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Additive Manufacturing Essentials

8.2 Pre-Production to Production: Factors to Consider in a Business Case

Additive Manufacturing Essentials8.2 Pre-Production to Production: Factors to Consider in a Business Case

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, students will be able to:

  • Determine where an AM application fits in overall AM maturity.
  • Apply maturity levels to impacts on the overall product.

There are different business case considerations depending on the type of AM application or reason for doing AM. In chapter 1, the AM Maturity Model was introduced to describe the various AM products and the appropriate learning lessons which accompany it.

The TBGA AM Maturity Model breaks down potential AM products into 5 levels or levels of AM maturity, each level having its own business case considerations. These 5 levels are:

  • Level 0: Pre-Production
  • Level 1: Production Influence
  • Level 2: Substitution
  • Level 3: Functional Designs
  • Level 4: Multi-Functional

The business value of these levels is further described in the following sections and evaluated with respect to the triple constraint of project management, namely Cost, Schedule and Scope.

Level 0

Level zero is Pre-Production and encompasses using AM prototypes for product development, and short run production until the final manufacturing method is deployed.

Cost: It is possible to impact program costs through applying AM prototyping to condense schedules, but direct product costs are likely unaffected with the use of prototyping alone.

Scope: This level of AM is useful for enhancing the scope by prototyping important scope-enhancing features of the product design, but scope is not directly impacted by prototyping.

Schedule: The primary outcome of using AM for prototypes is condensing schedule. Level zero describes activities such as using AM to make test parts for an assembly, gathering data, or avoiding hard tooling, all of which work towards compressing the development cycle.

Level 1

Level one refers to indirect application of additive, namely tools and fixtures, that can be used to manufacture or assemble other parts.

Cost: Product cost can be affected by application of AM in Level one through improving assembly time, reducing tooling inventory, or improving the cost of poor quality by ensuring a robust, repeatable process. For example, a fixture or tool used on the assembly line that enables faster build time would lower cost.

Scope: Level one parts will not likely benefit from any scope enhancement from the use of AM, since AM is not used for direct production of parts, and therefore cannot affect the final product performance.

Schedule: It is common and relatively easy to find business value applying this level of AM and recognizing savings in schedule, assembly, tooling inventory reduction and cost. This level also includes examples like using AM to produce prototype castings for validation or initial production, enabling overall program schedule improvements.

A sandy textured mold of an engine block. A number of paired columns sit inside a larger curved structure, and several cylindrical passageways emerge horizontally from the main body.
Figure 8.4 This 3D printed engine block mold has a variety of internal structures, passageways, and subcomponents that will be filled with specific alloys. (credit: Modification of Velie Engine Mold Complete Core Package” by O.K. Foundry Company/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Level 2

Level two covers making AM production parts that look similar to existing legacy manufacturing designs.

Cost: It is possible to find cost savings in part for part replacement examples in level 3 if the parts are made with complex, multi-step manufacturing processes and/or with expensive materials such titanium.

Spare parts are a good example of a level 3 application where in-kind replacement prolongs the longevity of an expensive asset, which may command a higher price due to its overall business value.

Scope: Since the parts in level 3 are the same as was produced with traditional methods, there is not likely any benefits to scope for the majority of these parts. It is possible that a higher value material will be substituted, which may bring some benefit to mechanical properties.

Schedule: As discussed in chapter 1, this could be useful to deliver spare parts where the original supply chain is no longer viable or practical. Excepting the high-cost material case mentioned before, typically, parts not designed for AM are more expensive (part for part) when made with additive manufacturing vs. their intended manufacturing method. In this case, the business value comes from a condensed schedule, for example eliminating lengthy lead times through delivering low volume spare parts quickly.

Level 3

Level three describes AM parts which take existing part designs and apply the benefits of AM by combining these parts into one.

Cost: This can be financially beneficial by reducing recurring part cost, manufacturing assembly time, potential systems weight savings, creating more robust systems without joints and potential failure points. This also reduces the cost to manage individual part numbers and suppliers which is hard to quantify, but a real cost, nonetheless.

Scope: In this level, the scope of the AM application is paramount and unlocks the value of AM by enabling system level solutions with improved performance and reduction in processes.

Schedule: Part combination does not directly impact schedule, though it is possible to realize some efficiencies by minimizing the number of new parts introduced.

Level 4

Level four, referred to as Multi-Functional or Engineered Capability, although hard to achieve, offers the greatest financial benefits of AM. This maturity level describes parts which can only be made economically through AM methods. These parts take advantage of the design freedom in AM to create system level value such as performance, reliability, and weight.

Cost: These parts are market leading and therefore command a premium price, making cost the largest driving factor to business value.

Scope: In this level, even more than level 3, the scope of the AM application is enhanced by enabling system level solutions with improved performance and reduction in processes.

Schedule: It is difficult to couple schedule efficiencies with game-changing AM applications such as fit in this level. Developing novel AM solutions takes time and will often require significant validation and qualification since these parts are often critical to the product if they bring system level value.

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