Supply chain disruption driving 3D printing tech
The need to shorten supply chains in the face of ongoing global uncertainty and disruption is a pressing issue for many organisations, especially for multinational manufacturing companies that have come to rely on cheap labour in South East Asia.
China, in particular, continues to be hobbled by an economic downturn, power shortages and ongoing lockdowns resulting from its zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19. China’s days as the world’s manufacturing engine room seem to be numbered, as businesses seek to relocate manufacturing to other nations in Asia, such as Vietnam, or nearshore or reshore it closer to home.
There are, however, other means of shortening supply chains – one of which is 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM).
AM technology started out as a way to produce prototypes with no machine tooling, but, over the past decade, it has evolved rapidly. An early drawback was that the process worked only with plastics; now, though, substances that can be printed include powders, resins, metals, carbon and even human flesh.
In a report exploring the status of 3D printing – called The Mainstreaming of Additive Manufacturing, co-author Jörg Bromberger, Director of Strategy & Operations – points out that AM technology can generate any 3D component that will perform better and cost less than conventional manufacturing methods.
3D printing allows for mass-scale customisation
He also highlights there’s no need for moulds or fixed tooling, and that it also allows for mass-scale customisation. Such simplicity of fabrication, he continues, reduces time-to-market and the need for spare-parts inventories, enabling the on-demand production of items from digital files in the field. Bromberger cites the example of carmaker Mercedes-Benz, which uses AM to produce spare parts for its classic vehicles.
The tech has the huge potential to help businesses reimagine manufacturing-based supply chains, and Bromberger feels that the technology is approaching the point where it is becoming disruptive: “When can a technology that has long been touted as a disruptive game changer for supply chains be said to have truly come of age?”
His answer? When it’s a…