W O R K S H O P ADVANCED MANUFACTURING WITH SLM What is Industry 4.0? The term first arose from a conference of German experts in 2009 who examined the country’s potential to best embrace the future. Founded in the then current capabilities the group looked to the opportunities presented by cyber technology determining a new ‘industrial revolution’ was about to unfold – Industry 4.0. Since 2009, the German government has become very serious about Industry 4.0 injecting billions in funding to place Germany as the world leader in integrated Industry and embedded technologies, recognising Germany’s expertise in embedded 32 February 2017 processes and encouraging the development of cyber-physical systems, or intelligent networked road junctions, the aim is to shift manufacturing into a whole new direction. Now heralded internationally as the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0 recognises the advantages offered through the internet, of cyber-physical systems as ‘enabling technologies’ which bring the virtual and physical worlds together creating a networked world in which intelligent objects communicate and interact with each other across the ‘Internet of Things’. Today, manufacturers all over the world face increased cost pressures and market volatility as products become more customised and grow in complexity with product life cycles getting ever shorter. These influences are seeing manufacturers struggle to balance customised demand with mass production resulting for example in the downfall of localised big industries such as the automotive Industry in Australia. Finding ways to alleviate production difficulties yet meet local demand is forcing change, heralding a paradigm shift from centralised to decentralised production. In a recent speech by Australia’s Assistant Minister of Industry, Innovation and Science, Craig Laundy, he provided directions when he told a group of manufacturers that the way forward is to provide ‘highly specialised inputs into global supply chains’ rather than complex finished products. This idea has already been recognised by companies involved in Industry 4.0 projects in Germany where the role and importance of supply chains across the globe is acknowledged as ‘evolving into adaptive networks’ supplying parts as required at the local level, not for international distribution. So how is this possible? Already familiar to manufacturing is the process of Additive Manufacturing known widely as 3D printing. 3D printing of metals has fast found its way into the aerospace and defence sectors as it offers a number of advantages, namely ease of customization, development of ‘never before made’ parts, localised supply, and currently, the use of titanium due to its highly-valued light-weight properties. A recent report by the US Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office demonstrated that a 7% reduction could be achieved in overall aircraft weight simply by installing titanium parts produced using 3D processes. A 7% weight reduction is a highly significant figure in this Industry where most weight efficiencies only achieve one or two percentage points, here 7% will have a substantial impact on fuel costs reducing overall operational costs. Prototyping of critical parts provides insights into not just what is possible but into ‘best practice’ and forms part of the knowledge base. This in turn may be passed on to the supply chain ‘decentralising’ production. By way of example, SLM Solutions, headquartered in Lübeck, Germany recently produced a single titanium aerospace component measuring 221 x 310 x 219mm. By using the SLM280HL laser OPENS INDUSTRY 4.0 DOORS AN EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW TO AN EXCEPTIONAL RANGE. The Strata range of precision welders, plasma cutters and multi-process machines is nearly here and you can be one of the first to trial one for FREE. For early order or further info, call 0800 387 678. TEXT ‘DEMO’ TO 226 Dealer Network EUQ1002
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