Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing from R&D to Production

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has been successfully commercialized, yet widespread adoption has not been achieved so far. This is partly because companies struggle to operate AM factories profitably and efficiently at industrial scale. This thesis proposes a data strategy to address this challe...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Weißbach, Reimar
Other Authors: Roemer, Thomas
Format: Thesis
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2024
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155975
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5652-6560
_version_ 1826205097938386944
author Weißbach, Reimar
author2 Roemer, Thomas
author_facet Roemer, Thomas
Weißbach, Reimar
author_sort Weißbach, Reimar
collection MIT
description Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has been successfully commercialized, yet widespread adoption has not been achieved so far. This is partly because companies struggle to operate AM factories profitably and efficiently at industrial scale. This thesis proposes a data strategy to address this challenge and support the rapid growth and successful operation of an additive manufacturing factory – from R&D to production. The central idea is to connect relevant data to the central unit of a build. A build is proposed as one unit of manufacturing in AM. Connecting commercial data, information about geometry, processing, materials, post-processing, and testing to a build allows to gain a system-level understanding while also being able to dive into details where needed. After implementation, the framework can be used to (i) qualify processes and certify materials, (ii) improve quoting quality and efficiency, (iii) support engineering and R&D, (iv) derive critical operations KPIs such as revenue per build, builds per week, and days per build, which can be used for budgeting and capacity planning as well as business control, (v) make strategic decisions on capital expenses and headcount planning, as well as (iv) ensure traceability of materials and parts. Together, these applications support decision makers as well as commercial and technical staff in their work, both strategic as well as during day-to-day operations.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T13:06:43Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/155975
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
last_indexed 2024-09-23T13:06:43Z
publishDate 2024
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/1559752024-08-13T03:28:01Z Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing from R&D to Production Weißbach, Reimar Roemer, Thomas Hart, John Sloan School of Management Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has been successfully commercialized, yet widespread adoption has not been achieved so far. This is partly because companies struggle to operate AM factories profitably and efficiently at industrial scale. This thesis proposes a data strategy to address this challenge and support the rapid growth and successful operation of an additive manufacturing factory – from R&D to production. The central idea is to connect relevant data to the central unit of a build. A build is proposed as one unit of manufacturing in AM. Connecting commercial data, information about geometry, processing, materials, post-processing, and testing to a build allows to gain a system-level understanding while also being able to dive into details where needed. After implementation, the framework can be used to (i) qualify processes and certify materials, (ii) improve quoting quality and efficiency, (iii) support engineering and R&D, (iv) derive critical operations KPIs such as revenue per build, builds per week, and days per build, which can be used for budgeting and capacity planning as well as business control, (v) make strategic decisions on capital expenses and headcount planning, as well as (iv) ensure traceability of materials and parts. Together, these applications support decision makers as well as commercial and technical staff in their work, both strategic as well as during day-to-day operations. M.B.A. 2024-08-12T14:12:35Z 2024-08-12T14:12:35Z 2024-05 2024-06-25T18:18:20.401Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155975 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5652-6560 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Weißbach, Reimar
Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing from R&D to Production
title Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing from R&D to Production
title_full Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing from R&D to Production
title_fullStr Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing from R&D to Production
title_full_unstemmed Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing from R&D to Production
title_short Scaling Metal Additive Manufacturing from R&D to Production
title_sort scaling metal additive manufacturing from r d to production
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155975
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5652-6560
work_keys_str_mv AT weißbachreimar scalingmetaladditivemanufacturingfromrdtoproduction