December - 20199MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSonly gets better with increased adoption and usage. In our experience, the biggest roadblock for AM's adoption is not the technology itself but application of its know-how. Companies looking to adopt AM need to follow a structured three step approach to unlock and capture value from their AM initiatives:· Define the overall purpose & intent for AM adoption· Form partnerships to de-risk exposure across the AM value chain· Prioritize & execute AM initiatives based on risk adjusted cost analysisStep 1: Define the overall purpose & intent for AM adoptionBefore starting any AM initiative, it is important to define the value proposition from using the technology and its alignment with the overall strategic intent of the company. Ultimately, any AM initiative needs to address a current business need and make commercial sense. For e.g., some companies successfully use AM for R&D and new product development while others use it for operational efficiency and overall supply chain cost reduction. Most of the prevalent AM applications today can be classified into four categories · Product ideation & prototyping (e.g., understanding market requirements, product development, reverse engineering) · Tools fabrication & modification (e.g., complex jigs, molds with internal cooling channels, fixtures for assembly, in process testing and quality inspection)· Industrial production (e.g., small scale production, distributed manufacturing, on-demand printing, high-mix volume serial production)· Spare parts (e.g., aftermarket spares, obsolete part production, digital warehouse, supply chain optimization, remanufacturing and parts maintenance)Step2: Form partnerships to de-risk exposure across AM value chainGiven the lack of in-house AM expertise, partnerships are critical to de-risk investment, maximize success, and build know-how for most companies. Partnerships can be forged for each step of the AM value chain or for a combination of steps from part identification & diagnostic, design & engineering to printing & post processing and finally testing & validation of the AM part. They can also play a big role in building upfront capability and accelerate its adoption within the organizationStep 3: Prioritize & execute AM initiatives based on risk adjusted cost analysisMost often, companies struggle in shortlisting and prioritizing the right parts or components for AM. It is important to define a structured approach to shortlist parts based on the net value generated from the AM project which is typically a combination of the following factors:Net Value Generated from AM = Traditional cost of make or buy ­ Cost of AM + Value of additional benefits from AM ­ Costs of additional risksWhile the standard costs of make or buy are well understood, it is often the other elements which are the hardest to quantify and can influence the overall business case. AM offers additional upside compared to a traditional manufacturing process which all needs to be quantified to make an informed assessment of the business case. For example, quantifying the impact of weight reduction or reduction in sub-assemblies leading to lower in-process inspection cost, lower part suppliers and supplier management cost, or lower inventory and logistics costs or longer product life. Similarly, there are additional risks which needs to be quantified such as risk of build failure or design leakage or IP loss. The biggest roadblock for AM's adoption is not the technology itself but application of its know-how
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