. For instance, they want to improve the availability of service parts, ensure uptime to meet service levels, speed up lead times, optimize their inventory, and reduce their environmental footprint by preventing waste and unnecessary logistics.In addition, we see a growing demand for first series. Using AM for the first series helps companies speed up time to market, make changes on the fly and prevent unnecessary tooling costs.

Lightyear, for example, worked with us to secure more than 60 first series parts for the LightyearOne, a long-range solar car prototype. Being a prototype, some changes were required in several parts. The use of Additive Manufacturing made it possible to incorporate these changes quickly at a much lower cost than through traditional production. The first series was secured much faster without minimum order quantities. There was no investment in tooling or tied up working capital required.

Electrolux also works with us to secure like-for-like replacements of parts. The OEM is required by law to keep parts in stock for its appliances, but often incurs high set up costs, large minimum order quantities and eventual scrapping costs in order to meet this requirement. 3D printing offers a better way, by enabling them to supply the part as needed, on-demand. They work with us to 3D print, test and deploy several parts on the field.

What processes and materials?

We offer all available direct and indirect Additive Manufacturing techniques and post processing technologies. We provide access to 2000+ materials, both plastic and metal. We have global coverage with additive manufacturing production facilities and contracts with 60 partners we work with on an ongoing basis.

What is the Supply Chain Inspector?

Supply Chain Inspector is the analytics engine in the DiManEx platform. It uses semantic search, powered by machine learning algorithms, to help you identify the right parts for additive manufacturing. The solution draws on supply chain and technical data to assess parts’ printability and pinpoint those that are ideal candidates for digital inventory. We developed Supply Chain Inspector because we see that a lot of companies struggle with missing insights from available data. It’s not always straightforward to identify when 3D printing makes sense from a technical and supply chain optimization perspective. Through Supply Chain Inspector, you get this visibility and insights expressed in relevant metrics, like lead time reduction, inventory value reduction, future demand (uncertainty) and how to act upon this. The insights we provide make it easier for our customers to make the right decisions within our platform, with the ultimate goal to optimize their supply chain.

How does it work?

Our platform makes 3D printing easy for supply chain teams. A lot of complex processes happen behind our user-friendly interface. We facilitate a complete flow, from data to parts delivered. Looking at data, customers can get a bigger picture of what’s happening in their business and can more easily identify the right parts for AM. When a part is selected, they can trigger our end-to-end workflow, which includes scanning, digitization, production, and quality control.

Once a part design is approved, the part is added to the company’s digital inventory and users can place orders as often as they need to. Our platform matches the order with the additive manufacturing facility in our network that best matches the customer’s needs. Proximity to the end use location is also considered so we can minimize miles traveled. After the part is produced, it gets delivered through our network of partners.

A 1000 orders doesn’t seem like a lot?

This would be true and was the case when we first launched the platform. Right now this is not an accurate number anymore. We are now shipping orders on a daily basis, resulting in a new partnership with Logistyx which will help us optimize multi-carrier parcel deliveries. This partnership is very important for us. Logistyx simplifies the complexity of cross-border, multi-carrier parcel shipping. Their platform will help us quickly scale and ship high volumes of parts profitably, to customers worldwide. Their global carrier network counts more than 8,500 carrier services and helps us determine the ideal combination of carriers in real-time, based on factors such as price, capacity, service requirements, and performance.

How will you grow?

We will grow thanks to our customer-focused approach. Our goal is two-fold. Scaling up business with existing customers, and increasing the number of customers we serve across the globe. Further growth will be achieved by delivering the next generation of tools and services we have in our roadmap, and continuing to provide immediate value to our customers. This means having a positive impact on their total cost of ownership, service to their end customers and environmental footprint.

Is it realistic to add 3D printing to the supply chain?

Absolutely, 3D printing is an enabler, especially for discrete manufacturing companies and service organizations. It creates immediate and tangible value during the various stages of the manufacturing life cycle.

The key is to have a solid change management strategy and to work with partners that will make the transformation go smoothly. It helps to work with a managed service, so you don’t have to invest in machines yourself and can tap into a partner’s expertise without committing too many internal resources.

How do I redesign old parts for 3D Printing?

