Additive Manufacturing Is Advancing Toward Production Volumes

How do you bring additive manufacturing into production of end-use parts? Manufacturers are finding various routes to get there, some of which are illustrated in the magazineAdditive Manufacturing latest issue of . 

On the metals side, companies are investigating solutions for higher production quantities coming into the market, such as the recently announced Metal Jet platform from HP. This 3D printing system holds great promise for scale production in target materials such as iron and steel.

Others, like California startup 3DEO, are developing their own technologies for production 3D printing. In 3DEO’s case, keeping the process internal has allowed for faster commercialization; instead of marketing and selling 3D printing equipment, it is free to focus on manufacturing quality parts that can compete on price with those produced via metal injection molding, EDM and CNC milling.

In either case, pursuing production metal AM represents a significant investment, and one that should be approached strategically. GE Capital shares considerations for companies that are thinking about taking this step with 3D printing.

But metals are not the only materials for production. On the polymer side, manufacturers are also finding printers suitable for making parts that can compete with injection molding. The Technology House, an early adopter of Carbon’s CLIP process, is now capable of turning out about 1,500 parts per day that are comparable to molded ones in both cost and quality.

Also in this issue:

• How large-scale 3D printing is building the framework for the future of construction
• An applications engineer offers safety tips for working with hybrid machine tools
• 3D-printed hip implants enabled a mountaineer to scale some of the world’s highest peaks

For more stories like these, subscribe.