3D printing and the new shape of industrial manufacturing June 2014 In conjunction with Table of contents 1 Introduction: 3D printing’s growth spurt 2 3DP-powered R&D 4 The longest mile: From prototyping to final product 7 Reaching the 99%: Small and medium manufacturers 10 Can 3DP shrink the supply chain? 15 3DP and the industrial worker: Awkward bedfellows? 16 Shaping your 3DP strategy What is 3DP? 3D printing, also known as additive manufac- turing, is the process through which hundreds or even thousands of layers of material are Introduction: 3D printing’s growth spurt “printed,” layer upon layer, using a range of materials, or “inks,” most commonly plastic polymers and metals. The additive process, which manufacturers have been using for prototyping since the 1980s, contrasts with traditional subtractive manufacturing processes based on the removal of material Surely, the potential of 3D printing (3DP) surrounding the economics of 3DP, we to create products. But recent advancements has captured the popular imagination. explore how and why companies are in speed, capabilities and lowering prices From jet engine parts to made-to-fit bikinis, bringing this technology closer to an effec- in printers and feedstock have broadened the technology is being hailed as a revo- tual tipping point of adoption. the use and popularity of the technology. 3D lution in how products are manufactured. printers range from small personal hobbyist According to estimates, the global 3DP There are signs that the technology is on the machines (under $200) to industrial printers printer market is poised to hit $6 billion cusp of being mainstreamed and thus there (hundreds of thousands of dollars and more). by 2017 from $2.2 billion in 2012, with are glimpses of the disruptions and opportu- Digital files (i.e., Computer Aided Design (CAD) files), which are either drawn up by a designer global shipments of printers costing less nities that it could create, including: or are created by a 3D scan, communicate to than $100,000 expected to reach about • Companies investing in the 3DP hard- the printer the dimensions of each required 98,000 in 2014, roughly twice as many as ware and the talent to run it are seeing layer or “horizontal slice” to complete the 1,2 in 2013. But in the heartland of US indus- gains in speed and flexibility in research object. 3DP technologies include: trial manufacturing, 3DP appears more and development, enabling quicker on an evolutionary track, as companies Binder Jetting: Also called “inkjet head” or launching of new products and product “powder bed” 3D printing, this technology is large and small shape 3DP programs—and customization (the “lot of one” model). used to print with sand, powders or metal, as 3DP printers, software and materials employing inkjet-like printer heads that jet science advance. What they’re discovering • Early adopters are crossing the critical threshold from tinkerer and prototyper layers of material and a binder to fuse the is not just how the technology can build layers of material together. Commonly used to to producers of the final product. upon traditional manufacturing processes, produce sand castings printed from sand. but perhaps more important, how it can • Companies are re-imagining supply Stereolithography: Uses an ultraviolet beam potentially produce products well beyond chains: a world of networked printers to harden liquid resin, bonding each succes- the scope of traditional manufacturing. where logistics may be more about sive layer. delivering digital design files—from one To help get a clearer picture, PwC surveyed continent to printer farms in another— Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM): Originally over 100 industrial manufacturers, from than about containers, ships and cargo developed by Stratasys, a stream of melted small contract manufacturers to multina- planes. In fact, 70% of manufacturers thermoplastic material is extruded from an extrusion nozzle to create layers, with each tionals (referred to in this report as “PwC we surveyed in the PwC Innovations Innovations Survey”).3 The overarching story layer bonding to the previous layer. Common Survey believe that, in the next three– inks include ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene is one of sprinters and sideliners. Two-thirds five years, 3DP will be used to produce styrene) and polyactic acid polymers. of manufacturers surveyed are currently obsolete parts; 57% believe it will be implementing 3DP in some way (either used for after-market parts. Some 30% Selective Laser Sintering (SLS): Using experimenting on how to use the technology, of survey respondents believe that 3DP’s powdered materials (e.g., nylon, titanium, aluminum, polystyrene, glass) instead of or already using it for prototypes or final greatest potential disruption will be products). One in four said they plan to liquid polymers used in FDM, SLS employs exerted on supply chains. a laser, which sinters or fuses the powder, adopt 3DP some time in the future. • Companies are anticipating 3DP-driven layer by layer. Based on this survey, interviews with savings in materials, labor and trans- Selective Laser Melting (SLM): Similar to industry leaders and a PwC analysis portation costs, when compared to SLS, but rather than fusing the powdered traditional subtractive manufacturing material, the powder is melted at very high processes. A PwC analysis of 3DP adop- temperatures. 