Industry Briefing
September 2007

Rapid Manufacturing: The Next Frontier

Over the past few years, the term “rapid manufacturing” has gained acceptance. It is generally used to refer to the direct production of finished goods using additive fabrication (AF) techniques. The idea is to use freeform additive processes to deliver end-use parts directly from digital data.

The real key to rapid manufacturing is the elimination of molds, dies, and other forms of tooling, and the consequent eradication of manufacturing restrictions that tooling presents. Other than the time and cost savings that occur, a host of benefits are created that are only now being explored and understood. The rapid manufacturing processes themselves are the enablers for radically different approaches to design, manufacturing, and supply chain management, as well as product sales and distribution.

Each year, Wohlers Associates surveys many organizations from around the world. This year, 29 AF system manufacturers and 56 AF service providers responded. These 85 companies provided information based on knowledge of their customers—an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 total organizations worldwide. The responses were used to help prepare the information in the graph at http://wohlersassociates.com/rmgrowth.html. This graph shows the rapid manufacturing sales activity at these companies. As you can see, sales rose from 9.6% last year to 11.7% this year. The outcome of this survey is evidence that rapid manufacturing continues to grow in popularity. Also, the results support the belief that rapid manufacturing is the next frontier in AF technology.

Note: The previous information was excerpted from Wohlers Report 2007, a 220-page global study that focuses on the advances in 3D printing, rapid prototyping, additive fabrication, and rapid manufacturing worldwide. A detailed overview of the report, as well as additional information on the market and industry, are available at http://wohlersassociates.com.



Wohlers Talk: Layer-at-Once Plastic Sintering

Sintermask Technologies AB of Sweden (formerly Speed Part) has developed a process called Selective Mask Sintering that sinters an entire layer of plastic powder at once. The company uses glass-filled nylon powder, an infrared lamp, and masks to produce each layer. The masks are generated using a Xerox photocopying process. The masks represent the inverse of the cross sections being produced. The time to produce a layer is 10-20 seconds, which is fast. Using an IR lamp instead of a laser and galvanometer significantly reduces cost. The current system builds parts up to 300 x 210 x 500 mm (11.8 x 8.3 x 19.7 inches) and sells for €149,000 (~$203,000). Parts from the system are impressive.

Loughborough University (England) is also working on a layer-at-once plastic sintering process. It is called High Speed Sintering and it jets dark liquid (likely black ink) onto the surface of white nylon powder. The darkened regions represent the cross section that is to be sintered. The surface is then exposed to IR radiation. The dark regions are sintered because they absorb much more heat than the white regions, which is a clever approach.

As these processes are refined, they could impact the sales of laser sintering machines due to their potential speed and cost advantages. Loughborough University has not yet commercialized its process, but Speed Part sold its first three systems last year. It will be interesting to watch the development of these two systems.

Note: Wohlers Talk is a blog that offers views, perspective, and commentary related to rapid product development and a wide range of other topics. More than 120 commentaries have been published since February 2003. To view them, visit http://wohlersassociates.com/blog.

The Custom Manufacturing MegaTrend

"The Custom Manufacturing MegaTrend: Where China and the West Fit In" will be held on December 7 at EuroMold 2007 in Frankfurt, Germany. This ninth annual international conference will concentrate on the growing number of opportunities in custom, replacement part, and short-run manufacturing and the role of China, Europe, and other parts of the world. The event is being co-sponsored by DEMAT, the organizers of EuroMold, and Wohlers Associates. To view the conference program, go to http://wohlersassociates.com/custom.pdf.

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