2019 is a year of environmental sustainability, with global protests and a growing focus on politics and society. Additive manufacturing is no exception. Sustainability is on the agenda. But what about the details?
We are entering a new era of additive manufacturing. Among them, more and more production applications adopt this technology to require industry maturity and to demonstrate the reliability, repeatability and quality of more mature manufacturing technologies. At the recent Formnext 2019 conference, it was clear that most OEMs were sending an important message that was more focused on delivering on their previous promises in terms of technology. At the recent
Formnext 2019 conference, Marie Langer, the new CEO of EOS, was asked about her priorities for the next few years. She discussed how to provide repeatable and transferable processes, usability, quality and reliability. But there was another important topic at that press conference, and as the week went on, it was one that was widely discussed on the floor of Formnext. The theme is sustainability in additive manufacturing. Marie Langer says sustainability is a critical issue and should be championed by the entire industry. Brian Neff, CEO of Sintavia, agreed and commented on the opportunities and advantages of AM as a more sustainable production technology than traditional subtraction manufacturing. Langer talks about developing more sustainable materials that can be recycled. Brian emphasized that for metal additive manufacturing, there is much less material waste and less transportation through distributed manufacturing, thus reducing the overall carbon footprint of the parts produced. RushLaSelle, senior director of Additive manufacturing at Jabil Additive, also discussed sustainability during a panel discussion on Formnext TV.LaSelle describes the benefits of distributed manufacturing in terms of sustainability.In addition, senior leaders at companies like Carpenter Additive, HP and DSM have made it clear that sustainability is on the agenda. Camille Caron, director of education and sustainability for HP’s 3D printing business, recently wrote an article on the subject.
Clearly, AM has the opportunity to lead the global manufacturing market with sustainable production technologies. By reducing material waste, supply chain innovation (reducing the need for thousands of miles of shipping parts), the use of recycled plastics and metals in materials, and the benefits of developing new recyclable materials, AM can become the most sustainable product. The company’s production solutions. At this time, large companies are under pressure to reduce their carbon footprints and do more to protect and protect the environment. Therefore, this opportunity can further support the development of the entire AM industry. However, despite extensive discussion of the topic at a high-level level, virtually nothing has been done to advance the sustainability initiative. Part of the question may have to do with “who’s
responsible? This question is relevant. How many additive manufacturing organizations, such as machine OEMs, materials companies, etc., have sustainability leaders, or at least in-house advocates, to take ownership? This is more exploration that Alexander Daniels Global is planning to do in early 2020 to prepare a report directly into the efforts of major companies to advance this very important cause.
