The future of additive manufacturing is all about design

Sarat Babu for The Engineer:  We’ve come a long way to unlocking the value of additive manufacturing (AM) and established AM sectors like aerospace and medical have played a key role in achieving this by advancing the technology to meet their needs.

You can now build complete full-sized, complex aero or medical parts in one go using AM, reducing the timescales and materials costs over more traditional design and engineering processes. This evolution is now helping to drive new designs and innovations in these sectors and while it is a laudable achievement, we now need to look beyond these traditional, ‘legacy’ sectors to ensure the importance of additive manufacturing technology.

In consumer-focused industries – such as sports equipment and consumer electronics – additive manufacturing is still nascent and finding applications that maximise the value of the technology can be a major challenge. While a focus on developing new AM technologies is important, understanding what novel things we can do with the technology is just as critical and often overlooked.

This is precisely why AM needs to stop focusing solely on technology and start thinking more about design.  Full Article:

Comments (0)

This post does not have any comments. Be the first to leave a comment below.


Post A Comment

You must be logged in before you can post a comment. Login now.

Featured Product

Supply Chain Management by Elisa IndustrIQ

Supply Chain Management by Elisa IndustrIQ

Elisa IndustrIQ's Supply Chain Management (SCM) solution is designed to enhance productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness throughout the entire supply chain. This advanced solution focuses on improving flexibility and responsiveness in both planning and operation execution, crucial for adapting to rapidly evolving markets. Our solution facilitates business growth by offering end-to-end visibility, essential for efficiently managing and streamlining supply chains. Key features include AI-powered demand forecasting, automated quoting and purchasing, intelligent replanning capabilities, structured collaboration tools, and direct supplier integration. These features can be tailored to align with your business and financial objectives, adding a strategic dimension to sales and operations planning and execution. The solution is designed to meet the manufacturing industry's needs for speed, resilience, and efficiency, primarily through innovative approaches to reduce business friction.