3D Printing Service Bureaus Put the Additive in National Manufacturing Day with HP’s Multi Jet Fusion Technology

Since 2012, an annual celebration of modern manufacturing takes place on the first Friday in October called National Manufacturing Day, or MFG DAY. Companies and other community organizations all plan events to showcase modern manufacturing for the public, and hopefully inspire the next generation of manufacturers. This year, there were over 2,700 events around the US to celebrate Manufacturing Day on Friday, 6 October, including ones centered around additive manufacturing – Freshmade 3D tested out its new material with a 3D printed bowling ball for the occasion, and in honor of MFG DAY, HP Inc. has shared with us a focus on several new service bureaus that are gaining manufacturing momentum through adoption of HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) 3D printing technology.

“Digitization is both a disruptor, a natural disruptor as well as a great opportunity and it is not just 3D printing. We are seeing it with robotics.  We are seeing it with artificial intelligence and it is the confluence of all of that that makes this such a great time to do it,” said Deloitte CEO Punit Renjen.

“We are truly here to change the world, a 12 trillion dollar industry that is ripe for disruption and from my vantage point that disruption has three dimensions to it, speed from design to prototyping, all the way to manufacturing.”

As you have likely heard many times, 3D printing technology is playing a large role in transforming manufacturing as we know it. We have heard directly from the CEOs of companies like Deloitte and HP Inc. that the technology is set to disrupt the global industry.

“When you 3D print, complexity is free and that enables you to change the design in a very, very different way, and so now companies all around the world can think very differently about how they manufacture for their customers in the future,” Dion Weisler, HP’s CEO, said.

“What we have the opportunity here to do is disrupt a 12 trillion dollar manufacturing industry…There is a meaningful way to make a very broad impact on the way companies all around the world design, procure, manufacture and deliver their products to customers all over the world because with everything that is going on with connected factories, with robotics, with AI and with 3D printing. All of those things when you combine them enable manufacturing to happen anywhere in the world.”

One of the 3D printing service bureaus that recently adopted HP’s MJF technology is Ohio-based Aerosport Modeling and Design, which has been producing high-quality prototypes, working models, machined parts, and appearance models since 1996. The company recently partnered with HP to add some important services to its repertory: award-winning MJF technology.

Last week, Geoff Combs, the owner Aerosport Modeling, said, “Aerosport has provided customers across all industries the compelling, affordable prototyping services for more than 20 years. In keeping with our commitment to offer the most innovative technologies and competitive pricing in the market, we are proud to be the first service bureau in Ohio to offer HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology. HP has developed a game changing 3D printing solution that will enable Aerosport and our customers to produce production quality parts like never before.

“As we recognize the impact of the manufacturing industry this week with National Manufacturing Day on Friday, October 6, I believe the best is yet to come. With access to disruptive technologies like HP Multi Jet Fusion we are embarking on the future of manufacturing and entirely new business opportunities.”

Aerosport is using HP’s Jet Fusion 3D 4200 printer to take down the barriers its customers may feel are preventing them from entering the world of additive manufacturing and enjoying high-quality functional parts and faster build speeds.

This summer, one of the country’s oldest and largest privately-owned service bureaus, Forecast 3D, became the first to offer full-scale manufacturing when it opened a new 3D Manufacturing Center, complete with a total of 12 HP Jet Fusion 4200 3D printers, a facility we recently had the opportunity to visit. In honor of National Manufacturing Day, HP spoke with Forecast 3D Co-Founder Corey Weber about the service bureau’s use of its MJF technology, and “how it foretells a far greater disruption of the global manufacturing industry ahead.”

“The degree of manufacturing flexibility is one of the biggest benefits over conventional manufacturing technology. I strongly believe that once designers start to adopt the out-of-the-box thinking and boundless creativity that Multi Jet Fusion allows, we’ll see some amazing advancements in product design, innovation and performance. The companies that embrace this new mindset early will see a huge competitive advantage,” Weber said about MJF.

“For decades, 3D printing has only been viewed as a viable manufacturing option by a small number of forward-thinking companies. But Multi Jet Fusion has turned that promise into a reality and opened the doors for the industry to grow at mass scale. I predict that in 5 years, 3D printing will already be a primary manufacturing process for at least 25% of companies in the world. Considering the size of the manufacturing industry, that is a mind-boggling amount of growth that will only continue to gain speed.”

Several other big names in the industry seem to agree with Weber’s assessment.

“I think as companies reimagine themselves, we will all be surprised in five years about the amazing different business models that have been created–businesses that don’t exist today that will be commonplace…I think also what will be surprising is how common 3D printing and digital technology will be…It is just something that is ubiquitous to how you go do business. So I think both of those things are probably be true in the next five years,” said Bob Jones, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing and Services for Siemens PLM Software.

Did you celebrate National Manufacturing Day? Let us know, and discuss other 3D printing topics, at 3DPrintBoard.com, or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.