1 “Wohlers Report 2013 Reveals Continued tion by the global aerospace industry’s Electron Beam Melting (EBM): Similar to Growth in 3D Printing and Additive MRO (maintenance, repair and oper- SLS, but employs an electron beam as its Manufacturing,” Wohler company press ations) parts market, estimates a $3.4 power source. release, May 23, 2013. billion annual savings in material and Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM): 2 “Gartner Says Worldwide Shipments of transportation costs alone, assuming a Additive process involving the layering of 3D Printers to Grow 49 Percent in 2013,” scenario in which half of that industry’s laminates of materials (e.g., metal, plastics or Gartner press release, October 2, 2013. MRO parts are 3DP-manufactured. And, paper) bonded in successive layers, then cut even at a more conservative 20% 3DP 3 PwC and Zpryme conducted a survey of into shapes and, in some cases, worked on 145 US manufacturers in February 2014, adoption, savings could easily exceed $1 further (e.g., through machining or drilling) to titled “2014 Disruptive Manufacturing billion, according to the analysis. finalize the product. Innovations Survey.” Introduction 1 3DP-powered research and development 3DP adoption: Now...or when? Applying 3DP for rapid prototyping is Mainstreaming 3DP rapid prototyping nothing new for many manufacturers. Large manufacturers with talent and It enables them (and their suppliers) to capital resources already have embedded sidestep the often laborious, costly and 3DP into their R&D cultures. General expensive traditional processes—the Electric Co., a leader in the technology for production of casts, molds and dies, the two decades, has a global network of 600 milling and lathing and other machine engineers involved in 3DP technology.4 work, and finally, the shipping of the GE, which raised its commitment to the object from a supplier (which could be in technology through its 2012 acquisition China). There are signs 3DP can give R&D of Morris Technologies, a 3DP specialist, 66.7% a redoubled shot in the arm and accelerate estimates that currently less than 10% of new product development cycles which its products are “touched” by 3DP (either could translate into getting new products through prototyping or final production), to market quicker and more frequently. but that percentage will increase to 50% 66.7% of manufacturers are adopting 3DP This is especially the case with proto- by 2020.5 Or, take Ford Motor Co., which in some way (Experimenting to determine how typing complex parts—or a product that is taking 3DP’s accelerated prototyping they might apply it, or using it to protoype has a system of complex parts. The PwC path for parts including brake rotors, rear products or producing final products.) Innovations Survey found that 25% of axles and cylinder heads for its EcoBoost manufacturers are currently implementing engines. Printing the prototypes (using 3DP technology for prototyping only, that 3DP binder jetting technology) for the 10% are using 3DP for both prototyping cylinder heads—which have complex and the production of final parts; only 1% configurations including ducts and is using the technology expressly for final valves—enables the auto giant to skip the 24.7% product production. As companies wade steps of designing a sand mold and a tool into 3DP—either through implementing to cut castings from those molds. Ford said or at least through experimenting and/ the technology saved up to two months.6 24.7% of manufacturers plan to adopt 3DP or assessing a potential application—the Ford announced at the 2014 North in the future in some way technology at present is still limited in the American International Auto Show that • 5.2% within the next year size, strength and complexity of products it it had printed its 500,000th part— • 10.3% within 3 years can produce, even as it picks up steam as a a prototype engine cover for its new • 9.2% some time beyond 3 years powerful R&D tool. Mustang model.7 4 GE website https://www.ge.com/stories/ 8.6% additive-manufacturing retrieved March 9, 2014. 8.6% of manufacturers do not plan to 5 “GE: 3D Printers To ‘Touch’ Half of Its adopt 3DP ever Manufacturing,” Investors Business Daily, October 7, 2013. Number of respondents: 114 Source: PwC and Zpryme survey and analysis, 6 “Printing Out Barbies and Ford Cylinders,” “2014 Disruptive Manufacturing Innovations Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2013. Survey,” conducted in February 2014. 7 “Why 3-D Printing Is Crucial to Ford Motor Company’s Survival,” The Motley Fool, January 19, 2014, retrieved on March 20, 2014.