Additive Manufacturing

DEEP Manufacturing expands into Houston with large-scale additive manufacturing

DEEP Manufacturing, a specialist in Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) and hybrid manufacturing solutions, is expanding its U.S. operations with the launch of a new advanced manufacturing facility in Houston, bringing large-scale additive manufacturing capability closer to customers in the energy, defence and maritime sectors. The facility launched on May 6, when visitors saw examples of DEEP Manufacturing’s printing capability, including a mock-up of a pioneering new pressure-rated vessel set to be certified to DNV standards – a world first for WAAM. Additional WAAM-produced components manufactured in carbon steel and nickel-based alloys will also be on display, demonstrating the scale and flexibility of the company’s additive manufacturing capability. The move strengthens domestic manufacturing capacity for high-integrity components at a time when global supply chains remain under pressure, enabling faster production and delivery of large, complex parts used in critical industrial infrastructure. Houston is one of the world’s leading hubs for energy, subsea and industrial engineering, making it a strategic location for advanced manufacturing technologies supporting offshore, maritime and defence supply chains. DEEP Manufacturing’s new 50,000 sq ft facility represents a major step in the company’s global expansion and forms part of a wider $10 million investment in U.S. advanced manufacturing capability planned by the end of 2026. The Houston site will house four WAAM robotic systems at launch, with additional systems planned throughout the year, including capabilities for post-processing and inspection as the facility continues to scale. The facility is already operational, with the team having completed its first prints ahead of full operational readiness in May. The company currently employs 10 staff in Houston, with plans to grow the team to around 30 by the end of the year, reflecting both the pace of expansion and increasing customer demand. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) enables large metal components to […]

Fighting data noise in industrial production – with fully configurable digital twin

Genius Core, provides industrial manufacturers and process-focused industries with a fully configurable digital twin of their facilities, giving complete, real-time visibility over maintenance needs, safety, and operational efficiency from anywhere in the world. Process Genius says Genius Core tackles the critical issue of digital noise in industrial processes, where hundreds of systems and sensors combine, making it extremely difficult to keep track of deviations in processes, maintenance, safety alerts, and malfunctions. The platform centralises all data from equipment in a 3D visualisation on both overview and facility levels, and all critical information can be accessed in real-time. Operators can also set up their digital twin without external help from external consultants. Data noise is one of the critical obstacles to industrial efficiency. A single facility produces thousands of data points to multiple systems from equipment every minute, which is often only accessible in one of the systems in use or Excel spreadsheets. As such, facility managers and process engineers waste significant amounts of time looking for the data they need or, in the worst case, overlook critical failures or maintenance needs because they are not made aware of critical information. When operating multiple facilities, this problem increases substantially. Genius Core removes these hurdles that cause decision-making delays. The modern industry operator doesn’t lack data. Industry 4.0 has seen a vast array of sensors and software that has made available any data imaginable from each piece of equipment in the facility. Their issue now is how to put this data to good use. With hundreds of systems and thousands of data points, the challenge is understanding the data and making the right decisions. With Genius Core, they can finally stop doing unnecessary and time-consuming detective work and focus on making those decisions. Industrial production largely depends on consistent facility uptime, and […]

Is low-code the future of manufacturing?

Jornt Moerland, Regional Vice President APAC of Mendix. Business leaders have been losing sleep in face of various challenges within the manufacturing industry. Decreasing production output, labour shortages, ongoing supply chain disruptions and inflation are just a few to be named. As noted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, almost a third of all Australian employing businesses are having difficulty finding suitable staff, and more than two in five businesses have been facing supply chain disruptions since January 2022. In the past, low-code application development has been deployed by manufacturing companies as a ‘nice-to-have’, connecting peripheral devices and supporting logistics. However, business leaders are progressively recognising the extended value in low-code, rapidly adopting low-code platforms throughout all core domains and business activities, including engineering, product design, and quality control. According to Gartner, by 2024, 65 percent of all app development functions will use low-code application building, with 66 percent of big companies using at least four low-code platforms at once. But what makes low-code the future when it comes to improving manufacturing and supply chain efficiencies? A method built for agility, mobility and scalability For many IT leaders, there is still some confusion between Business Process Management (BPM) software and low-code. It’s important to note that, while they share some similarities, low-code and BPM have some fundamental differences when it comes to capabilities and application. While BPM models and streamlines business processes and has a less-targeted application, low-code simplifies the creation and delivery of apps and functions, often addressing specific customer needs and allowing for greater flexibility and customisation. While manufacturers are trying to integrate on manufacturing floors IoT devices that can be controlled from anywhere, any time, the rapid adoption of these devices means that they must now develop supporting applications at an ever-faster pace, straining the traditional development […]

