OCTOBER 2019CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM8In My View3D PrintingRequires Wildly Different ThinkingJAMES MACLENNAN, SVP & CIO, IDEX CORPORATIONve been writing a lot about smart, connected products--a.k.a. the Internet of Things (IoT)--but there is another transformative technology change that has my attention. Additive Manufacturing --a.k.a. 3D Printing (3DP)--promises to be almost as disruptive as IoT, but in different ways. More to come in the weeks ahead--but I wanted to get this story out.I was recently at a 3DP tech event and got into a fascinating conversation with someone about the state-of-the-art in Additive Manufacturing. This person (we'll call them Pat) has been in industry and academia for many years, and is exposed to a lot of cutting edge stuff--we'll leave them anonymous for now. One of the first things I got from the conversation was an understanding of the term "additive manufacturing"--because Pat used the term "subtractive manufacturing" to refer to well-established methods where a chunk of raw material is routed and shaped, removing material until you get to the final shape. Ah, now I understand!Pat felt that most of the 3D printing hype out in the market right now is just that hype. To really have an impact, you need a confluence of factors:· Complex shapes--very expensive and difficult to do with traditional manufacturing methods· "Acceptable" materials--that will fit the application but can be manipulated by these printers· Short runs and high customization --because for simpler parts with high volumes, it will still be cheaper to produce tooling, and punch / mold / press them out en massePat also quoted some figures that suggest 3D printing for production parts is still very far away depending I'James MacLennan
< Page 7 | Page 9 >