Additive Manufacturing, or 3D Printing, has been adding value to manufacturing and product development for over 30 years. Despite enhancing hundreds of products and business models, its value is still often questioned, leading to a dichotomy. In my experience, this skepticism stems from a generalized understanding of its value and the benefits it offers across various verticals.
In our previous two columns, we covered the technical value propositions of Additive Manufacturing and the different business drivers it enables. Here, let’s consider the applications within various verticals that have gained value due to its adoption. Having personally worked on several of these, I can vouch for the improvements brought about by Additive Manufacturing.
Aerospace
Nowhere is its impact more profound than in the aerospace sector. It has impacted everything from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to rocket and satellite components. Additive Manufacturing enables the creation of lightweight, complex geometries that enhance UAV flight duration and payload capacity, while rapid prototyping accelerates innovation. In turbine engines, AM-produced components with intricate cooling channels improve thermal efficiency and performance, reduce material waste, and extend component life through repair capabilities. Inside aircraft cabins, AM allows for customized, lightweight interiors that boost passenger comfort and fuel efficiency.
In rocket technology, Additive Manufacturing facilitates the production of complex parts like fuel injectors and combustion chambers, shortening development cycles and cutting costs through reduced material waste. For satellites, AM’s ability to create lightweight, compact components optimizes payload capacity and thermal management, ensuring reliability in space.
Healthcare
Healthcare is another vertical where the AM impact has changed human lives. AM has been the catalyst for significant advancements in key areas, including dental devices, implants, hearing aids, surgical aids, and prosthetics. In dentistry, AM facilitates the precise customization of crowns, bridges, and aligners, leading to improved fit and comfort, faster production, and the use of diverse biocompatible materials. For implants, AM enables patient-specific designs that enhance surgical success, supports complex geometries for better integration, and allows for rapid prototyping to aid in pre-surgical planning. Similarly in hearing aids, AM allows for custom fittings and efficient, cost-effective production, while also enhancing design and user satisfaction. Surgical aids and prosthetics are other such applications.
Automotive
AM has transformed multiple areas of this vertical by optimizing performance, accelerating development, and enhancing customization. In racing, AM enables the production of lightweight, high-performance components and rapid prototyping, which enhances vehicle speed and handling. For wind tunnel testing, AM provides cost-effective, precise models with complex geometries, improving aerodynamic analysis. The use of AM in concept cars allows for unprecedented design freedom and faster development cycles, supporting the creation of innovative, advanced parts. Custom-fit and bespoke vehicle components, both functional and aesthetic are also emerging nicely. It supports DfAM by enabling optimized, material-efficient designs with integrated functions.
Durable Goods
Here Additive Manufacturing added value by streamlining prototyping, enabling rapid and cost-effective bridge manufacturing, and improving control group testing. In prototyping, Additive Manufacturing accelerates development and reduces costs by enabling quick iteration of designs. For bridge manufacturing, AM allows for custom structural components, speeds up construction, and lowers costs by minimizing material waste. In control group testing, AM provides custom components for precise and flexible experimentation, while also reducing lead times. Additionally, AM enhances tooling by offering cost-effective, complex geometries and rapid production. It also supports personalization by allowing the creation of customized products on-demand, tailored to individual needs and preferences.
Given the numerous successful applications of Additive Manufacturing across all key manufacturing sectors, why is its value then questioned?
The answer lies in the fact that each sector seeks different value propositions from AM, and not all sectors seek every potential benefit. It often is a result of pursuing either the wrong value proposition or an attempt to address all benefits simultaneously, leading to mismatches between expectations and actual outcomes.
Insights can be gained from examining which value drivers made the above applications most successful. So, let us explore the value proposition that are important within each vertical.
Aerospace
In the aerospace sector, the most important business drivers are lower fuel consumption, operational efficiency, and certified solutions. As such, part weight reduction and assembly consolidation are the critical value propositions here. Additive Manufacturing enables the production of lightweight, integrated components that reduce fuel consumption and streamline operations while meeting stringent certification requirements.
Automotive
The automotive sector has different goals and business drivers compared to aerospace. High-volume production, lower component costs, and reduced time to market are the most valued propositions. While weight reduction is a shared goal with aerospace, the focus is primarily on producing a high volume of parts quickly and cost-effectively using Additive Manufacturing.
Healthcare
In healthcare, most applications are tailored for patient-specific services. The critical value propositions are mass customization, single-use components, and certified solutions. AM excels in producing customized medical devices and implants that meet individual patient needs while adhering to strict regulatory standards.
Durable Goods
For durable goods, the unit requirements are typically exceedingly high, making AM an ideal tool for R&D, product development and bridge manufacturing cycles. The most sought-after value drivers in this sector are prototyping, low-volume production, and time to market. AM allows for rapid iteration and testing of new designs, enabling faster product development and market introduction.
In summary, the value of AM is questioned when its benefits are not aligned with the specific needs of different sectors. Understanding and targeting the critical value drivers for each vertical—whether it is weight reduction and part consolidation in aerospace, high-volume production, and cost reduction in automotive, mass customization in healthcare, or prototyping and rapid market entry in durable goods—ensures that AM’s potential is fully realized and appreciated across industries. OEMS developing new AM products and application companies adopting AM should pay close attention to this match before selecting AM as a solution.
