What were the three biggest influences on the industry that significantly changed manufacturing?

Detlev Reicheneder is Senior Director Business Strategy Design & Manufacturing at Autodesk. © Autodesk

On the one hand, we are observing that the potential of digitalization is being increasingly exploited. In addition, production has been influenced by the widespread availability of new, highly flexible processes. A third point is that we are living in an age of uncertainty.

The digitalization of processes, the use of the cloud with its unlimited computing power and the ability to collaborate efficiently across locations and companies are unleashing new potential. These factors have changed the way in which company processes are managed, as these are also subject to change and transformation processes - in companies of all sizes. The introduction of intelligent manufacturing and automation, the widespread availability of new manufacturing processes such as additive manufacturing, 5-axis machining and advances in robotics have helped to ensure that the efficiency benefits of these technologies can also be exploited by SMEs and small companies.

As far as uncertainties are concerned, everyday life in manufacturing is characterized by uncertainties in demand, disruptions to supply chains and trade wars. These factors require manufacturing companies to be highly flexible in order to remain successful.

What boundaries have been pushed by digitization, by software?

For the first time, companies can see through their processes completely and at a glance, from end to end. This means that decisions can be made faster and more reliably. Everyone involved in the decision-making process has access to all the necessary information.

In addition, all employees can work on centralized data and models, whereby access is controlled with the necessary access rights. This reduces the risk of duplicating work processes, losing data or manufacturing on outdated models. Instead of complicated drawings that were previously generated, there is now a 3D model that documents all steps and replaces cumbersome coordination processes through joint, cross-team communication. This allows companies to become proactive through real-time feedback and react agilely to changes.

What role does additive manufacturing play in this?

Additive manufacturing has evolved from prototype construction to the possibility of manufacturing functional small series parts. Exploiting the potential of additive manufacturing results in new design solutions. And if components are consistently designed for additive manufacturing, the added value of the final product increases.

At the same time, additive and hybrid manufacturing solve a number of problems, such as the availability of spare parts and the production of complex components on demand, thanks to the option of being able to manufacture very small quantities. In addition, the combination of automation with additive and machining manufacturing allows functional components to be produced fully automatically and profitably at the same time.

Additive manufacturing goes far beyond 3D printing. Larger volumes can be additively manufactured, even on existing components, using various application processes in particular. This enables repairs to existing components as well as the precise production of very large components. This advantage has also been recognized by various machine manufacturers, who now provide hybrid production centers.

How are topics such as sustainability and resource efficiency influenced by digitalization and additive manufacturing?

Only digitalization comprehensively addresses the issue of sustainability. The "circular economy" is currently on everyone's lips - this can only be implemented through end-to-end transparency and insight into the processes. Real-time access to the information relevant to the sustainability goal is necessary in order to make well-founded decisions in the development process within production that take into account the design of the construction, materials or manufacturing processes. With a digital twin of machines and factories, not only can operation be monitored, but new processes can also be simulated. The result: energy consumption is optimized.

Additive manufacturing is an interesting case. On the one hand, weight optimization is possible and many components can be produced simultaneously; on the other hand, energy consumption during production is not insignificant. Particularly in the case of metallic materials, there are also environmental aspects of the starting material (powder) and the process (vapors). The cost-benefit ratio must be weighed up here. With regard to the ecological footprint, however, it can generally be said that additively manufactured components can reduce overall CO2 emissions, for example in aircraft, through their weight reduction if used correctly.

What are the biggest mistakes made in the design of new components?

Traditional methods are often still predominantly used in design. Optimization potential is often not exploited and the possibilities of new manufacturing processes are often not fully considered despite their potential. With additive processes, for example, an entire assembly can be manufactured as a single part. This eliminates assembly processes, fixtures do not have to be developed and manufactured and there is no need to consider the tolerances of different components. However, the cost of parts in additive manufacturing is associated with higher costs. The cost-benefit ratio must therefore be considered in the overall process. In practice, the opposite is often the case: only the costs for a traditionally designed component, without adaptation to additive manufacturing, are compared with the various manufacturing processes. However, if the design is adapted to a manufacturing process, this results in savings or advantages that often go far beyond the pure part costs and should be included in the analysis.

Why does a designer opt for additive or subtractive manufacturing?

Designers today choose the optimum solution for the overall process. This results in a decision matrix that weighs up costs against benefits. However, as mentioned above, costs do not only include direct production costs, which depend heavily on the number of parts required. It is also about cost savings after the actual production of parts, such as those in assembly, follow-up costs for devices, warehousing and, for example, costs for the unavailability of spare parts. Also important are the performance parameters of a component, which can differ significantly, as no account needs to be taken of the limitations of machining production. As a general rule, the value of the respective component increases with better performance, meaning that previous investments pay off. With this in mind, designers and developers should ideally consider the overall costs as well as the overall benefits when making investment decisions.