For decades 3D printing was used primarily for prototyping. In the last decade, it became a go-to technology for spare parts, especially in settings where parts are hard to come by, on a ship or in space. In recent years, additive manufacturing has reached its holy grail, the ability to become a legitimate production choice for components.

In his session, Additive Manufacturing for Production: Product Management, Economic & Technical Considerations, at MD&M Minneapolis on Thursday, October 17 from 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM, DI Labs CEO Carl Douglass will explore recent advances in 3D printing for production.

Douglass noted that developing, launching, and managing products more effectively and quickly is the ultimate objective for 3D printing, especially for rigorous sectors like healthcare. “3D printing has long supported the improvement of product development and, for the last ten years, it has become increasingly influential in the product introduction phases,” said Douglass.

The benefits of additive manufacturing for components range from personalization to enabling rapid real-time iterations. Other advantages include on-demand production, minimalization of required startup capital, and rapid innovation.

For all its advantages, Douglass cautions that it’s not as simple as it sounds. “While additive manufacturing has many advantages, it’s not as easy to implement as most printer manufacturer OEMs would lead us to believe.”

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In his session, Douglass will cover examples of additive manufacturing for scaled production. He’ll offer lessons he has learned about what it takes to achieve success. “I’ll include tips for program and product management leaders, those responsible for financial success, and technical leaders,” said Douglass. “I will focus primarily on polymer additive manufacturing and provide examples for non-implantable metal production.”

We caught up with Douglass to get further insight into the state of additive manufacturing as a production option.

Has 3D printing moved decisively into parts production – as opposed to mostly prototyping?

Carl Douglass: 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is being used as a manufacturing resource to produce hundreds to tens of thousands of components for end-use applications. The components range from Class I and II medical devices to aerospace, defense, industrial, and consumer goods.

We are moving to higher volumes. We can do north of 100,000 parts. These are components that are not injection moldable. 3D printing is more expensive than injection molding, but they could not be done as injection molded parts. Most of our business, 80%, is in production from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands on an annual basis.

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Has additive manufacturing reached the point where it can be personalized in volume?

Douglass: We are there for mass customization. The hardware is there. The missing link is the digital side of the equation. The challenge is manufacturing is not set up to manage infinitely variable SKUs. Software has to manage that. That’s a barrier we’re looking into. As AI becomes more prevalent, we will reach direct-to-customer volume production. We have the pieces is place. The manufacturing foundation from Henry Ford on has been standardization. We will evolve beyond that.

Explain how 3D printing is used for rapid real-time iterations and on-demand production.

Douglass: In medical, several of our clients are going through clinical trials. From that, they will make minor tweaks, validate it, and move on to the next round. There’s not much time to make the tooling. 3Dprinting has dramatic improvements in that area of medical devices.

What are the lessons have you learned about what it takes to achieve success with 3D printing?

Douglass: The paradigm shifts between traditional manufacturing and additive. The parts don’t always come out of the machine the same. There’s more variability than with injection molding. So, you need a solid feed process, process control, and process inspection. The parts will not always be exact. A lot of management needs to be in place to make sure it happens. That requires a more rigorous approach than with traditional manufacturing.

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