Aerospace: Efficient production when failure is not an option

Aerospace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must strive to manufacture aircraft that can travel sustainably for longer distances and support net zero goals. They must produce quality components with tight tolerances from difficult-to-machine materials like HRSAs, while also keeping production cost-effective and error-free — but how? This is where digitalisation and big data come into play. Here, Francis Richt, Digital Machining Business Manager at the metal cutting tool specialist Sandvik Coromant, explains how combined digital and tooling solutions will be essential for error-free production in tomorrow’s aircraft manufacturing industry. That includes its own CoroPlus Machining Insights, CoroPlus Tool Library and Silent Tools Plus process control solutions, which enable users to monitor their machining process and secure a successful output. The aerospace industry faces unique manufacturing challenges. The complexity of the component shapes and structures, combined with the varying tolerances required for different components can make the production process demanding and costly. The nature of aerospace — and its strict quality assurance rules — also means that component production must be error-free. To optimise manufacturing, proper planning and preparation informed by accurate and reliable data is absolutely essential. To support aerospace OEMs, Sandvik Coromant offer several solutions to improve machining processes and to ensure quality and reliability of components. An increasing number of industries are incorporating digital technologies into their manufacturing operations. Digital tools and the data that they can generate on key parameters can give a level of intuition and insight that traditional machining lacks. This is particularly key in heavily regulated industries such as aerospace where accuracy and efficiency are crucial at every stage. The Sandvik Coromant CoroPlus Tool Library is a web-based software that allows users to build and manage their tool library and tool assemblies from standard data on over 900,000 items from several cutting tool manufacturers. The library is […]

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ToolBox suite gives laser job shops a boost for industry 4.0

A new laser cutting and fabrication quoting tool suite is being introduced to Australasia and Asia-Pacific to save job shops time, and keep quotes accurate and consistent, no matter who is preparing them. The ToolBox digital tool kit from Tempus Tools Inc turns a CAD drawing into an accurate quote in seconds, and the time saved can be used to allow laser job shop staff and resources to be reallocated into areas such as business growth. Toolbox can also provide an innovative 3D unfolding service, whereby it can be fed full 3D schematics of a product and it will select precisely all the 2D sheet metal surfaces required to be cut by a laser workshop. It’s also possible to create the drawing without using any CAD software, using Toolbox’s Quick Part parametric parts library. Quick Part has a broad range of customisable parts, including brackets, flanges, gussets, and plates that can be adjusted to the specific needs of the user. “ToolBox is designed to put the tools in the hands of small laser cutting and fabrication workshops that are looking to grow their business. It helps with cleaning drawings, part creation or extraction, and laser cutting calculations, so the business can quote more jobs and expand its operations,” says Mr Felipe Lechuga, President, Tempus Tools. “With the shift to Industry 4.0, slow quoting processes just aren’t competitive anymore, so job shops need new tools to get the job done faster, more accurately, and with total consistency,” says Mr Lechuga. The laser cutting market is growing due to its importance to vital industries such as automotive, aviation, architectural and construction products, defense, engineering electrical, manufacturing, metals, mining and energy, shipbuilding and textiles. “Customers in these demanding industries need fast quotes. ToolBox empowers job shops, particularly smaller ones, to win more projects […]

