GE's great manufacturing program: the largest supplier from 3D printing to the largest supplier

On May 22, local time, Malaysian Airlines entered the first commercial flight of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 and opened a new era in the single-aisle aircraft market. On May 16, Boeing just celebrated the delivery of the aircraft in Seattle. At the same time, engineers at the US General Electric Company ("GE") aviation headquarters are still immersed in research on 3D printing technology.

In the United States, the number of manufacturers that apply 3D technology to the industry like GE is gradually increasing. It has been suggested that under the influence of 3D technology, the slogan "reshape the US manufacturing industry" is becoming a reality.

GE's "Great Manufacturing" program

Como is located in the Lake District of northern Italy, just 5 km from the Swiss border. For decades, the silk produced by the fabric factory on the shore has made the fashion companies in New York, Paris and Milan brilliant. Nowadays, a special manufacturing plant is here, and a "great plan" related to 3D printing technology is underway.

The GE plant is located in a small town in Talamona, Italy. The plant mainly uses 3D printing equipment to make swirl nozzles. It is reported that GE has invested a total of 10 million euros (about 77.17 million yuan) for these upgraded turbine and compressor parts manufacturing facilities, and after two years of construction, it has become one of GE's most advanced manufacturing centers. .

Over the past few years, GE has been investing in R&D in 3D printing technology at its R&D centers around the world, including Shanghai (China), Bangalore (India), Munich (Germany), and Nishkana (USA). )Wait.

According to public information, starting from the launch of GE's 3D printing technology project in 2003, the application of 3D printing technology has gradually extended to all of GE's business areas.

While developing its own 3D printing technology, GE is also acquiring professional printing companies in the industry. In 2012, GE invested in the acquisition of 3D printing technology company Morris Technologies, and just last year, GE announced the acquisition of two conceptual 3D printing technology companies, SLM Solutions and Arcam AB. According to industry analysts, this series of acquisitions has made GE one of the largest suppliers among the largest users in the 3D printing industry.

All of this is part of GE's "Brilliant Manufacturing" program.

Charles Gilman is one of the researchers at the GE Aviation 3D Printing Technology R&D Center. He said GE's efforts in 3D printing were well known until GE's aviation division was preparing to produce fuel nozzles for LEAP jet engines in 2011.

“In GE's plan to apply 3D printing to the production process, the first choice of fuel nozzles is based on realistic considerations. There are 19 fuel nozzles on a jet engine, and if one or several failures do not have catastrophic consequences Moreover, the structure of the fuel nozzle is very complicated, and the manufacturing cost is very high if the conventional cutting process is used, and the nozzle design is also subject to many restrictions," Gilman said.

Greg Morris, head of GE's 3D printing technology R&D center, said that compared to traditional technology, 3D printing produces fuel nozzles that are five times more durable and weigh only 25%. The final annual production is expected to be 3.5. Ten thousand pieces.

In recent days, GE also announced plans to sell 10,000 3D printers in 10 years. “This is a huge amount and the reason why we invest so much money,” said the senior sales director of GE Additives.

"Distributed manufacturing" trend

US President Trump said during the campaign that the trade administration order will lay the foundation for the revival of American manufacturing. In fact, whether in the United States or China, the topic of "American manufacturing renaissance" has been receiving attention in recent years.

Also in the 1970s, more than 19.5 million Americans earned a salary by working in the factory. This data has continued to decrease since then. In 1999, during the “new economy” of the United States, manufacturing accounted for only 16% of US GDP. In 2001-2002, it shrank further to 14%. After the financial crisis broke out, the ratio of manufacturing output to US GDP was less than 13%. Although the status quo has improved, the number of manufacturing jobs has recovered after hitting a record low of 11.5 million in 2009, but it has not returned to the desired level.

People hope that the emergence of new technologies may change the supply chain, thus reversing the sluggish situation in the US manufacturing industry - 3D printing is one of them.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) revealed that using 3D printing and other emerging technologies can save US manufacturing more than $100 billion annually and drive innovation and growth. According to the non-profit organization, additive manufacturing is a more effective choice for manufacturers, and 3D printing itself can save up to $4.1 billion, which is equivalent to a 18.3% reduction in production costs.

Brian Krassenstein, founder of 3DPrint News website 3DPrint.com, said that the growth of 3D manufacturing may change the global labor market. As China's manufacturing costs rise and the US economy declines, Foxconn and other large manufacturing companies Employment opportunities may begin to disappear.

Siemens expects 3D printing costs to drop to 50% in the next five years, and speed will increase fivefold. Consulting firm Gartner believes that although the market share of 3D printing is only 1.6 billion US dollars in 2015 (about 11.1 billion yuan), by 2018, this number will reach 13.4 billion US dollars (about 92.23 billion yuan).

Why does 3D printing have an impact on traditional manufacturing? Bram Zwart, co-founder of 3D printing technology company Hubs, gave an example of the image: "By customizing the product at a 3D printing technology company near home, the company will print it out and send it downstairs." Then, the factory will basically close down. Instead of putting 1000 machines in the same place, why not put 1000 machines in 1000 places?"

Bram Zwart mentioned the scene of "Distributed Manufacturing". As early as 2015 at the Davos Forum, “Distributed Manufacturing” was listed as one of the most important technology trends.

According to a recent survey released by PricewaterhouseCoopers, US manufacturers use 3D printing technology to a different extent, accounting for about 2/3 of the total, which is a significant increase from the 35% before 2014, of which 56%. People think that more than half of their peers will use 3D printing in the next 3-5 years.

In addition, the United States has begun to fully apply 3D printing technology in various industries, including military manufacturing and naval warships.

At the legal level, 3D printing has also been improved in the United States. On May 11, 2016, former US President Barack Obama signed the Protection of Trade Secrets Act, which gives parties the right to sue in federal court for theft of trade secrets such as 3D printing. And in the medical field, 3D printed medical devices must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before they can be sold.

Despite the relatively over-hyped hype period, the future of 3D printing technology is still full of challenges.

The above PricewaterhouseCoopers report pointed out that the manufacturers surveyed said that the biggest obstacle to 3D printing technology is the high cost of equipment, lack of professional talents and technology (41.3% and 42.1%, respectively), followed by the final product quality uncertainty ( 33.1%) and printer speed (25.6%).

It is worth mentioning that at almost the same time, manufacturers believe that the uncertainty of product quality is the biggest obstacle (47%), followed by the lack of professionals and technology, and then the cost issue.

Editor in charge: Wang Zhen