Additive manufacturing’s business potential extends well beyond the hardware

“Creativity is created by constraints,” my former teacher Gert Frens used to say. It took me years to understand what he meant. But he was right: an engineer dealing with a set of contradictory constraints has to be creative. Conversely, a blank canvas can be a terror for a writer or painter. Thus, the biggest advantage of additive manufacturing – freedom of design – is its biggest drawback at the same time.

CTOs, (system) engineers and designers struggle to get to grips with the almost endless opportunities of additive manufacturing (AM). Apart from some obvious cases where the complex assembly of hundreds of components can be avoided, the business case is often unclear. Yes, 3D-designed organic shapes can reduce weight, but by how much? How is the optimal design determined? For which components and parts is AM the better solution? Things become even more complex when more dimensions of design freedom are considered: the array of different printing techniques and base materials, multi-material printing and the use of cooling conditions to steer material properties. This is daunting even for the best of experts.