In daily practice, customers provide us with an old drawing, a physical part, and sometimes even a damaged part to be reverse engineered. This is especially true for older components.

We’ve done this for a range of companies that produce household appliances, elevators and escalators, and heavy equipment, as well as service organizations.

The Dutch Railways (NS), for instance, worked with us to reverse engineer and 3D print a frame for its train radios. The frame was not available through NS’ original supplier anymore. Without it, trains couldn’t run. Other suppliers had a large minimum order quantity. In most cases, NS would have to order a minimum of 100 parts, when in fact they only needed 10. They also faced very long lead times. We were able to reverse engineer the part and reduce lead times significantly. This helped them guarantee that their coaches would keep running. The weight for the part itself was also optimized.

A radio frame part for the Dutch railways, the NS

And these 3D printed parts will they be as safe, perform as well?

Pretty much all the parts we supply are functional parts, which means they must meet the technical specifications. Several of them have been tested by our customers. In many cases, we provide a material certificate and/or a test report which is provided by a qualified third party, as part of our quality assurance program. All of this is available in our end-to-end workflow.

What advice do you have for companies who wish to manufacture with 3D Printing?

First and foremost try to understand how 3D printing as a production technique can contribute to optimize your supply chain. Second, once you have an understanding of the potential during the various stages of the manufacturing lifecycle, bring a team together with the key stakeholders.Next, define a concrete plan with clear deliverables; start small, learn quickly and scale fast.

The post Interview with Tibor van Melsem Kocsis of DiManEx on 3D Printing in the Supply Chain appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

ProtoCAM Makes 3D Printed Spare Parts for Carpet Looms from the 1930’s

ProtoCAM is a Pennsylvania based 3D printing service bureau that serves the defense, manufacturing and consumer goods industries. The firm works with stereolithography, selective laser sintering (Laser Powder Bed Fusion), HP MFJ and FDM. Starting out in prototypes the company is increasingly making production-ready parts in polymers. They came to us with an interesting business case for the Langhorne Carpets Company. This application was an AMUG Technical Competition winner for the Advanced Concepts category. Langhorn Carpets was founded in the 1930’s and has been producing carpets since then in Pennsylvania. The firm made a good capital investment in the 1930’s by buying carpet looms that they still use today. The problem? Spare parts were unavailable for these machines. The ProtoCAM team designed and produced a modular five-part assembly spare part on the Multi Jet Fusion machines. Replacement and spare parts are a great 3D printing business case especially for old machines for which there is no alternative parts supply. We expect there to be many more cases in industry where trusty old machines work but lack essential parts. Previously we covered this story but we interviewed Bob Holbrook the VP Sales and Marketing for ProtoCAM to find out more.

.What types of parts were made?

Langhorne Carpets Company initially approached our team to 3D print an integral part for one of its 20^th-century looms, the Jacquard cylinder. The part is a five-sided ‘master cylinder’ that operates at the heart of the carpet-weaving process.

Due to the extremely rare and environmentally sensitive nature of the original material, African hardwood, Langhorne would have traditionally had limited replacement options for this essential piece of the loom. Without 3D printing, the company would have had to purchase a new cylinder via custom order or seek out a refurbished one in excellent condition. Either option would typically cost the company an exorbitant amount of time and money.

Leveraging HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing technology, we were able to not only restore Langhorne’s loom, but create a replacement part that was more efficient and cost effective to produce.

What functionality did they have to have?

The cylinder is integral to the carpet-weaving process—decks of connected Jacquard punch cards, which determine the intricate designs and patterns of the carpet, feed into the cylinders and help produce the final product.

The 3D printed part needed to mirror the original size and five-sided cylindrical design while also maintaining the ability to reach the Jacquard punch cards. Because Langhorne’s looms are continuously operating, we also needed to ensure that the 3D printed replacement part was durable, efficient and easily replaceable and replicable, making sure the replacement parts weren’t wearing out at a faster rate than its predecessor.

How cost effective were they?

African hardwood is an extremely rare and environmentally sensitive material, so finding a replacement piece can be difficult and cost prohibitive. Langhorne initially approached us because they weren’t able to find a replacement at an affordable price.

