Session: 03-12 Metals: Simulation, Modeling, and Training II

Paper Number: 96638

96638 - Democratizing Additive Manufacturing Intelligence 

“Additive Manufacturing” (“AM”), otherwise known as “3D printing”, is rapidly evolving into a set of mature alternative manufacturing processes with inherent advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional manufacturing processes.  AM was derived from the digitization and modeling environment that has been continuously evolving within the traditional manufacturing industry and thus lends itself to have inherent qualities more directly associated with digital models and information.  The combination of AM’s inherent digital nature and the recent emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) enables AM to serve as a catalyst to instill change in manufacturing approaches across the industrial spectrum.

The proliferation of AM technology is currently outpacing the collective body of knowledge with respect to material properties and process reliability and repeatability.  For example, AM cannot rely on bulk material properties to translate directly into the final component material properties due to the highly dynamic nature of its core process.  This highly dynamic environment creates a much higher control sensitivity associated with the individual AM processes, the specific material sources used, the AM machine models and the effects of post processing.  As a result, buyers of AM produced parts are having difficulty managing the outsourcing of production using these new innovative AM processes.  In addition to the technical aspects of manufacturing digitization, there are also security challenges associated with the protection of data from bad actors and the desire to restrict exposure of proprietary and/or competitively sensitive information.  These challenges become even more critical when information is digitally integrated as opposed to being segregated and thus easier to isolate. 

Large corporations have many advantages over Small and Medium Manufacturers (“SMM’s”) as many larger enterprises have multiple plant locations with hundreds of similar machines performing similar operations providing a rich and robust data lake for analysis and benchmarking.  Many SMM’s have only a few machines and lack the ability to compare against other machines to identify trends and potential patterns in the data that could be useful in improving operations.  This is especially true when it comes to AM machines which are a very small percentage of machines on shop floors in SMM’s today.  In order to provide the possibility for SMM’s to have the same opportunities as larger enterprises in “learning” from a centralized performance monitoring system, an “Additive Manufacturing Commons” ™ concept is proposed.

All SMM’s who are doing any type of AM will be given the opportunity to join, at no cost, a consortium focused on the overall improvement of the industry at large where manufacturers contribute on a volunteer basis, as parts are printed, process data including material used, machine type and model, and various machine settings and plant conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, etc.).  The data will be captured in a cloud-based repository for eventual analysis and any resulting outcomes that could potentially improve any manufacturer’s operations would then be shared with all members.

This paper will explain the origin of the “Additive Manufacturing Commons” ™ idea and discuss the status of progress made to date.

Presenting Author: Dean Bartles Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Dean Bartles is a seasoned operations professional with four decades of management experience in manufacturing and technology. He is currently the President and CEO of the Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group, Inc., a not-for-profit holding company of both the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) and Advanced Manufacturing International, Inc. (AMI).<br/><br/>Since 2010, Dr. Dean Bartles served as a board member for NCDMM before joining as the President and Chief Executive Officer in May 2019. Prior to this, he served as the President of the National Tooling and Machining Association and was previously the Director of the John Olson Advanced Manufacturing Center at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Bartles was the founding Executive Director of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute in Chicago and the Chief Manufacturing Officer of UI LABS. Dr. Bartles worked for General Dynamics Corporation for 31 years where he was responsible for setting up and running manufacturing operations in Egypt, Turkey, and the United States. Between 2001 and 2014, Dr. Bartles increased sales at General Dynamics Corporation from $135 million to over $600 million. Before his time at General Dynamics Corporation, Dr. Bartles worked for Fairchild Republic Company as an Industrial Engineer for approximately 5 years.<br/><br/>Dr. Bartles served as the 2016-2017 President of the North American Manufacturing Research Institute, the 2016 President of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the founding Chairman of the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition, and the Chairman of the Board of the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining. Dean graduated from Indiana State University earning a PhD in Technology Management with a concentration in Manufacturing Systems.<br/><br/>Dr. Bartles’ skills in advanced manufacturing technology areas include Digital Manufacturing, Model Based Enterprise, Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing, advanced robotics, and brilliant factory concepts.

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