The development of manufacturing methods has gone through three stages: equal material manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, and additive manufacturing.

(1) Equal-material manufacturing refers to the production of products through casting, forging, welding, etc. The weight of the material is basically unchanged, and it has a history of more than 3,000 years.
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(2) Subtractive manufacturing refers to the use of turning, milling, planing, grinding and other equipment to cut materials to achieve the design shape after the industrial revolution. It has a history of more than 300 years.

(3) Additive manufacturing, that is, 3D printing, refers to the use of light curing, selective laser sintering, fusion accumulation and other technologies to accumulate materials little by little to form the required shape.



Whether it is equivalent material manufacturing or subtractive manufacturing, in the industrial manufacturing process of FGF particulate matter 3D printers, the product design will be affected and restricted by the manufacturing process. Designers cannot let go of imagination and pursue the most ideal product effects as they wish. With the perfect combination of 3D printing technology and traditional craftsmanship, industrial manufacturing has become simpler and more efficient; for additive manufacturing, any product data can be achieved through 3D printing, which is a The field has brought revolutionary changes.



3D printing industrialization
In recent years, manufacturers of industrial equipment and machinery have lived in two worlds. They are embracing digital connections with functions such as sensors and actuators that can exchange critical data with other machines and computer networks. At the same time, many of these companies must also provide a large number of services and support for existing equipment with a long service life, and these products may have been put into use decades ago.
From OEMs of agricultural machinery, manufacturers of industrial trucks and tractors to manufacturers of oilfield machinery and other industrial equipment, companies can enter the digital age without having to resort to digital manufacturing to abandon existing equipment.



3D printing is more adapted to the trend of on-demand manufacturing
EY Global Additive Manufacturing Director Frank Thursen said: “From the perspective of quantity and cost, 3D printing still cannot replace traditional mass production, but in terms of redesigning parts to achieve additional functions, or integrating a group of parts In terms of a more complex part, 3D printing has unique advantages to further promote tailor-made parts or applications."


3D printing technology is the core of distributed manufacturing. The scope of 3D printable materials continues to expand, not just limited to plastics, but also metals, resins and ceramics. Compared with traditional forming, machining and casting processes, 3D printing technology can achieve more complex geometric shapes. Although additive manufacturing technology has been widely used for prototyping, a survey report in 2019 stated that more and more manufacturers have begun to use 3D printing for full-scale production. The ability to directly 3D print prototypes or parts from digital files has spawned a new manufacturing-as-a-service (MaaS) business model, allowing manufacturers to expand on-demand manufacturing services in order to gain operational flexibility and reduce business costs.


3D printing will not replace the existing traditional manufacturing technology, but it will become a new process that keeps pace with traditional subtractive manufacturing methods. Flexible product customization capabilities are more suitable for changing consumer needs, lower inventory and logistics cost requirements, and have production capabilities closer to demand and shorter delivery times. And these are just some of the benefits provided by the distributed production environment.



Industrial manufacturing application direction
3D printing technology is a supplement to traditional craftsmanship. Common application directions include:
■Mold processing and repair;
■Processing and manufacturing of fixtures;
■Small batch or batch production of complex parts;
■ Processing and manufacturing of the shell;
■ Pump parts;
■Parts of oil and gas extraction equipment;
■Processing of general equipment and instrument parts;
■Using reverse engineering to process or repair broken parts.