How can metal 3D printing save transportation and supply chain costs?

1. From centralised production to distributed manufacturing: how to solve the logistics problem
The three-level logistics network of "central factory - regional warehouse - end customer" is what the traditional supply chain is based on. This model had serious problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. The worldwide container freight index shot up by 465% in 2020, which meant that an auto manufacturer had to cease making cars because they couldn't get enough sensors worth $2. By creating a "digital warehouse+localized production" system, metal 3D printing has completely transformed this problem.
For example, traditional aluminium castings for the US Air Force F110 engine have to be shipped by sea from Asian suppliers to the US, which can take up to three years. But using GE Aviation's Concept Laser M2 equipment for 3D printing has cut the production time down to 72 hours, and they can be made right away at any US base that has printing capabilities. This methodology helps the US Air Force save more than $20 million a year on inventory holding expenses and cuts the chance of supply chain problems by 92%.
3D Systems offers personalised orthopaedic implant services to 3,000 hospitals throughout the world in the medical area. Medical facilities can get titanium alloy acetabular cups that fit the patient's body shape within 48 hours using the cloud-based digital model library. This saves 6-8 weeks of transportation time compared to traditional cross-border procurement models and lowers the cost of shipping a single item from $1200 to $80.
2. On-demand production: the best way to get rid of extra stock
The "forecast driven production" strategy is used by the traditional manufacturing industry, which means that the average global inventory turnover rate is just 6.8 times a year. With the "digital manufacturing" capability of metal 3D printing, businesses can really make things on demand. When Boeing used this method to make the fuel nozzles for the 787 Dreamliner, it cut its stock of parts from 1200 to 50, which saved 78% of the money it would have spent on inventory.
This shift is especially important for the maintenance of aeroplanes. Rolls Royce has produced a library of 3D-printed spare parts for its Trent XWB engine. The library features more than 2000 complicated structural pieces. Engineers may print parts directly from the local repair centre when an aeroplane needs to replace turbine blades at Dubai airport. This saves the $20,000 cost and 72-hour wait time of shipping parts by air from the Derby facility in the UK. Statistics show that this method has cut the value of Rolls Royce's global spare parts inventory from $4.2 billion to $1.8 billion and cut the time that customers' planes are out of service (AOG) by 83%.
3. Design Driven Manufacturing: Changing the way products are made
Metal 3D printing overcomes the geometric limitations of conventional subtractive production, allowing engineers to attain a dual optimisation of "functional integration + material reduction" via topology optimisation. Stanley Black&Decker made the PD45 column driver actuator housing better by combining the four elements that made it up into one 3D-printed part. This cut the weight by 40% and the number of steps needed to make it from 12 to 2. This modification in design lowers the cost of shipping one item from $3.2 to $0.8 and can enhance the loading capacity of a container by 65% because it takes up less space.
This design revolution has bigger economic benefits for the aircraft sector. The Airbus A350XWB has lost 30% of its weight and kept its strength since using 3D printed titanium alloy brackets. This saves each plane over $2 million in fuel costs each year. More crucially, this light design lets planes from Europe to Asia carry 8% more passengers, which is like making $1200 more every flight.
4. Technological breakthrough: closing the last mile of big applications
Metal 3D printing has several benefits for the supply chain, but its use in industry has been limited by its high cost and low efficiency. Recent advancements in technologies like multi-laser collaboration and large-scale moulding have enabled this technology to rival traditional manufacturing.
Jump in efficiency: Leiming Laser has come out with the LiM-X800H+equipment, which uses 8 lasers working together to make 2.5-meter-level aerospace parts. This is 500% more efficient than single laser equipment. The TA15 titanium alloy spiral structural components made by this machine are 418mm × 362mm × 2210mm, which proves that it is possible to make large parts in an industrial setting.
Material Innovation: AVIC Maite's short process powder production technique has cut the price of 316L stainless steel powder from 1.44 million yuan/ton to 780,000 yuan/ton. It has also cut the price of aluminium alloy powder by 60% using the elemental blending method. Because of this cost benefit, 3D printed parts can be used in large-scale applications like car chassis parts.
Process closed loop: Bolite Company's "materials equipment services" system has raised material use to 95% thanks to an intelligent powder recycling system and automated post-processing equipment. This has cut the cost of printing single pieces by 42% compared to three years ago.