Additive Manufacturing

AUG 2017

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING is the magazine devoted to industrial applications of 3D printing and digital layering technology. We cover the promise and the challenges of this technology for making functional tooling and end-use production parts.

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AUGUST 2017 Additive Manufacturing FEATURE / Metal Additive Manufacturing 32 By Stephanie Hendrixson What does it look like to build a business based on AM production from the ground up? An Ohio medical device contractor is finding out. Additive manufacturing (AM) is often described as a process that builds parts "from scratch," meaning that the end product doesn't emerge from a solid piece of existing material, but instead is created layer by layer, from the bottom up. Building parts this way removes many of the constraints imposed by traditional machining. However, it also comes with its own set of unique challenges. Additive manufacturing company Tangible Solutions is in the midst of working through those challenges. Located near Dayton, Ohio, the company is a contract manufacturer with a focus on the medical device industry. But unlike other, estab- lished contractors who have added AM to existing machining capacity, Tangible is working from the ground up to build a business designed solely for AM production. In a sense, Tangi- ble is developing a manufacturing business and a production process from scratch. Getting to the point of production has not been easy. In just under four years, Tangible Solutions has moved from a home garage to rented office space, back to a garage, and finally to its production facility, a 25,000-square-foot space in Fairborn, Ohio, a Dayton suburb. When I visited, the company was still working on process development and procuring the necessary ISO, ASTM and FDA credentials for medical device manufacturing, with customers preparing to move into AM production. The journey is still in progress, but offers valuable lessons already. Defining the Business "At our core, we are an additive manufacturing company," says Adam Clark, Tangible Solutions CEO (above, right). "Manu- facturing" here is the key word. Tangible's focus is on AM part production, and as a result it is not engaged in equipment sales or other services offered by more broadly focused service bu- reaus. "We will help our customers modify their product design to work for AM, but our goal is to make the parts," says Clark. In its beginnings, Tangible did offer prototyping, modeling and general 3D-printing services. Then a customer asked if the company could 3D print short runs of a sensor used on power lines. The sensor (typically injection molded) featured Bluetooth capability and a number of embedded electronics, which were constantly changing. By printing these sensors in batches of 200 to 300 as they were needed, Tangible saved the Building an Additive Manufacturing Business for Production

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