Additive Manufacturing Network platform connects community of design engineers

By Schaeffler, a global automotive and industrial supplier, to connect its community of design engineers with its AM Fab Shop for additive manufacturing to facilitate collaboration, speed time to production and to foster greater application of the benefits of additive manufacturing (AM) within its value-chain. Siemens’ AM Network digitalises the additive manufacturing workflows (order-to-delivery process chain) of customers and partners, as well as applying additive manufacturing on an industrial-grade to scale their business. With the AM Network, customers and partners are enabled to build up their own additive manufacturing ecosystem (company-internally as well as with their trusted external suppliers/partners), and to join the existing ecosystem already established over the past years on the AM Network platform. With demand for additively manufactured parts growing exponentially among its R&D designers and engineers, Schaeffler has adopted Siemens’ AM Network as the single platform for all engineering/ technical collaboration throughout the entire AM order-to-delivery process. This cloud-native platform enables it to take advantage of the benefits of additive manufacturing more quickly, efficiently and at greater rate of scale by digitalising and streamlining additive manufacturing workflows. R&D designers and engineers are guided through the AM part qualification process, as defined by the AM Fab Shop, while shop floor operations and machine utilisation have been streamlined to increase efficiency. Time and effort are saved with increased throughput while fostering a wider understanding of the benefits of additive, better formalisation of best practice and ultimately, more efficient execution and more timely delivery of the successfully 3D printed parts. Siemens‘ Additive Manufacturing Network platform was selected not only to assist orchestrating the end-to-end order-to-delivery process for industrial additive manufacturing, but was perceived as a long-term partner to grow with and to explore further opportunities to create a fully digitised end-to-end AM workflow and value chain. The Additive Manufacturing […]

How distributed manufacturing is reducing operational risk

By Mathew Hunter, innovation product marketing manager, Konica Minolta Distributed localised production has emerged as a counterpoint to globalisation as it places the production of goods closer to consumers or at the point of use. Using additive manufacturing means manufacturers can produce goods onsite, which delivers a host of financial, efficiency, and environmental advantages. Although globalisation can offer businesses many benefits, the trend towards distributed manufacturing is increasing. Particularly in recent times, this acceleration is due to factors such as: rising fuel prices, which has significantly increased long-haul shipping cost; concerns over climate change and its negative environmental effects; and the lack of control over stock levels, timing and import restrictions when relying on overseas supply lines. Distributed manufacturing uses additive manufacturing to place production sites across dispersed locations, which are interconnected and coordinated through technology. Sites can download designs and 3D-print them on the spot. Because this model relies on local manufacturing, producers have a higher level of flexibility and agility, providing faster turnaround times, quicker delivery of goods, and customised products. This can help manufacturers compete more effectively, particularly in a disrupted environment, as it reduces operational risks. By implementing a distributed manufacturing model, manufacturers can overcome many challenges currently impacting global trade, including constant trade wars and tariffs as well as pandemic-related border closures. Setting up local manufacturing operations also helps support innovation for individual manufacturers and helps the country as a whole gain more resource sovereignty. The New Zealand government has recently launched an approach to industry policy to help grow more innovative industries across the nation. Manufacturing is a key industry for New Zealand to grow and become a more productive, sustainable, and inclusive economy. The Advanced Manufacturing Industry Transformation Plan aims to: help lift the sector’s productivity, sustainability, inclusivity, and quality of work; and […]

