Rich, General Motors recently invested in 17 production-grade FDM printers, intending to use them for 3D-printed tooling. The term “tooling” is quite broad, however. Can you share details about what types of tooling GM and others are 3D printing, and why?

In this podcast, Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering Magazine discusses with Carl Dekker President of Met-L-Flo, Inc. on how to embrace Additive Manufacturing. This will cover the costs of equipment, personnel, and incidentals. Also discussed will be the design considerations that make AM excel.

Power management company Eaton said its Vehicle Group is implementing a new 3D metal printing program as a part of its Industry 4.0 strategy to reduce development time and improve efficiency.

EOS said it has partnered with Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station to provide a professional development program in the field of industrial 3D printing.

From Copper to Filaments, engineers are developing new materials for 3D printing, advancing its practical use. In February, Markforged, Watertown, Mass., commercialized a pure copper filament for its printers so they can use this hard-to-machine metal.

Digital manufacturing—industrial 3D printing in particular—has catalyzed world-changing ideas since its inception. This year, however, the technology proved invaluable, moving at warp-speed in the face of unprecedented challenges when the world was overtaken by a fast-spreading virus.