It is now common knowledge that 3D printing has a number of advantages over traditional manufacturing methods. Be it speed, component complexity, production independence or much more - additive manufacturing offers invaluable advantages for companies and institutions.
However, the move towards this technology can be intimidating. For some companies, large or small, abandoning or at least changing long-established structures and rethinking production planning, execution and control can be daunting.
For certain companies and institutions, it is also not at all clear whether 3D printing can even meet their requirements. Pre-produced sample parts, which are available from many service providers, can ensure certain basic requirements, but when it comes to the details, these are simply not enough.
We at PartsToGo recognized these difficulties in the integration of 3D printing when we were founded. Together with our partner company ProductionToGo, we have therefore not only dedicated ourselves to providing a comprehensive service for component production, but also serve our customers and partners as an integral part of the full integration of additive manufacturing.
In this blog post, I would like to show the steps in which we support our customers and partners and how they benefit from our collaboration. To provide a holistic picture, we will start this blog post with the support we can provide before additive manufacturing has even been verified for a specific application. However, if you have already completed application verification, the button below will take you directly to phase four of the customer journey, where the verification phase has already been completed.
Phase 01 - Application validation
Unlike other service providers, we do not expect every project to have a finalized plan that results in a complete digital model. We also sit down with potential partners who have had no previous contact with additive manufacturing and work with them to determine whether and how additive manufacturing can be used.
In this phase, which takes an average of one to two days, the focus is on discussing customer needs and expectations. As every industry, every company and every application is different, it is extremely important for us to know exactly what the requirements are for the respective components and potential production volumes.
At the heart of this discussion are, of course, the components and their properties. Weight, strength, flexibility, heat resistance, water resistance, chemical resistance and many other characteristics that a component may have are clarified and documented here.
Depending on distance and customer requirements, this discussion takes place either by e-mail, telephone or in person at our business and production premises, where we can also present our production capacities, technologies and some sample parts live to interested parties. However, even when talking remotely, we make sure that we fully inform our potential partners about our capabilities.
Once the fundamental requirements have been defined, our experts evaluate the basic feasibility of additive manufacturing for the project in question. We would love to be able to say that we can implement any project without any problems, but as we greatly value the time and trust of our partners, honesty is our top priority. If something is not viable, we communicate this clearly.
In most cases, however, we come to the conclusion that additive manufacturing and our production capacity are suitable for meeting the key needs of our partners. This automatically leads to an initial preselection of technologies and materials, although the final decision is only made in the third phase.
Last but not least, our commercial experts prepare an initial cost estimate in this phase - and then the development and verification of the application can begin.
Phase 02 - Application development
Once the application has been validated in principle and 3D printing has been identified as a suitable solution, it is now time for us to implement the application step by step. Depending on the project, we allow between one and three months for this phase.
The first step in this phase is to specify the quality and performance expectations of our partner. This means that we jointly define key performance indicators (KPIs), which we can use to refine our objectives and which our project partner can use to monitor the results more closely.
We then begin the intensive development process for the application. The main focus here is on creating or adapting the design, putting together a selection of suitable technologies and materials and adapting the printing parameters precisely to the project partner's requirements.
For this process, dedicated employees are selected from the team of our company group, who are entrusted with the project from the very beginning. In addition to our aforementioned commercial specialists, these include experts in design creation and optimization as well as application development and implementation.
These experts develop increasingly precise project parameters over time. Starting with the creation or optimization of the design and the selection of possible technologies, through an ever-increasing reduction of material options and the selection of specific printers, to the precise fine-tuning of the print settings.
Throughout this entire project phase, communication is our top priority. Our project partners should not potentially be left in the dark for several months, but should be able to stay up to date and provide input at all times.
This input is not only beneficial to ensure that the project meets the requirements in detail, but also potentially allows this phase to be completed more quickly. As we provide the customer with a large amount of information at this stage, e.g. material data sheets, the customer may already be able to rule out certain materials based on this information, which simplifies our process and enables our partner to achieve faster results.
This project phase is concluded with a final selection of potential technologies and materials. Together with our partner, between one and two technologies including suitable printers and a handful of materials are determined, with which we begin the third phase of the project.
Phase 03 - Application verification
Once the application has been developed, the next phase, which lasts one to two weeks on average, involves final verification of the process behind the application, making the final decision on technology and material and providing our project partner with clear proof that we have the ability to implement their ideas precisely in components.
