Preparing for "Next Generation" Manufacturing - and the "End of Days" for the traditional drafter

I generally catch up on my "business" reading on Sunday mornings with a bottomless cup of coffee and jazz, and though it wasn't news to me, an article I read this morning pointed out once again the importance of keeping up with technology and taking some of the associated risks with becoming an "early adopter".

The article, entitled "Are You Prepared for the Next Generation of Manufacturing?", written by Warren Smith (an industry consultant with Infor), is the first of a series being posted on the Industry Week website. The message to manufacturers is that understanding (and in my opinion, adopting) the key technologies leading the industry today is essential to take on the future of manufacturing. In this competitive market, a vendor can't rely on long standing relationships and customer service to hold on to business - loyalty in the rapidly changing future will be dictated by attention to meeting shorter deadlines, better predicting product performance, and providing innovation that companies need before the end users think of it themselves. 

I'll go a step further and state that manufacturers had best pay attention to these trends in order to stay competitive, or many will not survive.

First in the author's findings was a stunning fact about the incorporation of the robotic workers - at a labor cost of $4 per hour, a robot can now perform tasks at less than that of an overseas worker. And with a point of entry at around $20k, a robot can provide 3 or more years of service - without the need for health plans, paid vacations, etc. At one time, the robotic worker was a pipe dream for the SMB manufacturing market. Now, it's a viable alternative to placing ads, interviewing people and hoping for a reliable (gast!) human employee.

Second, Mr. Smith discusses how additive manufacturing is lowering development costs, increasing innovation and protecting intellectual property. We've all seen movies and TV shows where a 3D design is pushed to a printer and within seconds the model is in use - though the printers aren't quite that fast, the era of affordable, high detail, and yes, desktop 3D printing is here.

I look forward to the second part of the article, but these two trends alone signal that the days of 2D drafting are nearing the end. After all, you can't virtually test and prototype a design drawn in 2D CAD. So if you're not designing in 3D now, you'd better start soon. Who knows? You could end up designing a "worker" for your company's manufacturing shop floor....

3D Design and 3D Printing - The Future is Now

For years Autodesk has used catch phrases like "Digital Prototyping" and "Experience Your Ideas Before They're Real" to convey the concept that earlier validation and sign-off on designs can reduce errors, increase throughput, and shorten development cycles.

Early adopters of this concept realized that expressing a design through a 3D model provided the opportunity for differentiation in competitive markets from those who merely provided a pretty picture, or 2D drawings replete with layers of uninterpretable linework. The BIG benefits for companies using 3D (after winning a project) could also include higher margins on projects, shorter time to market, and a reduction in the "gotchas" of unforeseen interferences/clashes within assemblies and field failures later.

So when going about the process of creating new, previously unproven designs, seeing it in 3D is nice, but to the consumer, machinist or builder, the 3D proof is in the printed pudding. The big hurdles in generating a conceptual model have always been the tying up of expensive machinery, manpower and material costs, when in reality, the end user may simply need to get the idea of how a product would look and feel.

As with most developing technologies, cost has been the driving force preventing widespread adoption. While SLA (Stereolithography) 3D printing has been around for over 25 years, it has traditionally been so expensive that companies would outsource 3D parts and generate scaled physical models only when requested by a customer or if necessary to win work. However, 3D printing has finally reached a point where quality and affordability have converged - we're now in the age of desktop 3D printing....

A desktop unit such as the 3DTouch from 3D Systems (link below), uses thermoplastics to heat the material through the extruder (or print head). The extruder then pushes out a very fine plastic thread which is applied layer by layer according to x and y coordinates, building a solid, 3D object, right before your eyes. And with the low cost of these systems, when coupled with 3D modeling software (like Inventor or Solidworks), the point of entry into conceiving, designing, testing and digitally/physically prototyping a design is now achievable for under $10,000.


Still think 3D printing isn't ready for prime time? A recent article on CNET.com (link below) suggests that 2012 could be the year that a "company like FedEx Kinko's will start offering 3D printing as a consumer-level service."

Imagine that - coming up with a design, uploading it to the Kinko's website, then picking up the part a few hours later. It seems that the harmonic convergence of mainstream 3D Design and 3D Printing has now been achieved.

Links:

CNET article - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-57345836-52/culture-five-predictions-for-2012/

3D Systems printers - http://www.asti.com/Products/Item.asp?Mkt=Com&ProductID=3D_systems&SolutionID=All

The Hermit Crab Housing Crisis

Often times, as the “least technical” (or at least “industry identified”) member of the Applied team, I’m intrigued by fairly off beat aspects of the BIM/Technology conversation….

Last Sunday afternoon I was listening to “Living on Earth.” This week’s show featured a segment called “The Hermit Crab Housing Crisis.” Seriously. But stick with me here. The interesting thing was as a response to a shortage of natural-material housing (i.e., shells) for hermit crabs, aficionados are turning to more high tech solutions. In this case the CEO of a 3D-printer manufacturer began exploring using his firm’s printers to create housing for crabs! I encourage you to give the show a listen—Click here to read a transcript of “The Hermit Crab Housing Crisis” and links to other links to sites fascinating uses for 3D printers. Take a minute to consider that amazing ways that familiar technologies can be turned on its head to provide an answer to a perplexing problem.