Page 39 - 3D Metal Printing Spring 2017
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prototyping business is growing, production work is increasing at a much faster rate. Nichols attributes this to two factors: 3DMT’s business model and metal AM’s strengths.
3DMT is a subsidiary of ARC Group Worldwide, which offers a portfolio of AM technologies. ARC focuses on production work and is best known as a leader in metal injection molding. This orientation aligns 3DMT with production work. Nichols also notes that being a prototyper has its economic challenges stemming from the need for many one-off orders, each with significant upfront, preparatory work.
The other reason for a higher volume of production orders: The components can leverage design flexibility, a key AM strength. Because a prototype should represent what ultimate- ly will be manufactured, it is unwise to leverage design free- dom to modify the structure of a component that will not be produced via AM. According to Nichols, if a component is designed for other processes and cannot be changed, the value of metal AM is seriously undermined.
OEE Must Improve
Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) represents a key metric in mainstream manufacturing. An OEE of 100 percent signifies no scrap, no downtime and no delays. Nichols states that an OEE score of 85 percent denotes worldclass, and this is achievable with conventional manufacturing processes.
Nichols believes that OEEs range from 40 to 50 percent for those performing metal-AM production work. He also notes that metal AM-machine manufacturers have not presented him with OEE data.
“They are good machines,” he is quick to point out. “I believe that in two to three years we can get to an OEE of 75 percent, and while not in worldclass territory, it would be acceptable,” he says.
Upward Spiral with Production-Ready Machines
As OEEs and other performance measures improve, Nichols foresees growth and advancement. When reliability, dependability and predictability improve, metal-AM machines will have a lower operating cost. When passed on to clients, the savings will increase the number of projects where the technology is financially justifiable. This increases the number of suitable opportunities, which in turn increases demand.
More demand then creates the need for more metal-AM machines. This increase provides more profit to the machine manufacturers that they can then allot to machine optimiza- tion and efficiency improvement. The cycle repeats, creating the upward spiral of progress.
Quality–Questioning the Unknown
Quality control represents the final hurdle to metal AM adoption. Those that desire the advantages of metal AM can move past this hurdle; those that resist this new technology use
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