All you need to know about 3D printing

3D printing

In the past years, 3D printing has received a lot of attention for its role in easing supply chain congestion, especially with regard to small spare parts.

Experts believe that the next big step in 3D printing may be with large metal objects, which are produced quickly and at a competitive cost, if used on a large scale, it may reimagine supply chains and manufacturing methods, according to the Emirati statement.

An article in the US "Forbes" magazine reports that the large-scale use of new metallic 3D printing technology could reimagine the supply chain and revolutionize the way large industrial products, such as aircraft and cars, are manufactured, reducing the cost and carbon footprint of wholesale manufacturing.

For the supply chain, the effect of the 3D printer, or the so-called "additive manufacturing", and what it basically entails building a 3D object using "Computer Aided Design" (CAD) technology to add a layer of materials on top of another until the final product is completed, as Next: Warehouses won't need to keep many parts in stock, and the rationale for this, according to the article, is that parts can be printed as needed.

This means that warehouses can hold less physical stock, but may contain more SKUs (scannable barcode).

Having more of those units from local warehouses could also mean faster refurbishment cycles for parts purchased infrequently, which used to be very limited.

This is because additive manufacturing poses a number of issues, such as the time it takes to print, which obviously depends on the complexity of the printed item, printer speed settings, item size, type of printer used, printer quality settings and fill density.

An article published last year indicated that the time it takes to print things has decreased, and that the data indicate that it takes 4 minutes to print Lego (2 * 4 studs), a mobile phone cover (20 minutes), basketball (2 hours), and toys Small (1 - hours) depending on the complexity of the game.

With production so slow, the article argues that the 3D printer cannot currently be used in large-scale manufacturing. For this, he finds that the new method adopted by a startup named "Surat Technologies" requires attention, which may constitute the required breakthrough that the industry is waiting for.

Surat Technologies claims that its processes are 10 times faster than 3D metal printing based on a Laser Powder Bed Fusion. Furthermore, it claims that it can expand to make its process 100 times faster by 2025.

With this development, that speed is still not enough for high-speed manufacturing, but there are many products that are customized for specific people, parts such as the roof of a convertible car, and others often do not need to be manufactured on a large scale, and this new process can lead to Increased use of 3D printing for parts and personal products.

Besides the importance of printing speed, there is also its cost, and around that, the startup Surat Technologies believes it can print quickly and at a reasonable price, while reducing the price with volume.

It claims that it is able to facilitate the production of spare parts at a price of $ 300 per kilogram, and also aims to reduce the price to $ 150 per kilogram by 2025, while the cost of 3D metal printing technologies in force today, according to the company, is between 1-2 dollars / cubic centimeter, to be competitive with conventional serial manufacturing, it would have to bring the cost down to less than $0.1/cubic centimeter.

If the Surat Technologies method is successful, we may move from using 3D printing, not only in the production of spare parts, but as an integral part of the manufacturing process, the article says.

The article reports that enterprising investors often see this potential. On January 20 of this year, Surat Technologies announced a second round of financing expansion of $21 million, bringing its total funding to $79 million. The main investor is the Capricorn Group, and each employee of the company also has a stake. at work.

The company stated that it has secured seven letters of intent from companies operating in the automotive, aviation, energy, consumer electronics, and industrial sectors to join its marketing program, and the launch of the program is scheduled to begin this year, and that it has more than 120 patents granted or pending.

The company's process relies on what it calls "area printing", which uses a powerful laser containing more than 2.3 million pixels to micro-weld thin metallic powder layers in the space beneath, to create complete renderings at once in one specific area.

The article argues that startups have big claims that they may not always succeed, yet their venture is worth pursuing, and could be a catalyst for more reliable and market-closer supply chains, to say the least.