Editorial

Citation

Campbell, I. (2013), "Editorial", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 19 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/rpj.2013.15619baa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Rapid Prototyping Journal, Volume 19, Issue 2

In recent years, additive manufacturing has been demonstrated to facilitate innovative products, which exploit new design freedoms to deliver improved value to the customer. Examples include customised hearing aids, jewellery, toys and aerospace components. However, it could be argued that there are only a relatively small number of designers who have really grasped hold of the new opportunities afforded by AM and that many are still unaware of its true capabilities. I personally believe that we are only seeing the “tip of an iceberg” and that there is huge potential for AM to contribute to almost every high-value added product. To achieve this, there is an urgent need for all designers to routinely consider AM as a means of production and then fully exploit its potential when appropriate. There are some tools available to help designers in this task. One that has been launched recently is the “3D Print Barometer” from materialise (http://3dprintbarometer.com/). This tool asks a small number of questions and gives a percentage score indicating how likely it is that AM will be suitable. This is a rather simplistic (although potentially useful) approach and does nothing to educate the designer on what new types of geometries should be considered for their own product. Candidate tools for this educational have been developed, but have not yet been proven or disseminated widely enough to penetrate the mainstream design community. There is a great need to place these tools in the hands of professional designers to determine their capabilities for inspiring innovative product designs for AM. Feedback from the designers could then be used by the tool providers to improve their offerings. It might also be possible to place the innovative product designs created in a web-enabled database to act as inspiration to the wider design community.

Projects aiming to achieve this may well fall within the scope of the new National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) that was announced by President Obama in August. This $30m commitment to AM by the US Government (matched by $40m from the consortium partners) has the potential to bring a step change in the implementation of AM in America. The stated role of the NAMII is to “provide the innovation infrastructure needed to support new additive manufacturing technology and products in order to become a global center of excellence for AM” (www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2012/08/16/obama-administration-announces-new-public-private-partnership-support). The institute will aim to bridge the gap between basic research and product development for AM, the so-called “innovation gap” which prevents much academic research from finding its way into industrial application. The institute will be based in Youngstown, Ohio and will provide shared facilities “to help companies, particularly small manufacturers, to access cutting-edge capabilities and equipment, and create an environment to educate and train workers in advanced additive manufacturing skills” (www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2012/08/16/obama-administration-announces-new-public-private-partnership-support). Such a large-scale investment in AM is a confirmation of the important role it has to play in the future of manufacturing.

Ian Campbell