{"id":29650,"date":"2018-11-12T21:33:59","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T02:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/flying-from-prototyping-to-mainstream-3d-printed-aircraft-tops-out-at-speeds-of-150mph\/"},"modified":"2018-11-12T21:35:34","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T02:35:34","slug":"flying-from-prototyping-to-mainstream-3d-printed-aircrafts-top-out-at-speeds-of-150mph","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/flying-from-prototyping-to-mainstream-3d-printed-aircrafts-top-out-at-speeds-of-150mph\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying from Prototyping to Mainstream: 3D Printed Aircrafts Top Out at Speeds of 150mph"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Watch World\u2019s First Jet-Powered, 3D Printed UAV Top 150 Mph!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8e--5u2LpHU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>The aerospace and defense industry accepts additive manufacturing as a viable way to produce innovative prototypes \u2013 but can 3D printing really produce complete, complex jets that can withstand speeds of 150 miles per hour? <\/em>While many manufacturers in the aerospace and defense (\u201cA&amp;D\u201d) industry have been using additive manufacturing (\u201cAM\u201d) for years, few have pushed these capabilities beyond rapid prototyping, preferring more traditional manufacturing methods for mass production. Aurora Flight Sciences (\u201cAurora\u201d) however, has taken the path less traveled, strategically choosing to adopt AM not only in their rapid prototyping, but also to produce tooling, aircraft parts and complete unmanned air vehicle (\u201cUAV\u201d) systems.<\/p>\n<p>In 2015, Aurora was the first in the A&amp;D industry to produce a functional UAV, complete with a 9-foot wingspan, composed of 80% 3D printed components, proving that AM can be used to produce highly complex jet-powered aircrafts.<sup>1<\/sup> More recently, the U.S. military has used Aurora\u2019s fully 3D printed drones, which have wingspans of up to 132 feet, in Iraq and Afghanistan.<sup>2 <\/sup>Aurora\u2019s success with AM clearly highlights the potential of this manufacturing process and deeply implies that all managers should be considering what AM can bring to their operations whether in prototyping or full production.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Virginia, Aurora is a manufacturer of advanced unmanned systems and aerospace vehicles. The organization, which has 500 employees and four sites in the US<sup>3<\/sup>, is committed to the advancement of autonomous flight and is well known for their innovative UAV systems. It is not only Aurora\u2019s small size that enables them to rapidly develop innovative solutions for the A&amp;D industry. Aurora has strategically positioned themselves as a leader in the industry by fully embracing AM. Aurora believes they will be successful in the coming years because investment in these manufacturing capabilities has given them a unique competitive advantage with respect to their peers. In specific, AM enables Aurora to capture numerous benefits in the future including: (i) unconstrained design capabilities, (ii) reduced time to market through shortened innovation, design and development time, (iii) lower manufacturing costs, (iv) reduced waste and scrap, and (v) ability to create complex, multi-functional, composite structures.<sup>1,4<\/sup> In the long term, Aurora\u2019s outspoken commitment to AM will allow them to continue to be at the forefront of innovation in manufacturing process design.<\/p>\n<p>Aurora has clearly proven the long-term viability of the AM process in production. For example, 3D printing requires no retooling costs or set up time as conventional manufacturing would, as a result, the time between innovation and launch will be highly compressed in the future. Similarly, processes that would have required assembly of over 20 different parts to create one product, now can be constructed in one build using 3D printing.<sup>2<\/sup> And in fact, many larger players in the space have taken notice of Aurora\u2019s achievements and proven potential of their technology. Aurora\u2019s successes have pushed many larger competitors in the industry to grapple with whether they will develop these new competencies in house or acquire smaller, more innovative players like Aurora to keep up. Similarly, growing interest in this technology from larger players has also caused smaller players to grapple with their appetite to stay small and nimble or partner with larger organizations to access more resources and grow exponentially.<\/p>\n<p>In response to growing competitive pressures in late 2017, Aurora was acquired by Boeing and currently operates independently under the Boeing Engineering Test &amp; Technology segment.<sup>5 <\/sup>Boeing strategically acquired the company in order to access Aurora\u2019s innovative technology, and as part of a larger insourcing strategy to produce their own composite aircraft parts.<sup>6<\/sup> Boeing\u2019s strategic acquisition of the company raises numerous questions however.<\/p>\n<p><em>Will Aurora\u2019s historical pace of innovation slow down under larger corporate ownership or will Aurora\u2019s access to Boeing\u2019s larger resources accelerate the organization\u2019s growth?<\/em> A year after the acquisition, some of these concerns may be coming to fruition as Aurora recently had their $89 million America\u2019s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, (\u201cDARPA\u201d) contract cancelled after falling behind schedule and failing key flight tests.<sup>7<\/sup> However with new deals on the horizon such as the company\u2019s talks with Uber to build a fleet of taxi aircrafts, this may only be a temporary setback.<\/p>\n<p><em>Additionally, how will Boeing translate what it has learned with Aurora to other parts of the company \u2013 will Boeing redesign their manufacturing systems to capture the full benefits of AM not just in rapid prototyping but also with large production as well? <\/em>While Boeing has not shared much on this since the acquisition, it seems that in order for the Boeing to extract the true value of this acquisition, it will be key for the organizations to share learnings and expand the AM program well beyond the Aurora segment.<\/p>\n<p>(785 Words)<\/p>\n<p><u>Bibliography<\/u><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Wyman, C. (2017, December 14). World&#8217;s First Jet-Powered, 3D Printed UAV Tops 150 MPH with Lightweight Stratasys Materials. Retrieved from http:\/\/blog.stratasys.com\/2015\/11\/09\/aurora-uav-3d-printing\/<\/li>\n<li>D\u2019Aveni, R. (2015, November 16). The 3-D Printing Revolution. Retrieved from https:\/\/hbr.org\/2015\/05\/the-3-d-printing-revolution<\/li>\n<li>Who We Are \u2013 Aurora Flight Sciences. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:\/\/www.aurora.aero\/who_we_are\/<\/li>\n<li>Aurora Flight Sciences Maximizes the Benefits of 3D Printed Composite Tooling. (2017, December 14). Retrieved from http:\/\/blog.stratasys.com\/2017\/04\/18\/aurora-maximizes-the-benefits-of-3d-printed-composite-tooling\/<\/li>\n<li>Boeing Completes Acquisition of Aurora Flight Sciences. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/boeing.mediaroom.com\/2017-11-08-Boeing-completes-acquisition-of-Aurora-Flight-Sciences<\/li>\n<li>Cameron, D. (2017, October 05). Boeing Deal Targets Flying Taxis. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/boeing-buying-drone-maker-aurora-flight-services-1507208375<\/li>\n<li>Smith, R. (2018, May 12). DARPA Pulls Plug on Boeing Experimental Electric Plane. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2018\/05\/12\/darpa-pulls-plug-on-boeing-experimental-electric-p.aspx<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The aerospace and defense industry accepts additive manufacturing as a viable way to produce innovative prototypes \u2013 but can 3D printing really produce complete, complex jets that can withstand speeds of 150 miles per hour?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11446,"featured_media":29659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[4102,3340,4462,1287],"class_list":["post-29650","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3dprinting","category-additive-manufacturing","category-aurora-flight-sciences","category-boeing","hck-taxonomy-organization-aurora-flight-sciences","hck-taxonomy-industry-aerospace","hck-taxonomy-country-united-states"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2018\/","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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