Additive Manufacturing

The digitized production chain combines traditional processes and new manufacturing paradigms. From design to the final distribution network, product, and information increasingly travel hand in hand in new ways. In this context, the product is increasingly complex and customized. Additive manufacturing therefore becomes an enabling technology of the new digitized factory by enabling products whose complexity makes it difficult or even impossible to use traditional technologies (lightened structures, conformal inner channels, monolithic components replacing assemblies of many parts, etc.).

Additive manufacturing also enables new performance, thanks to the introduction of new materials and new design and manufacturing solutions, new possibilities in terms of extending the useful life of components, new opportunities for recycling and sustainable use of materials and waste reduction. These and other benefits make additive manufacturing an enabling technology not only of Factory 4.0, but also of the digital and sustainable transition. The area includes industrial systems for additive manufacturing of polymer and metal components, a space dedicated to powder handling, demonstrators of technologies for internal and external finishing of components with complex geometry. Context Usage All industries, especially for high value-added manufacturing (aerospace, space, biomedical, oil & gas, racing, automotive, tooling & molding). Advantages for a 4.0 perspective
  • Great design freedom
  • Ability to make structures and geometries that cannot be made by alternative methods
  • Consolidation of assemblies into monolithic components
  • Reduced time and cost for small batch production and highly customized parts
  • New types of functionalized surfaces
  • New performance and materials
  • Extension of component life
  • Reduction of scrap and possibility of material recycling
  • Rethinking and making the entire supply chain more efficient
  • On-demand manufacturing

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