Additive Manufacturing 101: Common Questions It’s time to take the mystery out of additive manufacturing. Here are the answers to a few common questions about the industry and where it’s headed. Are any well-known commercial products made with additive manufacturing (AM)? Thousands of products are made by additive manufacturing, and more are being created every…
Additive Manufacturing Process Question and Answer
Additive Manufacturing Post-Processing
Additive Manufacturing Post-Processing What is post-processing? Post-processing is an essential stage of additive manufacturing. It’s the last step in the manufacturing process, where parts receive finishing touches such as smoothing and painting. Why is post-processing important? Post-processing improves the quality of parts and ensures that they meet their design specifications. The finishing process can enhance…
Guideline for Additive Manufacturing Success
Guide to Additive Manufacturing — Layering to Post Processing Part 1: The Basics Introduction: What is AM? Additive manufacturing (AM) creates objects by adding material together, bit by bit, until completion. Think of how a house of bricks is built—additive manufacturing builds objects in a similar way, starting with very small pieces of material and…
3d Printing Reduces Manufacturing Downtime
Using Industrial 3D Printing to Reduce Manufacturers’ Unplanned Downtime Production breakdowns can cost manufacturers thousands of dollars each minute, so savvy companies use 3D printing to reduce their unplanned downtime. Here are a few ways you can apply the benefits of additive manufacturing (industrial 3D printing) to improve your operations: AM: A fast, low-cost way…
Using Cloud Manufacturing as a Service
Why 2016 Will Mark the Beginning of Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS) In 2016, manufacturing as a service will change how goods are made around the world. First, what is MaaS? Manufacturing as a service is the shared use of a networked manufacturing infrastructure to produce goods. In other words, manufacturers use the internet to…
Additive Manufacturing Fourth Industrial Revolution
The 4th Industrial Revolution and Why It Matters Most textbooks talk about one industrial revolution, but we’ve actually been through three already. Now the fourth one is here. Read on to find out what the fourth industrial revolution is and why it matters. What is Industry 4.0? The fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry…
The Benefit of On-Demand Manufacturing
How Additive Manufacturing Can Benefit Local On-Demand Manufacturers Outsourced additive manufacturing offers big benefits for local on-demand manufacturers, including faster production, a broader range of products, lower inventory costs, happier local customers. Read on to find out how! What is on-demand manufacturing? On-demand manufacturing is a process where a customer order can be immediately fulfilled…
How Additive Manufacturing Benefits Tool and Die
3 Ways in Which Additive Manufacturing Complements Tool and Die Some say three’s a magic number, and that’s definitely the case with the future relationship of additive manufacturing and tool and die-based industries. Consider for a second that there are three main factors highlighting the benefits of using the two together. How might these three…
Additive Manufacturing Trends in 2016
Trends in Additive Manufacturing for 2016 Additive manufacturing will continue to advance this year. Expect larger production runs, increased complexity of parts, greater strength, new materials and more. Here’s a rundown of the trends to look for in 2016: Beyond prototyping With standardization in place, additive manufacturing (AM) will be used to create a wide…
Additive Manufacturing Process Skills
Manufacturing technologies used today are incredibly different than what was at our disposal in the early 1900s. When you look closely, however, there are surprising similarities in how advancements took place and how they were received by the industry — a pattern that we’re seeing repeated today.