/ Find the right application
Portfolio Screening & Applications Selection
One of the most critical tasks is the ability to identify a killer application that allows you to make the most of the opportunities that AM technologies unlock so that you can effectively add value and bring a competitive advantage to the business. We provide our expertise to identify the best possible application for a successful business.
Solutions
Deep Screening
We offer investigation services on all components produced or purchased from third parties with the aim of identifying the most promising ones for conversion of this one to additive manufacturing or, possibly, for a total redesign to add value and make the most of AM technology.
This is not a simple selection, but an investigation based on the “drivers” and assessment of the benefits that a move to additive manufacturing can bring both directly and indirectly to one’s business case.
The aim is to study with the customer the most interesting components to identify their potential together. For each of the components screened identify where there is more or less design freedom. As can be seen from the graph below (Fig. 1), it should be considered that as design freedom increases, and therefore as few design constraints are imposed, the greatest advantages and benefits are obtained from additive technologies, resulting in increasingly competitive performance and costs.
Fig. 1
Component Identification
To find out which products are best suited for industrial 3D printing; i.e. Additive manufacturing, a systematic and detailed analysis enables the basis for creating added value, improving in terms of cost, lead time, time to market and many others. It is not just a selection of components, but a study of an entire business case, to identify the entire production and supply chain to achieve not only performance improvement, but also in requirements such as supply chain, spare parts, and management aspects.
The work consists of two main phases, in first we analyze your portfolio – Screening – and carefully evaluate each case to determine which components are most suitable to be produced through additive processes.
In a second phase-Selection & Design-the identified components can be optimized for printing, i.e., designed for AM (DfAM) saving on printing costs and increasing component performance. Subsequently, your components will be ready to be directly produced and requested on demand.
Design Thinking & Co-creation
Design Thinking is one of the most critical moments, through an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions and define problems, in an attempt to identify new solutions and strategies that could not be instantly apparent with your first approach. In this way, Design Thinking provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. Just not jump immediately to a solution to the stated problem but the process is iterative and expansive to consider several potential solutions. The typical steps of which this process is composed are depicted in the diagram below (Fig. 2), emphasising the recursive nature of the sequence of steps throughout the process.
Fig. 2 – Design Thinking process diagram. Source: Hobbs, David & Walker, Sandy & Layton, Natasha. (2019). Appropriate Assistive Technology Co-Design – from Problem Identification through to Device Commercialisation.