Additive Manufacturing (AM) has progressed to a qualified means of production for more and more companies, ranging from medical implants, to airframe structure and has even found successful applications in heavy transportation and automobiles. More printers are incorporating multiple lasers with the hope that more lasers increase productivity. Productivity however, only increases when the value of the product made outpaces the cost of the equipment making it. Multi-laser printers and thicker layers combined have shown to have the effect of higher productivity. As the productivity increases, the process economic cost drivers get perturbed. For example, the powder feedstock can go from 10% of the overall part cost to 50% when the productivity of the printer improves. Multi-laser printers also can produce more parts in a shorter period of time, which impacts production schedules and staffing. Without people being aware and working together to solve new challenges, the technical advances can fall flat and productivity suffers. This presentation will address the process economics associated with multi-laser systems and the impact on the new dynamics of production.
Speaker
John E. Barnes
