AdditiveManufacturingInsight.com August 2015 — 17
wherever it is not prohibited by non-disclosure or
other agreements. Again, service is key.
Faustson also often will follow up produc-
tion with a design-for-manufacturing report that
indicates the atmosphere the day the machine
ran, as well as recommended features for print-
ing, part design elements that potentially need to
be reconsidered, process recommendations for
future builds and so on. For example, such a re-
port might indicate that the product's holes could
beneft from being 6 mm and smaller, or that the
surface fnish needs to be specifed in critical
locations versus across the whole part. All of this
information creates best practices that fow back
to the design engineers, resulting in improved
processes and products.
"Everyone gains from this fow of information,"
Hostetter says. "The more educated people are,
the more collaboratively you can work together
with customers. You end up making a better prod-
uct. It's all about that."
Opening Doors
Almost immediately after it was installed this
spring, the laser melting machine opened
the door to the biotechnology community for
Faustson. Biotechnology is technology based
on biology, using cellular and biomolecular pro-
cesses to develop technologies and products
designed to combat diseases, use less and
cleaner energy, and have safer, cleaner and
more effcient manufacturing processes.
"The bio community requires quite a bit of
support equipment, tooling, fxtures and other
hardware for its labs, and we hope to provide a
quicker and more cost-effective means of support-
ing that community and its labs through our 3D
printing services," Hostetter says.