Page 19 - 3DMP Spring 2022

Teaming AM and Machining Drives Success for KAM 3D
“Inhouse machining represents a big differentiator for us,” Allan offers. “When outsourcing, many machine shops are afraid to take on machining of additive parts. But here, the teams work together to tackle any potential issues upfront. They talk together ahead of time—‘How can we fixture this?’ ‘How will the fixturing or the finished part look?’ ‘How can we design and print to ease the machining?’ The feedback between the teams makes the process work well.”
Besides coordinating on additive and subtractive processes to add efficiencies, KAM looks to gain other process efficien- cies as well. For example, the company is exploring an AM alternative to brazing, a costly and time-consuming process that can yield discolored parts with relatively low-strength joints, among other disad- vantages. Research at KAM examines tra- ditionally brazed parts versus AM parts under a CT scanner—KAM offers a robust quality department, including CT scan- ning and in-process and offline quality checks.
“By examining these parts through CT scanning, we believe that we can achieve better parts through AM,” Allan says. “It can help our customers who are trying to overcome that brazing pain.”
Bringing Its Capabilities Mix to Bear
From the additions of ERP and cyber- security software, production and inspec- tion equipment, and talent to the meshing of additive and subtractive operations, KAM has the tools in place to tackle the challenges inherent in serialized produc- tion. And, importantly, it can tackle these challenges as a one-stop shop.
“We have so many certifications and qualifications required to become an approved supplier for the types of parts that we produce,” Keselowski tells 3D Metal Printing. “With that come the audits, con- ference calls, meetings, etc. And, an end user of a product of this type just doesn’t have enough time to do all of that with multiple vendors. A customer looking to buy a part needs that part to come to its door ready to go. If we must hand a part
KAM performs in-process and offline part inspection as part of a strong commitment to quality control and also as a means to research promising manufacturing techniques. For instance, the company CT scans brazed parts and their AM counterparts to determine the viability for AM to supplant brazing in some applications.
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off and go back through that loop of paper- work and meetings and communication, misunderstandings will happen, and the project becomes a nightmare.
“Early on in KAM’s existence, we real- ized that a one-stop supplier is a point of significance to our customers,” he con- tinues. “We had bought a ton of additive equipment, paused, and then bought a ton of subtractive equipment to become a one-stop shop. Usually, it goes the other way in this business—starting with sub- tractive equipment and adding some additive.”
Taking parts from design to AM to machining demands expertise and can be a risky maneuver—“Sure, we’ll print and ship you 20 parts, and then you can ship them to a machine shop that screws up 10 of them, and then we’ll print you some more,” Keselowski says, describing tongue-in-cheek how an AM-only house might profit.
“We take that risk, which is a benefit that KAM offers to our end-use cus- tomers,” he says. “We take the risk, and scrap parts, too. Any manufacturer will have scrap, and the additive parts that we produce are incredibly difficult to machine. Everything that makes them great for the end customer makes them
incredibly awful to machine, whether it’s the difficulty of the materials or the com- plexity of the part. In fact, early on we had overflow work and tried to offload parts to other shops for machining. They wouldn’t touch them.”
KAM instead now relishes the idea of tackling difficult machining.
“Much of our success story to date is the ability to properly machine highly complex 3D-printed parts—complexity in design, complexity in materials, com- plexity across the board,” Keselowski says. “Our additive and subtractive teams are cross-functional—it’s our power-cell con- cept. The teams collaborate, which is important.”
This collaboration drives success at KAM, and positions it well as serialized production makes further inroads into AM.
“When we get a good serialized-pro- duction customer, we really have to put our full weight behind it, and then comes the transition period where we reload and go back hard,” Keselowski, channeling his competitive nature honed from years in top-level auto racing, concludes. “It’s like working out—it doesn’t feel all that good and you’re sore the next day, but you get stronger. We’re getting stronger.” 3DMP