Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a very important part of the manufacturing process. PLM helps managing product design development processes and data for achieving higher efficiency. As companies look for more efficiency and better performance in everything, today's PLM landscape is characterized by increased market expectations. In addition, product lifetimes are shrinking. The secret of why 3D printing or additive manufacturing is becoming more and more popular is that 3D printers are more accurate and versatile than any other mode of production - be it a human or machine - at fabricating complex design into a physical object, combining raw material in ways that were unheard of a decade back. 3D printing has opened up new frontiers in the way things are manufactured. 3D printed parts and products are creeping into everyday life. Car accessories are designed with the help of 3D printed prototypes to make sure all the various parts fit accurately together. Well equipped dental labs print custom crowns in less than an hour from X-rays. Prosthetic limbs, even custom cakes are made using additive / 3D printing technology. If you wear a custom hearing aid, odds are good that it was 3D printed using optical scan data that captured the precise shape of your inner ear. And of course, like rest of the world India is not behind in embracing 3D printing technology.
To stay competitive in an environment that is perpetually shrinking time to market, manufacturers need to meet and break new release schedules in their product development cycles. Rapid prototyping offers that opportunity. One of the important reasons 3D printing is getting popular for rapid prototyping is because it doesn’t just speed up the design process through quick iteration, but it speeds up the production process as well because it does away with the need for tooling entirely. This is a very big advantage in PLM, as it allows manufacturers manage design data and revisions to produce efficiently.
Is there any difference between additive manufacturing, 3D printing and rapid prototyping? Before we proceed further, let us get clarity about a few terms used in this field. |
Coming back to PLM, rapid prototyping allows manufacturers to create prototypes in a matter of hours and not days. This allows manufacturers to expedite the time taken to market products without compromising on quality.
When they were first introduced, 3D printing was limited to mostly plastics and resins. As the 3D printing technology has progressed, there have been significant advances in both the printing processes and the material available for printing. Today, the most popular 3D printing technologies include Stereolithography (SLA), Digital Light Processing (DLP), Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Selective Laser Melting (SLM), Electronic Beam Melting (EBM), Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM), Binder Jetting (BJ), Material Jetting (MJ). While the choice of 3D printers is varied, the choice of raw material is even more amazing. In fact, one of the biggest appeals of 3D printing is the choice of materials. Starting with good old plastic, the choice of 3D printing material has now extended to include rubber, metal, ceramic, wood and even food. You want to make gold jelwellery? No problem! There are speciality 3D printers that help you do just that. Perhaps you fancy a custom cake on your birthday? No worries -3D printers have you covered. Newer 3D printing materials are now becoming available almost every week, and designers and innovators are excited about the raw material options they now have in manufacturing objects.
Uses of 3D Printers for PLM
Almost all manufacturing sectors benefit from rapid prototyping in PLM. As mentioned above, there are a number of 3D printing technologies available today, and the choice of 3D printing material is amazing. Permutation and combination of these additive manufacturing technologies and printing material allows almost limitless potential for manufacturers, especially at the prototyping stage.
Manufacturers use 3D printers to create test fixtures and jigs, as well as production assembly fixtures and jigs, so the machines are utilized throughout the whole product creation process. While most manufacturers use multiple different methods of prototyping, they invariably opt for 3D printers for the best realistic parts.
3D printing is also used to produce objects that will ultimately be cast in metal. On a small scale, this can mean lost-wax casting models for jewellery and dental crowns. On a large scale, this can mean creating sand cores for casting complete engine parts. From small screws to entire aeroplane wings, and from electronic circuits to automobile interiors, 3D printers are proving useful at every stage of the PLM.
In many countries, especially developing countries like India, there are speciality 3D printing service providers. They have industry grade, heavy duty 3D printers and can service a wide range of industrial requirements. Plus, they have a variety of 3D printers and can 3D print on material as diverse as gold, titanium, and stainless steel, to wax, ceramics, wood and rubber. Not to mention traditional 3D printing material like polymers and resins.These 3D printing service providers prove to be a valuable aid to manufacturers, especially the small and the medium scale manufacturers.
3D Printing –the Future
Like Industry 4.0, AR and VR, 3D printing is a disruptive technology. Industry leaders like Stratasys, HP, 3D Systems, Renishaw, EOS and others are introducing printers that are faster and economical. There were entry barriers earlier as printers were heavy, slow and expensive. Especially in countries like India, China and other developing countries, where cost is a critical concern, the potential