Addressing the six biggest losses in manufacturing

-Rob Stummer, APAC CEO,SYSPRO As the manufacturing sector continues to navigate chinks in the global supply chain while trying to meet customer demand in a COVID era of restrictions, the fact remains that manufacturing is an industry that the pandemic has put under the spotlight and one which continues to be more competitive than ever. For manufacturing organisations, the priority remains on reducing waste, being more efficient and continuing to have a competitive edge over others. Being able to identify what is referred to as the six big losses will provide businesses with an equipment-based perspective on lost production time that they can use as part of their improvement program. Some manufacturers have implemented programs like Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and focused on improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) with the aim of streamlining manufacturing processes and increasing output. While TPM is an equipment maintenance model that aims to achieve perfect production with no breakdowns, slow running or any other machine related problem that affects throughput. OEE is a metric that measures how well the machine is being utilised, otherwise known as uptime, the speed of the machine and the quality of the production. In the past, due to legacy Operational Technology (OT) systems, manufacturers had no clear visibility into the manufacturing process and could not always tell where equipment bottlenecks were. OEE supports TPM based initiatives by measuring progress towards the nirvana of perfect production and one of the most effective ways of improving OEE is to identify the six big losses. 1. Equipment failure Equipment defects and failures result in downtime, financial impact, inventory discrepancies and poor quality-control. This situation can occur for several reasons and can be because of unplanned downtime, no available operators and a lack of raw materials. When equipment is scheduled for production but is not running for any significant period due to a failure of some sort, it is categorised as equipment failure and is an availability loss. A simpler way to think of […]

Hexagon and Authentise partner to deliver first open end-to-end software for additive manufacturing

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division and Authentise have partnered to extend the Additive Manufacturing (AM) control loop from the machine level to connect the end-to-end value chain from design, manufacturing operations and quality assurance to make additive manufacturing more predictable, repeatable and traceable. Data from shopfloor manufacturing operations, engineering data from the design phase, materials properties and quality data from validation and inspection processes hold the key to automating serial production improvements and enabling design improvements. However, the technical challenge of connecting these silos and applying these data have inhibited the ability to consistently apply AM to new designs. New solutions delivered through the partnership will apply Statistical Process Control (SPC) with Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to mitigate waste and quality issues during the design phase and improve the repeatability of additive manufacturing processes within a site or between global locations. Through the partnership, Hexagon and Authentise will build solutions to industrialise AM technology by digitising every step of the workflow from part design through production to final product and quality assurance utilising their unique stack of technology capabilities to connect the digital thread of a part and trace its pedigree. This is made possible by a shared commitment to open architectures that integrate data and automate workflows between Hexagon´s best-of-breed applications for AM and the third-party equipment and software manufacturers chose to use. Mathieu Pérennou, Global Business Development Director Additive Manufacturing, Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division says, “Together with Authentise, we are building a next-generation framework for our customers to manage flexible, fully digitised production workflows in private cloud environments. “For manufacturers, AM is a complex and changing market with many excellent tools, printers and materials to apply. We believe our open and flexible systems will enable us to respond quickly to customer’s needs and integrate with […]

Emerging technologies of 2020

Microneedles for painless injections and tests These tiny needles, at no more than the depth of a sheet of paper and the width of a human hair, could bring us pain-free injections and blood testing. “Microneedles” penetrate the skin without troubling underlying nerve endings, and can be attached to syringes or patches, or even mixed into creams. They could allow blood tests to be done at home and sent to the lab or analysed on the spot. And because their use doesn’t require expensive equipment or high levels of training, testing and treatment could be delivered in under-served areas – making care more accessible. Sun-powered chemistry Making many of the chemicals we rely on requires fossil fuels. But a new approach holds the promise of reducing the sector’s emissions by using sunlight to convert waste carbon dioxide into useful chemicals. Recent developments in the sunlight-activated catalysts needed for this process are a step towards creating “solar” refineries to produce useful compounds from the waste gas, which could be turned into everything from medicines and detergents to fertilisers and textiles. Virtual patients If the goal of swapping humans for simulations to make clinical trials faster and safer sounds simple, the science behind it is anything but. Data taken from high-res images of a human organ is fed into a complex mathematical model of the mechanisms that control that organ’s function. Then, computer algorithms resolve the resulting equations and generate a virtual organ that behaves like the real thing. Such virtual organs or body systems could replace people in the initial assessments of drugs and treatments, making the process quicker, safer and less expensive. Spatial computing Spatial computing is the next step in the bringing together of physical and digital worlds we’re already seeing with virtual-reality and augmented-reality apps. As with VR […]

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Additive Manufacturing