3D PRINTING IN THE MILITARY INDUSTRY

The ultimate strategy for your journey into additive manufacturing

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Deloitte additive manufacturing defense industry

Military continues to push the industry forward

  • For generations, the military has always been on the leading cusp of technological advancements that have positively impacted consumers and alternative industries. Additive manufacturing is no different, and the early adoption approach by the military continues to push the industry forward. According to Deloitte report, the opportunities for the DoD seem endless regarding their challenges. 

  • The global market revenue generated by this sector accounts for USD 1.36 Billion in the year 2020 and it is anticipated to reach a value of around USD 7.08 Billion by the year 2028. The market growth dynamics account for a CAGR of 20.11% during the forecast period, 2020-2028. (source)

  • Due to their strict guidelines for repeatability, security and time-sensitivity, it’s no surprise that this industry is further pushing AM into mass adoption to solve the problems of today, and tomorrow.

  • For most industries, time equals money — but in the military, time can be the difference between success and failure, and failure is not an option. 

 

Benefits of AM for the defense industry

  • Supply chain agility

Supply chain agility is at the heart of any defense organization’s success. Effective supply chain strategies not only help companies improve efficiency, control costs and mitigate risks, but also enable them to deliver value to the customers.

Additive Manufacturing and digital thread reduce the very high complex and diversified ecosystems of different tiers of suppliers; original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) providers; and customers.

“We envision AM as an effective tool that can mitigate diminished manufacturing sources of supply and long lead time supply chain shortfalls, while empowering Airmen to create innovative solutions for the myriad of sustainment challenges they encounter.” says Angela Tymofichuk, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Logistics and Product Support, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.

 

  • Additive Distributed manufacturing 

The demand for near-the-battlefield production and agile manufacturing is a major priority for the military industry and other civil protection agencies across the globe. In order to reduce logistics and shipping costs, the defense sector is heavily invested in technologies and workflows that can quickly react when called upon.

With additive manufacturing, military operators can increase production by having real-time data for analysis, as well as schedule and track production through machine connectivity. 

 

  • Digital inventory of new parts or replacement of spare parts.

Get the right parts fast. 

A Digital  Inventory is a data management system that provides a centralized virtual storage and collaboration platform for AM which enables distributed on-demand manufacturing. It represents the digital value chain and will allow constant data modifiability and control upfront, with a complete digital part and production twin, and the corresponding documentation.

 

 

The 7 top challenges of the military industry in the AM journey

 

1. Battlefield readiness and security of warfighters

  • Ensuring battlefield readiness and security of warfighters and improving warfighter innovation is one of the main goals in the Defense industry. 
  • AM can reduce turnaround time, ensuring that warfighters receive capabilities when they need them. It allows rapid production of prototypes, reducing development time and accelerating repeatability processes.
 

2. Supply chain resilience

  • An agile supply chain relies on solid parts inventory management, global and local resource visibility, seamless communication with data transfer across the AM network, and efficient distribution in the battlefield.
  • Discover our guide to build a smarter defense operational supply chain. 
 

3. Additive Manufacturing Knowledge

  • Learn, practice, and share knowledge
  • Developing and maintaining AM knowledge across the defense industry, is central to realizing the value proposition offered by this new technology.
  • Military’s workforce needs additional technical and non-technical education to maintain internal AM expertise. 
 

4. Part identification

  • Without good parts, databases are just data. With validated AM business cases, you are ready to scale. A successful expansion of your AM department will rely on collecting the parts that are technologically feasible, cheaper and more efficient to produce with AM.

  • Find out how we help Phillips Corporation to find AM-ready parts. 
 

5. Quality and assurance

  • Part qualification and certification is a key element when it comes to quality and leading to wider use and the ability to produce large scale end use parts. AM operations influence the final quality of the part, the raw material and the geometry of the part. These factors can make qualification and certification more complex and potentially more expensive.
 

6. Agile Distributed Production

 

production decentralisee SIMMT 3YOURMIND
 

7. Security of the AM workflow

  • Protecting, controlling and managing data transfer and access along the digital wire, between teams in the additive manufacturing ecosystem, and between machines and platforms are at the heart of additive manufacturing challenges for the military industry.

  • Watch the webinar replay about security and distributed manufacturing with Joe Inkenbrandt, CEO & Co-founder of Identify3D, Ian Taylor, CTO of Simba Chain, Moshe Molcho, CEO & Co-Founder of Leo Lane
 

How does our solution support military organizations?

  • We establish a digital thread throughout the value chain that is specific to defense companies or organizations such as the U.S. NAVY, the FRENCH ARMY and PHILLIPS CORP.

  • Our highly secure platform collects, centralizes and analyzes data from a variety of sources to manage and coordinate all stages of the value chain:

- Parts identification with Agile PLM and AMPI, our top-down and bottom-up approach identifies AM use cases to create a qualified digital inventory,

- Order automation with Agile ERP,

- Production management and supervision anywhere in the world: our agile MES module with machine connectivity ensures a seamless digital workflow that enables distributed manufacturing.

  • With our unique and collaborative platform, data is transferred to the right hands with a secure workflow and we offer training and guidance to spread AM knowledge throughout the organization. 
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