Using HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing technology, we were able to print the piece at a significantly lower price. Moving forward, one other major advantage is that we can easily clone the 3D replacement part, if necessary, for Langhorne’s other looms and at a reduced cost, since all the basic engineering is now completed.

In what way was it redesigned?

When we first started working on the redesign, we visited the mill to study the loom in action to understand how it worked and the modifications that would need to be applied to the printed part.

Once we understood how the part functioned, we took the original design and went beyond reverse-engineering it, making each panel of the cylinder removable and easily replaceable. We also added vents in place of the previously drilled holes to further enhance the weaving process.

Following Langhorne’s specifications, we leveraged the capabilities of Multi Jet Fusion to produce a part that seamlessly melded old-world craftsmanship and new-world technology.

In what sense was it more efficient?

If not for 3D printing, Langhorne would have had to purchase a new cylinder via custom order or seek out a refurbished one in excellent condition. However, it’s difficult to find replacement parts that are both cost effective and in good condition. The process of ordering a new custom part or finding a replacement part is also long and time-consuming and would have required the company to shut down production.

Now, Langhorne can easily source replacement parts and reduce the shutdown period of the mill by leveraging 3D printing technology to quickly print replacement parts and make minor modifications to the design as needed.

If I’m an industrial company with a similar application what would I have to do?

We have a team of engineers that are trained to help our customers by studying the parts needed and explaining design constraints and functionality requirements. Once we understand what the project requires, our engineers can adapt the part design for 3D printing, making adjustments to the design as needed.

Once we align on design, we can then manufacture the final part.

What would I have to be mindful of?

It’s important to approach the process with an open mind. While most parts are easily adapted for 3D printing, there may be instances where we can reduce the total number of parts needed, redesign the piece in order to improve efficiency or make a piece easier to disassemble so the cleaning and replacement process is simpler. Sometimes the original design has room for improvement, so if you approach the process with that in mind, you can take advantage of all the capabilities that 3D printing offers.

Whirlpool Partners with Spare Parts 3D to Create a Digital Inventory

The problem with appliances is that they inevitably break down at some point, in major or minor ways. If it’s a really major breakdown, the only option is sometimes to buy an entirely new model. If it’s only one part that is malfunctioning, however, it can often be replaced by a spare part directly from the manufacturer. Appliance manufacturers understand that good business involves taking care of the customer beyond the initial purchase, and that means having parts available for repairs – ideally immediately available, because as anyone with a malfunctioning washer or dryer knows, the sooner the problem is taken care of, the better.

The problem is that having spare parts available at a moment’s notice saddles appliance companies with huge inventories of parts that may or may not be required anytime soon. This requires investment in storage space and presents other issues, as well. Often appliance models go out of production, replaced by newer versions, well before customers stop using their older models. Where, then, do those customers turn for spare parts once their machines are no longer manufactured? It’s not always realistic for companies to carry parts for appliances that are no longer in production, which can leave a customer struggling with how to repair an otherwise perfectly good machine that simply needs a single part that is no longer available.

On the other hand, if companies carry too many spare parts, they can wind up with excessive amounts of inventory that never gets used, especially once certain products become obsolete. This is a tremendous waste of money and space. So what’s the best solution for both manufacturers and customers? It may be 3D printing.

If a company decides to adopt 3D printing for its spare parts, it can eliminate the need to carry physical inventories of parts at all, instead relying on a virtual inventory of parts that can be 3D printed as needed. Even truly obsolete parts can be reproduced by 3D scanning them and creating 3D models that can then be printed. It saves time, space, and money, and allows customers to receive parts within days – if not hours – of requesting them.

Singapore startup Spare Parts 3D was founded in order to help companies digitize their spare parts inventories for 3D printing, as well as handling the 3D printing itself for companies that do not wish to invest in 3D printers. Recently, home appliance company Whirlpool agreed to a partnership with Spare Parts 3D. The two companies will work together to scale up the inclusion of 3D printing in Whirlpool’s after-sales services.

“Spare Parts 3D gave me a pragmatic view on how to use 3D printing in our business,” said Franco Secchi, Head of Consumer Services and Quality for Whirlpool EMEA. “I know we won’t make large production batches with this technology, but there is an excellent value to solve obsolescence and shortage issues which generally fold into low volumes demands. This way 3D printing can have a direct significate impact on our customer care.”

