44 | JAN/FEB 2016
DIRECTIONS Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering
Additive manufacturing is a generic but advanced manufac-
turing technology that’s essential to any diverse complex
manufacturing economy. Successful adoption of additive
manufacturing is itself a complex undertaking and, for other
than very large businesses, prohibitively expensive and risky if
attempted in-house and alone.
Manufacturing in Australia is comprised of a few relatively
large organisations and many small-to-medium enterprises
(SME). Economy-wide adoption of additive manufacturing
requires models of collaboration between governments, industry
and research institutions. Such collaboration, initially govern-
ment-subsidised, can provide access for individual businesses
to additive manufacturing knowledge and physical capability at
reasonable cost.
Additive manufacturing is applicable to the manufacture of
complex tooling, components and finished products in many
materials, including various metals and plastics. It may be utilised
for modelling, prototyping, short runs, mass customisation and,
in specific circumstances, long production runs. It is an essen-
tial generic technology for a diverse manufacturing economy
and is valuable to small, medium and large manufacturers across
virtually all manufacturing sectors.
Strategic thinking about the end-use objective opens new
design options that may be uniquely implemented using addi-
tive manufacturing. “Can this part be made more economically
by additive manufacturing?” is usually the wrong question. The
right one is: “What do I need to do, and why?”.
A first-principles design approach and a technology that can
implement highly complex designs leads to the interrelated
evaluation of various additive manufacturing materials, manu-
facturing processes, layering dimensions and machinery brands
and models. Optimisation of the outcome is an iterative process
involving several variables.
All of this points to a collaboration model between govern-
ments, research institutions and businesses – an important step
in reversing the culture that sees Australia near last among
OECD nations in collaboration focused on innovation.Overcoming Cost and Risk
National and international expert presenters at a recent Adelaide
workshop organised by ATSE and the South Australian govern-
ment)agreed that SMEs adopting additive manufacturing (where
it is the right technology) must have economical access to the
necessary facilities and expertise to conduct the required iter-
ative design and process experimentation and testing.
All of the models they presented incorporated a centre of
additive manufacturing capital facilities and operational andresearch expertise available to various manufacturers on a fee for
service or annual subscription basis.
It was apparent there are three key requirements for such a
centre:- it needs a relatively broad range of additive manufacturing
materials, process and equipment capabilities; - it requires ready access to the sophisticated research and
measurement facilities and expertise demanded by the iter-
ative optimisation process; and - it should be readily accessible to the manufacturers it seeks
to serve.
Such a centre, taking South Australia as an example, would: - partner with and be the local gateway and facilitator of access
for manufacturers to additive manufacturing capability,
rather than duplicate existing equipment and expertise; - invest in the most needed additive manufacturing processes
and equipment not held by partners, then provide them with
reciprocal access; and - enable and encourage universities to provide access to their
research, measurement and analysis capability, materials
science, nanotechnology and other skills that already exist at
the universities and are vital to the iterative optimisation
process.
The fees for service and/or annual subscriptions for manu-
facturers using the centre would fund research projects for the
universities involving materials and process optimisation, and
universities would have the right to publish generic outcomes
from research projects under guidelines agreed with industry
partners of the centre.
Government subsidies would be required to establish such
a centre but, over time, as additive manufacturing became estab-
lished in industry, demand for the services of the centre would
grow and the government subsidy could progressively diminish.
Federal and state funds are rightly available for projects to
mitigate the very serious impacts of the loss of South Australia’s
automotive industry and vital supply chain. Use of a portion of
these funds to establish a generic advanced manufacturing capa-
bility in the state – of potential value to the majority of existing
manufacturers – would seem to be a wise investment.
This is especially the case given the structure of South
Australia’s manufacturing industry, with many SMEs employing
a wide range of manufacturing processes to service a variety of
markets.
It would also seem to be a model that would prove valuable
to Australia.
Mike Heard FTSE is a prominent advocate for additive manufacturing, convenor of the Adelaide
workshop and former CEO of Codan Limited, which he transformed from a small Adelaide radio
manufacturer to a diversified technology product business with worldwide sales.
Additive Manufacturing: Collaboration Trumps Complexity
Subsidies are required to provide industry-wide access to additive manufacturing technologies.