Designing for additive manufacturing: Maximizing value while minimizing risks
Additive manufacturing, often known as 3D printing, enables companies to create new and innovative parts and components that were previously too expensive or impossible to make. This has generated a lot of hype among consumers and investors, but the reality in companies is much different. Additive manufacturing is still considered a relatively new way of making metal parts compared to other manufacturing technologies that have been around for hundreds (think machining) and thousands (think casting) of years.
Despite additive manufacturing’s infancy, companies are figuring out how to maximize its value while minimizing the associated risks and costs. Designing for additive manufacturing plays a key role in this process, and this talk will discuss how companies in aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, health care, and space have navigated these challenges to bring metal additive manufacturing parts to the market.