The partnership initially started in November of 2017, with a pilot project in Singapore that involved 150 parts. The technical feasibility of the project was evaluated by January 2018, at which point Whirlpool gave Spare Parts 3D access to perform a catalog analysis that allowed them to review more than 11,000 SKUs. These SKUs were reviewed one at a time through Digipart, a proprietary online software that allows the user to estimate the benefits they would get from using 3D printing and determine which parts would be the most profitable.

The review found that seven percent of the SKUs were economically profitable and therefore suitable for 3D printing. The first 3D printed part has already been made: a push button printed in Nylon using Multi Jet Fusion technology.

“We are proud to count Whirlpool as one of our most valuable partners,” said Paul Guillaumot, CEO of Spare Parts 3D. “Committing in 3D printing is proof of a creative mindset and leadership for such a well-known company. We are glad to inspire them trust and innovation.”

According to Spare Parts 3D, all of the 3D printable Whirlpool spare parts can be produced using three technologies: MJF, FDM and SLA. Five different materials – ABS, ABS V0, PA12, Rubber-like resin, and PP-like resins, will be used to 3D print the parts. While the number of parts being produced with 3D printing is currently limited, the partners expect to deepen their collaboration in the future and 3D print a larger number of parts.

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[Images: Spare Parts 3D]

Dutch Railways Embraces 3D Printing with Help From DiManEx

Earlier this year, the Dutch Army signed a contract with Dutch company DiManEx to produce 3D printed spare parts. Now DiManEx is extending its services to Dutch Railways. The railway system has been experimenting with 3D printing for a while now and is looking to optimize its supply chain by 3D printing spare parts as needed, rather than keeping them in stock.

The partnership has actually been in place for several months. It initially allowed Dutch Railways to learn about and experiment with the possibilities of 3D printing and the quality of the parts that it could produce. The railway system selected and re-engineered a few parts, which were then 3D printed by DiManEx to the specifications provided by Dutch Railways. Mandatory quality control tests were then performed, and the approved part was then used in trains.

[Image: Dutch Railways]

After the first phase of the partnership, the automated digital supply chain workflow provided by DiManEx was implemented, and Dutch Railways has expanded the number of spare parts to be 3D printed. There are a number of benefits to the system: Dutch Railways will now be able to avoid long lead times by 3D printing parts on demand, and will have to spend less money and space on keeping spare parts in stock. It will also be able to keep legacy parts in digital form, ready to be 3D printed if needed.

“Today, our main risk in the spare parts supply chain is obsolescence,” said Joris van de Sande, Dutch Railways’ Supply Chain Operations Strategic Buyer. “With DiManEx, we are able to digitize our supply chain, mitigate risks and combat obsolescence. They are an ideal partner to help us build the supply chain of the future.”

A spare part 3D printed for Dutch Railways by DiManEx [Image: DiManEx]

Based in Utrecht, DiManEx was formed for the purpose of helping organizations optimize their supply chains through 3D printing. It provides what it describes as “a global enterprise platform for distributed 3D manufacturing,” which takes the form of a cloud-based service. Its software allows customers to identify the right parts for 3D printing, and once the parts are selected, the company 3D models and prints them. DiManEx then sends a sample part to the customer for approval. Once the part is approved for on-demand manufacturing, authorized users can then easily place, track and report on orders.

“We are excited about the cooperation with Dutch Railways, and proud of the fact that we deliver 3D printing knowledge not as a goal, but as a means to create an agile supply chain that manages any unpredictable demand,” said Alexander Bours, DiManEx Co-founder.

Railways around the world have been using 3D printing to create parts for trains; while the railway industry hasn’t been as talked-about as, say, the aerospace or automotive industries in terms of its use of the technology, it has still been impacted plenty by it. The 3D printing of spare parts is an excellent way for the industry to take advantage of everything that 3D printing has to offer, especially with the risk of older parts becoming obsolete. The partnership between DiManEx and Dutch Railways will help the railway system to modernize its operations, as well as to save time and money.

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