Good morning AM Fellows,
Oh Man! That was a busy week at Formnext. Lots of good discussions and constantly on search for innovations. This year, an engineer didn't have to search for long - as it felt like all the big players in the industry presented their latest achievements during formnext.
My three key points are as follows:
1. Everything is getting even bigger...
It is simply unbelievable how fast the machines and thus also the dimensions of the printed components continue to grow. For me, this raises the question of whether the processes can still be controlled at that level and how expensive is a job interruption or even a machine error that leads to an unpredicted downtime? Does this simply increase the risk for part manufacturers even more?
2. Time to lower the entry barrier for newcomer in the AM industry...
Enable "first time right printing" with all software and hardware tools and thereby further lower the barrier to entry for newcomer in the AM industry. L-PBF process is slowly being recognized as robust and reproducible rather than a constantly changing individual that cannot be handled. In addition, many different monitoring devices were presented, which can be quickly and easily integrated via standardized interfaces.
3. Data Monitoring, Data Handling, Control your process...
For me one of the most important topics for the next 5-10 years. How would be data handling executed in the future? Some companies have already taken the step of data monitoring by getting data points from L-PBF printer and other machine in their tool shop. From my point of view, this is not yet the final step. Data handling and subsequent control by using data are already in the starting blocks and will have a significant effect to push AM as a digital manufacturing process.
The sketch below shows what is now possible in L-PBF process. Parameter-based adaptation based on the geometry to be built. From my point of view, a powerfull tool to build functionally and achieve further productivity in L-PBF process.
I am looking forward to the next years Formnext - Where ideas take shape and I am curious about your opinion related to your Formnext 2022 experience.
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