How Can Additive Manufacturing Shorten Time to Market?

Whether you’re an established brand looking to get a new product model into the market, a startup trying to prove a concept for investors, or an innovator selling through a crowdfunding campaign, speed to market is a priority. Any tool that can speed the innovation, design, tooling, manufacturing and fulfillment processes is hugely valuable and can be the difference between the success or failure of your product launch and your ability to meet your business goals.

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ACCELERATE EVERY PART OF THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, STARTING WITH THE IDEA OR INNOVATION STAGE.

Now, more than ever, innovators are seeking ways to get their product ideas into the hands of consumers. Technologies like augmented and virtual reality are used to simulate three-dimensional versions of computer-generated designs, but having a 3D model delivers touch and feel beyond a visual simulation. The idea of brainstorming a design in the morning and printing and sharing a prototype or model in the afternoon is hugely attractive in speeding up the innovation process and getting the basics of a new product development underway.

NEXT UP IS THE DESIGN PROCESS, WHICH REQUIRES MULTIPLE VERSIONS AND OFTEN LARGE TEAMS IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.

In a traditional manufacturing environment, each iteration of a design is passed to production, or outsourced to a third-party vendor, and returned several days later. Then that version would be studied, tested and modified to generate the next version of the design. In many cases a small run of prototypes would be made and shared with a team all around the world. All this adds considerable time to the design process, discourages multiple iterations and sometimes promotes compromise. With additive manufacturing, particularly when it is on site, several iterations can be printed in one day. If there are printers in multiple locations, those designs can be quickly shared with the team by simply sharing data rather than waiting for shipments.

ONCE A DESIGN IS NAILED DOWN, THAT PRODUCT NEEDS TO BE INDUSTRIALIZED.

If volumes are high enough, this can mean tooling is needed. Additive manufacturing can be a very economic accelerator of the tooling process. Now multiple versions of tooling (rather than of designs) are used to speed up the whole process. Once a tooling design is proved, it can be manufactured in the traditional way. In some cases, particularly when volumes are not so high, 3D printed tools might be the appropriate solution. When the volume needed is lower, products can be launched using additive manufacturing in production.

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IS OFTEN PERCEIVED AS ONLY A PROTOTYPE TOOL AND NOT A MANUFACTURING TOOL. THAT IS CHANGING AS THE VOLUME AT WHICH PRODUCTION IS VIABLE STEADILY INCREASES.

New machine designs, new processes and new materials are key to these developments. A time where multiple printers are deployed in many locations delivering products to local consumers is not too far away. Additive manufacturing can cut time from the manufacturing process, and can offer a viable solution to bringing products or versions to market that may not have the volume demands needed to justify gearing up for traditional manufacturing. In short, thanks to additive manufacturing, we might see products, or versions of products, reach the consumer that might not have been launched in a traditional manufacturing world. These limited editions create additional opportunities for the brands, too.

PRODUCT FULFILLMENT IS ANOTHER AREA WHERE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IS WELL SUITED.

It offers the potential for on-demand distributed manufacturing. Complete a design one day in California, and manufacture it the next day (or even same-day) in any other part of the world. Today, consumers want products immediately. Failure to compete on speed to market can result in someone else winning that business. What’s more, consumers want custom products — again, additive is the ultimate solution here. The lot, or batch size, for additive manufacturing is always one. There is never a batch of 5,000 — just 5,000 batches of one. This means that each product can be unique or customized and still delivered at the same speed and cost.

So, in an additive manufacturing utopia, you can ideate on Monday using additive manufacturing to prove a concept; design on Tuesday and use additive manufacturing to finesse and share the design; tool on Wednesday for manufacturing; launch on Thursday; and mass-customize, build to order and ship locally on Friday. Ok, so launching a product in a week might be a tall order, but many have used additive to move product development cycles down from months to weeks, and the dividends are clear.

FIRST TO MARKET ADVANTAGE CAN OFTEN BE THE KEY TO SUCCESS.

Market windows are shorter than ever and continue to shrink. Product volumes are unpredictable and consumers increasingly fickle. The desire to personalize, or customize, is growing. These trends continue to challenge startups and established brands alike. Innovation in products requires innovation in processes.

Additive manufacturing is the process innovation that will accelerate the entire product life cycle and shorten time to market.

Essentium, Inc. provides industrial 3D printing solutions that are disrupting traditional manufacturing processes by bringing product strength and production speed together, at scale, with an open ecosystem and material set. Essentium manufactures and delivers innovative industrial 3D printers and materials enabling the world’s top manufacturers to bridge the gap between 3D printing and machining to embrace the future of additive manufacturing.