By Helena Prado and Gerasimos Skaltsas //
Aerospace has always been a leading industry in R&D and technological advancement, having a long history as an early adopter of latest technologies. Despite the constant improvement across its entire supply chain, its business model has been relatively stable, restricted by market conditions, environmental regulations and a very high manufacturing cost. This is now expected to change as 3D printing is set to transform the way that items are designed, manufactured and distributed.
But what exactly is 3D printing? Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing lays down successive layers of material based on a digital design until a three dimensional project is created. Although 3D printing has been around for more than 30 years, it only started becoming widely adopted after 2009, when the patent for fused deposition modeling expired. 3D printing has been adopted by many companies in the aerospace industry, including EADS, Boeing, GE and NASA, with engine parts and cabin interior components being the most typical applications. Shorter production time, material savings, lighter end products, and cost-efficiency are only few of the reasons why aerospace companies are integrating 3D printing in their supply chain.
But let’s look in more detail how 3D printing is disrupting the various stakeholders across the aerospace supply chain.
Research & Development
3D printing allows aircraft designers and manufacturers to create, in very short time, model airplanes and components with complex structures that were not previously possible to be manufactured. This creates more space for innovation and exploration of new designs. For example, Airbus uses additive technology to replicate structures found in nature, creating parts that are stronger yet lighter than is possible with traditional machining and assembly[1].
Manufacturing
Conventional aircraft manufacturing is extremely inefficient wasting a large amount of the raw materials that are used. 3D Printing methods, however, only use the amount of raw material needed for the desired aircraft parts, eliminating material waste and minimizing weight of the parts. By simply using 3D Printing on conventional aircraft designs, the weight of an aircraft can be reduced by 7% and fuel consumption by 6%[2]. Shorter production time, lighter material and less complex inventory management will also be translated in lower prices for new aircraft. For example, Boeing’s partnership with Norsk Titanium, to print the first structural titanium parts for its 787 Dreamliner, is expected to shave $2 million to $3 million off the cost of each plane[3].
Logistics Suppliers
As manufacturing processes will be increasingly re-bundled within a single facility, there will be fewer opportunities for suppliers to be involved in aerospace upstream supply chains.
Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul
As 3D-printing machines become less expensive, aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul processes are benefited from cost-effective distributed production. Low-volume complex parts, spares for out-of-production legacy aircraft, or spares required at remote locations can now be easily and quickly produced on demand with stronger and lighter material. While in the past aircraft operators had to wait several days or even weeks for spare parts to be shipped in order to repair an aircraft, they can now print their own parts at the airport facility, reducing drastically MRO cost and aircraft downtime.
Aircraft Operators
3D printing has a two-fold impact on commercial airlines. On the one hand, it has the potential to reduce drastically aircraft ownership, MRO and fuel costs, which account approximately for 50% of their total expenses. This will reduce air fares and shipping cost, making traveling by plane affordable to more people. On the other hand, as 3D printing becomes more common many products and parts needed to manufacture them will be made locally, eliminating the need to ship them. A recent analysis found that as much as 41% of air cargo is threatened by 3D printing[4], with footwear, toys, ceramic products, electronics, and plastics having the most potential for disruption. This is a major threat for many cargo airlines which will see a large volume of their traditional shipments going away.
Logistics, warehousing and freight companies can respond to this challenge in three ways. First, they must adjust their networks for changes in shipping patterns due to the rise of localized production. Second, they can rebalance their portfolio towards products less likely to be disrupted. Third, transportation companies need to fight for their long-term sustainability by exploring blue oceans and introducing new services that will allow them to leverage the power of 3D printing to generate value for their customers.
While it is still not clear where these new technologies will take us and what is their actual impact to the airline business, planes that are lighter, cheaper, and prone to fewer mechanical flaws (since more parts would consist of fewer components) are definitely good news to the consumer and the environment.
More on the plane of the future here:
[1] https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2016/10/3d-printing-in-the-aviation-industry
[2] https://3dprinting.com/aviation/3d-printed-aircraft-parts-could-lighten-aircrafts-by-fifty-percent
[3] http://fortune.com/2017/04/11/3d-printing-norsk-boeing-dreamliner
[4] https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/trends/2015-commercial-transportation-trends
I find it fascinating that a 3D printer can print a whole plane. It will be great to see these new planes, and to see how their more efficient structures affect the environment through reduced oil consumption. I am also curious to see what the social effect would be. Would the energy cost reduction ultimately lead companies to reduce plane ticket prices (or will they just increase their profits)? If prices go down, will air travel demand increase? And if so, will this once again bring pollution levels up? I wonder how it will all turn out.
I think this is a great concept and a fantastic way to utilise 3D printing technology. However, the challenges that spring to mind will be around safety – personally I would feel reluctant to be the first passenger on a printed plane unless its safety has been proven. If this customer perception can be overcome, I think this is definitely the future of aerospace!
3D printing is a very versatile technology that once fully perfected can be applied to a huge variety of industries. For example, I think it may also have very big impacts in many niche sectors with high margins, such as for example classic cars restorations.
I like the idea that shipping industry could view this as an opportunity rather than a threat by changing their operating model. By trying to anticipate new routes that can be created by 3D printing demand or shifting their product mix to goods that are not suitable for 3D printing yet (such as food, pharma, art, leather), they may be able to weather the storm.
Very interesting! I’m not overly familiar with 3D printing and in some applications I’ve seen the quality of the final output was debatable. I’d be curious to understand how long it will take for this technology to be reliable enough for applications with important technical and safety implications like this one.
3D printing will be revolutionary in that it will significantly reduce many costs associated in the supply chain. This may lead to an increase in the number of suppliers, making the landscape more competitive. However, this industry is also structured as an oligopoly, with mostly giant players such as Boeing and Airbus. Will this simply give more power to the giants, or help spread wealth across the chain?