Additive Manufacturing’s (AM) allure is obvious, yet its use is not as pervasive as industry participants would like. From machine shops for prototypes and tools to production operations for manufactured goods, many find reason to discount or ignore AM’s obvious benefits.
Sure, we could cite technical and financial reasons for the somewhat limited use, but I believe there is a more fundamental obstacle that must be removed. That obstacle is buried deep within the psyche of individuals and corporations. It is the battle between prospective gains and the bias towards the known experience we call status quo.
To move forward, with AM and in any aspect of life and business, the motivation to act must outweigh the discomfort of moving beyond status quo. This is represented by a simple equation I call the Allure Quotient.
The Allure Quotient is a qualitative measure that adds intangible and non-monetary considerations to a return on investment (ROI) calculation. It is a subjective method to predict action (and resistance) on an AM initiative. If the quotient is too low, it is time to regroup and rethink your plans. If it is high, you will find ways to barrel through the challenges of making the gains a reality.
The quotient is basic: divide all the hoped-for value by the combination of investment, effort and perceived risk, and then multiply the result by the number of parts affected. The numerator in this equation is the motivation; how badly does the company want what AM offers? The denominator is the demotivator; how hard will it be to realize the potential. The multiplier is a representation of how broad AM’s impact will be.
Since this is an expansion of an ROI with qualitative aspects, make sure to add all the intangible benefits to the motivator (value). Think beyond time reduction and cost improvement. Add in part performance gains, improved operational effectiveness, and anything else that you or the company would relish. You will likely need to go beyond time and money to overcome the demotivator because status quo has the upper hand in this respect.
For status quo—same process, same material and similar part design—the denominator is one. You have experience and knowledge, which negates risk and avoids the need for research, investigation, training and testing. For AM, the denominator is much, much larger, at least until it has become a staple for the intended application. The effort to understand, characterise, quantify and assess AM is quite a burden. Factor in the wildcard of perceived risk, which exists any time change is made, and the demotivator can stall the best intentions for AM.
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The Allure Quotient sheds light on why series production with AM is mostly limited to high-value components while tools (jigs & fixtures) are becoming widely used for parts of any value. For production, the multiplier is small due to low breakeven volumes; the denominator is huge due to the need to characterize everything about the process and the output, as well as the risk associated with product failure. So the numerator must contain substantial gains that aren’t likely with commodity components. Conversely for tools, the multiplier is very large since one jig can influences hundreds of thousands of parts; the denominator is reasonable, primarily because the risk is low. This means that the numerator for tools does not have to be nearly as large.
Given plenty of time, the AM denominator will significantly decrease. Maturity will deliver education, experience, information, guidance, standards and hard data. It will no longer be the burden of individual companies to derive the insights and understanding. This will naturally expand the AM applications because it improves the Allure Quotient. But I don’t recommend waiting. Instead, find the high-value opportunities and invest time and effort to gain the understanding and insights, now. Then build on this success to chip away at the demotivators for more demanding applications.
So, what’s the Allure? Determining that is the first step in a new, successful AM initiative.
