{"id":36037,"date":"2018-11-13T19:52:52","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T00:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/boeing-additive-manufacturing-adding-enough\/"},"modified":"2018-11-13T19:52:52","modified_gmt":"2018-11-14T00:52:52","slug":"boeing-additive-manufacturing-adding-enough","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/boeing-additive-manufacturing-adding-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Boeing: Additive Manufacturing Adding Enough?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In April of 2017, Boeing managed to get the FAA to approve the first 3d printed structural titanium parts ever for use in a commercial airliner.[1]\u00a0Boeing worked hand in hand with Norsk Titanium AS, a specialist 3d printing technology company, to design the process and parts themselves as part of Boeing\u2019s ongoing effort to lower the unit cost of the 787 program, which had been unprofitable up until 2016.[2] Chip Yates, VP of Marketing at Norsk Titanium AS, stated that as result of utilizing 3d printing to create these titanium parts, Boeing expects to realize $2-3 million in savings on what is currently estimated by industry experts to be a $17 million titanium expense per plane (total unit cost of a 787 is estimated to be $265 million).[3]\u00a0 This sounds wonderful as an outcome of leveraging new technology to slash costs, but I would like to know, why are the savings for using 3d printing so low?<\/p>\n

Yates gave a clue as to why Boeing only expects to reduce titanium costs $2-3 million in a 2017 Reuter\u2019s article in which he was cited as saying \u201cliteral tons\u201d on a 787 could be printed rather than made by traditional forging and machining processes.[4] To me, this screams that in the design of these parts, and the larger use of 3d printing to make them, Boeing only strived to reduce raw material waste in the manufacturing process, without actually leveraging deeper benefits that afforded by 3d printing.<\/p>\n

A beauty of 3d printing is that it allows a manufacturer to create a raw stock billet in near net shape, meaning that only minimal material will be scrapped when this printed billet is machined to precise dimensions.\u00a0 Traditional forging can create a similar near net shape stock billet, but is still more wasteful of material (runners for the flow of molten metal generate material waste) and more energy intensive than 3d printing.\u00a0 Boeing apparently has been focused predominantly on this material savings. While such savings are both beneficial to a company\u2019s bottom line and to the environment, they are really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what 3d printing can really can offer.<\/p>\n

3d printing represents a paradigm shift in both manufacturing, and critically, in the design\u00a0<\/em>of parts.\u00a0 In any product development, these two elements are inextricably intertwined: design of a part is restricted by the reality of how the part will have to be manufactured.\u00a0 With the development of 3d printing, parts having new geometries than ever before are suddenly both possible and economic to manufacture.\u00a0 This can mean parts might now take a form more similar to what physics and theory dictate they should look like, as opposed to forms that, until 3d printing, were the result of designing to the lowest common denominator of functional requirements while still being manufacturable with traditional processes.\u00a0 3d printing then offers massive opportunity to design more efficiently, yet on a project with chronically high costs, Boeing is only managing to realize a savings of around a single percent of the overall 787 unit cost with metal 3d printing?[5]<\/p>\n

Part of why I\u2019m of the opinion that the cost savings of using 3d printing are too low on the 787 program is because Boeing seems to fully understand all the benefits 3d printing can afford.\u00a0 In a quarterly 2017 Boeing memo published on innovation within the company, Boeing spells out how they \u201cproactively used additive manufacturing\u201d to enable \u201cfree form\u201d design of parts that previously could not possibly be produced on a satellite program, and states that to capture all the benefits of 3d printing technology \u201credesign of the entire system design as a whole\u201d will be necessary.[6] What\u2019s more, Boeing is investing in collaborations and acquisitions of truly cutting-edge 3d printing technology partners, such as Norsk, Oerlikon (a Swiss-based 3d printing developer), and Digital Alloys (a specialist in multi-metal additive manufacturing). [7][8][9]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Examples of parts with similar functionality, but creatively redesigned to utilize 3d printing (Source: Boeing [10])<\/p>\n

Boeing comprehends the potential upside of 3d printing, so more than anything, to me the limited cost savings of 3d printing on the 787 come down to a lack of aspiration.\u00a0 Yes, my view of the overall 787 program and associated costs is limited, and I may overestimate the FAA\u2019s willingness to approve the use of additional 3d printed parts in the short term. Nonetheless, 787 subsystems certainly could be redesigned to take full advantage of 3d printing benefits, and over the life of a program as large as the 787 program, I would hope Boeing aspires to rethink the design of much more than just pieces of the 787.\u00a0 To Boeing\u2019s management then I pose the question: how will you design your next plane? Around traditional manufacturing methods, or creatively utilizing all the advantages of 3d printing? \u00a0(790 words)<\/p>\n

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Works Cited:<\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0Scott, A. (2018). Printed titanium parts expected to save millions in Boeing…<\/i>. [online] U.S. Available at: https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-norsk-boeing-idUSKBN17C264 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2018].<\/p>\n

[2] Ibid.<\/p>\n

[3] Ibid.<\/p>\n

[4] Ibid.<\/p>\n

[5] Ibid.<\/p>\n

[6]\u00a0Aston, R. (2018). Boeing: 3D printing done right<\/i>. [online] Boeing.com. Available at: https:\/\/www.boeing.com\/features\/innovation-quarterly\/nov2017\/feature-thought-leadership-3d-printing.page [Accessed 14 Nov. 2018].<\/p>\n

[7]\u00a0Scott, A. (2018). Printed titanium parts expected to save millions in Boeing…<\/i>. [online] U.S. Available at: https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-norsk-boeing-idUSKBN17C264 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2018].<\/p>\n

[8]\u00a0Tate, P. (2018). Boeing\u2019s Additive Ambition – Manufacturing Leadership Council<\/i>. [online] Manufacturing Leadership Council. Available at: https:\/\/www.manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com\/2018\/05\/03\/boeings-additive-ambition\/ [Accessed 14 Nov. 2018].<\/p>\n

[9]\u00a0Investors.boeing.com. (2018). Boeing HorizonX Ventures Invests in High-Speed Metal 3D Printing Company Digital Alloys<\/i>. [online] Available at: http:\/\/investors.boeing.com\/investors\/investor-news\/press-release-details\/2018\/Boeing-HorizonX-Ventures-Invests-in-High-Speed-Metal-3D-Printing-Company-Digital-Alloys\/default.aspx [Accessed 14 Nov. 2018].<\/p>\n

[10]\u00a0Aston, R. (2018). Boeing: 3D printing done right<\/i>. [online] Boeing.com. Available at: https:\/\/www.boeing.com\/features\/innovation-quarterly\/nov2017\/feature-thought-leadership-3d-printing.page [Accessed 14 Nov. 2018].<\/p>\n

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Cover Photo:<\/p>\n

787<\/i>. 2018. Image. https:\/\/www.industryweek.com\/finance\/boeing-forecasts-21-billion-cost-787-dreamliners-air-tanker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boeing is a leader in implementing 3d printing processes on commercial airliners. 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