Authentise Takes 3D Printing Expertise to Traditional Manufacturing – AMS Focus

Authentise’s Founder and CEO Andre Wegner will participate in the “Workflow and Software for AM” panel at the Additive Manufacturing Strategies business summit in New York City, February 7-9, 2023, hosted by 3DPrint.com and SmarTech Analysis. Register for the event here to learn from and network with the most exciting companies and individuals in AM

AM process automation software maker Authentise released its rebranded workflow management suite for both additive and non-additive applications. A decade-old leader in data-driven manufacturing and workflow tools, Authentise announced the general availability of its FlowsAM end-to-end workflow software for operations primarily centered around additive manufacturing, and in 2023 its Flows engineering process management software for those that are not.

The move is part of Authentise Founder and CEO Andre Wegner‘s plan to take the lessons from additive to traditional manufacturing, particularly to teams in industrial engineering and manufacturing businesses. Through the new Flows tool, they can plan, easily manage and track their operations and, in the process, improve productivity, reduce cycle times, and drive compliance, states the firm.

“We have long sought to use our experience in the additive sector to fuel digital manufacturing as a whole,” says Wegner. “Additive has key advantages that make it a fertile sandbox, such as more data, less legacy and focus on lot–size–one. That ability to manage agile operations is increasingly in demand as the world moves to address recent supply chain failures. That is why we’ve chosen this point to release Flows and FlowsAM.”

Authentise Founder and CEO Andre Wegner. Image courtesy of Authentise.

The workflow-based approach

With so many plans in the pipeline, Wegner said he decided to hire Keith Perrin, formerly of Siemens, Autodesk, and HP, as vice president of Agile Manufacturing at Authentise to take on the task of developing Flow for non-additive applications. Although this rebranding exercise and the initial availability of a product outside of additive is the first step of many, Wegner explains that it provides a glimpse of how the AM industry is influencing traditional manufacturing processes.

Commenting on the latest announcement, Perrin said that since joining the team eight months ago, he understood that Authentise has a “special sauce” when handling production operations that require a high degree of flexibility.

“I know from experience that this is a big gap in the market, now more than ever. Authentise’s ability to integrate machine data, third-party software tools, and human operations into a contextual process is critical to meeting that need. The success we’ve seen with some of the world’s most advanced agile engineering operations speak for themselves. I’m excited to bring this capability to other enterprises looking to deliver more flexible engineering, production, and supply chains,” suggests Perrin.

In his new role, Perrin will help build a digital thread to support a broader range of manufacturing companies beyond AM. In a thought piece published by Perrin after joining the Authentise team, he stressed that the promises of what many are calling the 4th industrial revolution, or industry 4.0, are “finally starting to land” not just for AM, but in any industrial engineering or manufacturing operation, where agility is essential.

“It’s this insightful agility that’s at the core of what we’re trying to achieve for our customers. This is something new, and based on what I’ve seen, Authentise is at the forefront of agile manufacturing.”

Authenise’s Flows engineering process management software. Image courtesy of Authentise.

Agile manufacturing beyond AM

Authentise points out that Flows is the product of a decade of experience building data-driven solutions for the world’s most agile operations at renowned firms like Boeing, Danfoss, and Ricoh, among others. For example, Boeing’s time studies claimed that the system delivers up to 94 percent of time savings and three times the return on investment (ROI) within eight months.

Authentise offers Flows AM and now Flows engineering process management software. Image courtesy of Authentise.

Formerly known as the advanced Manufacturing Execution System or aMES (a computerized approach used in manufacturing to track and document the transformation of raw materials to finished goods). Flows incorporates many tools that stretch beyond the capabilities of a traditional aMES. These tools include real-time quoting, machine-data-driven status updates, material genealogy, supplier management, and more. These features are already used to manage post-processing, such as heat treatment and machining.

Wegner says a few things had to be changed apart from semantics, such as the tools and “joining workflows” that enable manufacturing fixtures.

In a limited release, Flows does the same for digital manufacturing operations, which don’t have additive at their core but require the same degree of agility. Features of Flows and FlowsAM are available as standalone tools, including material management and the digital design warehouse. Additionally, Authentise revealed that an early adopter program is now open for customers interested in driving agile operations into their engineering and manufacturing operations and realizing near triple-digit productivity improvements.