At this week’s RAPID + TCT show, there was an emphasis on how 3D printing was part of the present and not so much part of a distant future. Various companies – from makers of 3D printers to suppliers of materials – talked about how additive manufacturing is part of the present.
More and more manufacturers are seeing productivity as a crucial factor to their business success. In the meantime, business models are changing from the large quantities and few variants to small quantities with frequently changed variants. This change requires high flexibility during production.
GF Machining Solutions will unveil four new products for the first time in North America at its 2019 GF Solutions Days: the AgieCharmilles CUT C 350; the Microlution ML-10 and MLTC; and the DMP Flex 350.
My first experience with additive manufacturing was 10 years ago when I managed a project to develop a 3D-printed, remotely piloted aircraft. Within this program, a 3D-printed parts producer, that mainly printed prototypes at the time, collaborated with a university and an aerospace systems manufacturer.
The state of manufacturing is always a combination of tried and true methods; improvements (sometimes dramatic) in traditional processes; and brand new technology few people even conceived of a few years ago.
Sometimes, improving the quality of machined parts does not involve machining. That’s what A.R. Machining, a family-owned supplier to the aerospace, gas and semi-conductor industries, discovered.
Pine Brook, N.J.-based Doosan Machine Tools America will feature an extensive collection of products at the 2019 edition of the Doosan International Machine Tool Fair (DIMF). A total of 80 machines will be on display, including 38 new or upgraded models. The event will take place at Doosan’s machine tool factory in Changwon, South Korea, May 15-17.
Additive manufacturing, and AM machines, have gone mainstream over the past five years. The technology has advanced. More materials, including metals and composites, are being used for 3D printing, where parts are made from a digital design.
Simulation in manufacturing is becoming much more pervasive. Advanced visualizations are used everywhere, from machining on shop-floor CNCs to offline CAD/CAM programming of NC equipment.
The world of additive manufacturing (AM), commonly referred to as 3D printing, is quickly changing. The technology allows companies to manufacture products faster, with greater variation, and often with entirely new forms and functions.