This proof of capability is provided in particular through the production of benchmarks with the technologies and materials still available for selection. These benchmarks are not just sample parts or prototypes for us, but always ready-to-use parts or components of an assembly. These can be intensively tested by our partner for all necessary properties in order to verify the materials not only on the basis of a data sheet, but also directly in the application.
If all KPIs are met by the benchmarks, the final selection of technology and material follows. It is important to mention that the final decision is never made by us, but always by our partner. Of course, we provide our expert opinion on the best possible choice, but should the customer decide on another suitable material, for example, we will of course not stand in the way of this decision.
We then carry out a final process optimization to improve a few fine points. The focus here is particularly on cost optimization for the customer, for example by trying to minimize material waste or, in the case of polymer powder, to increase recycling rates.
While our application experts put the finishing touches to the application, our commercial experts take care of developing the final cost estimate. This involves both the costs that would be incurred when using us as a service provider and the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) when purchasing the machine selected for the project in order to implement the application in your own production halls at a later date.
Phase 04 - Pilot production
Once component verification has been completed or, in the case of an application that has already been developed, the customer has selected us as a partner, the next step is to establish both additive manufacturing and our production capacities as a long-term solution in this phase, which lasts between one and two months.
To do this, we produce a small or medium-sized series, depending on the complexity and size of the components, and send them to our partner. This allows them to get to know our entire process, from ordering to shipping, and to check the repeatability and consistent quality of our process.
Communication between us and our partners is also an essential constant in this phase. Whether short-term changes or specific requests, a dedicated expert is available for each of our partners to deal with the respective concerns.
While we take care of production, towards the end of this phase it is time for the project partner to choose one of our two options for fully integrating additive manufacturing into their production process. Either through us as a service provider, or through our parent company ProductionToGo with its own machine.
Naturally, experts from both us and ProductionToGo will be on hand to actively support you in this decision. Once the decision has finally been made, the final phase of the project begins - the integration of additive manufacturing.
Phase 05 – Integration
Integration via PartsToGo
If customers decide to continue to run their 3D printing production through us, the integration phase is naturally much shorter than if they first have to install their own machine due to the previous phases through us, in particular the pilot production.
The most important steps in this phase are, on the one hand, the definition of quality via specifications and requirements specifications and, on the other hand, the establishment of a clear and precise cost and time structure for future production runs.
Once these minor organizational hurdles have been overcome, we can get straight down to another production run. With capacities of up to 1,000,000 components and a large team of experts, we ensure high-quality components with punctual delivery during this phase and thus offer a partnership that is based on reliability and honest communication and with which you can implement your production without effort.
Integration via ProductionToGo
If the decision is made to incorporate the process into your own production, the first step is to find the best way to integrate additive manufacturing and its benefits into your production without completely overturning existing structures.
To this end, ProductionToGo's application experts sit down with the project partner to find the ideal solution. Due to the individuality of each production system, it is impossible to describe this process in general terms, but we allow approximately one to two months to include all eventualities in the integration.
This is followed by the installation of the system and intensive user training. The employees are familiarized step by step with the machine and the associated software and are given an intensive insight into our production process and our printing parameters so that our project partners can implement the process ideally in their own facilities.
Even during in-house production, ProductionToGo remains at your side as a reliable partner. Whether you need advice and support during production, machine maintenance and repair, the supply of consumables or further process optimization - together we ensure maximum efficiency in your production.
Additive Automation GmbH, another part of Neck Enterprise, also offers the option of automating your 3D printing production. Our production cell V1 enables virtually contactless production and post-processing of your 3D-printed components, so that there is no downtime even during vacations and at night.
And of course our services are still available. Whether backup production in the event of unforeseen downtime or add-on production in the event of sudden production peaks - we ensure that you can delete the word downtime from your company lexicon.
Conclusion
Comprehensive service is the order of the day for us. Our aim is to help companies with little experience of 3D printing to benefit from its advantages - for a future-oriented and sustainable Industry 4.0.
I hope this blog post has given you a brief but nonetheless complete insight into the process of integrating additive manufacturing and how we can help.
If you, like many of our other customers, would like maximum expertise in 3D printing integration, simply get in touch with us at info@parts-to-go.com or by phone on 07248 911107.
Thank you for your attention - and see you in the next blog post!
