Is Now The Right Time For Additive Manufacture?

If you are looking to investigate how additive manufacturing will work for you, then you have come to the right place. You might be asking yourself the following questions:

How and where does 3D printing add monetary value to my business?

What is the required investment and when will I see a return?

What is the best 3D printer and materials for my business and our applications?

Will the 3D printed parts meet specification, perform reliably and improve the existing design?

What training is required and what are the ongoing costs?

Can I trust what this person is telling me?

At Solid Print3D we are design engineers first and foremost. We work with the best in-class 3D printing brands & printers that are suitable for a variety of market sectors; we aren’t trying to make 1 technology fit all workflows. Our Engineers have worked inside engineering businesses and seen the challenges firsthand and have created an efficient process for quickly addressing the above questions so you can decide if additive manufacturing works for you.

The Process

Our process is supported by concrete data that we gather with your engineers so it can be worked back to its inception. We make this data and the workings available to you so you can check them yourself.

1. Data Collection – “Walk the Line” or Remote Collection

As with any engineering problem we must understand why things are the way they are and go back to first principles. We also want you to understand our solution. How do we achieve this?

We conduct a “Walk the line” where we take the time to understand your current manufacturing process and therefore know where additive works and where it does not and we can explain why!

In current times (Corona Virus outbreak) data collection can be done remotely, if you are already experienced in additive manufacturing and you know where the best applications are. You can provide us with detail on the current method of manufacture so that we may analyse if 3D printing is suitable for the manufacturing process.

2. Financial Analysis – Return on Investment Study (ROI) and 3D Printer Recommendation

We insert your data into our in-house tools that generate a return on investment document. The ROI will show how quickly a machine will pay for itself, by 3D printing your parts compared to your current manufacturing process. the ROI tool will also show any savings in lead times among other benefits such as enabling you to reallocate human resource elsewhere.

At Solid print3D we do a lot of work tailoring the ROI to suit your bespoke applications. We use our technical teams knowledge along with samples to determine & prove which 3D printers are going to work best to save you time & money.

Our team will also detail which 3D printer is best for producing your parts, based on an automated scoring system using the parts unique requirements. In addition, we illustrate how many 3D printers you would need to meet the year on year demand for the parts we have looked at.

NOTE: This process is always tailored and overseen by trained Additive Engineers. Everyone’s applications are different.

3. Functional Testing – 3D Printed Samples

Occasionally the first two steps can be skipped, if you are already sure that you are looking to take your first steps into additive and have budget set aside. Additive is the manufacturing technology of the future after all. However, you will still need to evaluate whether 3D printed parts work for the application you have in mind.

There is a lot to take into consideration when designing for additive, such as material properties, layer direction, fibre orientation and surface finish. After your application is understood we make recommendations so your sample part is optimized for additive manufacture.

Once we have 3D printed your bespoke part it will be sent to you for evaluation and physical testing. We can also support you in providing relevant case studies and technical information.

4. Presentation, Q&A and Decision Making

Once we have shown the 3D printer makes sense financially, can produce parts fit for application and provided relevant technical/health and safety info, there is no room for guesswork.

Step 4 of this process will enable decision makers to make an informed decision and ensure a good working relationship between you and Solid Print3D into the future. This groundwork ensures that a first move, or further expansion into additive is going to add real value to the bottom line of your business.

Do You Want To Investigate Further?

We run events to educate people about 3D printing and are always happy to chat over the phone. If you would like to investigate whether additive manufacturing will work for you, get in contact and kick-start the process.

sales@solidprint3d.co.uk or 01926 333 777