Transcript 0:00 [gentle music] We have a material shortage. There's no question. We've been talking about this. What's even more of a bigger problem is we have a worker shortage problem. 0:10 When it comes to manufacturing, it is a huge problem, and it's not solving itself right now, and we need to think about upskilling, reskilling, all of those things. But even more, what are we still dealing with? 0:22 We have a slowdown in the supply chain, and we're fixing it, but it's still a problem. How can technology help? We need to look to technology. We need to look to innovation. 0:37 [upbeat music] Welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation, with your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:53 Hello, listeners, and welcome to today's edition of The Peggy Smedley Show. As always, I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. 1:00 Today on the show, I'm gonna be talking all about manufacturing, one of my favorite subjects, and specifically, I'm gonna be talking about additive manufacturing, and this holds a lot of potential in today's world, and some companies are leading the charge. 1:15 So today, I'd like to look into two specific reports, one that gives us an overview on the state of the market today and the projections for the future. 1:26 Another one I'm gonna dig into talks about some use cases, some standards, and a kind of a whole lot of other things. 1:33 But by the end of this first segment, we should really have a good idea of where we are today, where we're headed, specifically, I think, with additive manufacturing. 1:43 Later on in the show, I really have a very special guest. 1:47 I'll be talking to Henry Bizet, the CTO, CSO of Automotive Transportation at Microsoft, for the remainder of the show, so we're gonna have some really wonderful conversation. So let's get started. 2:01 3D printing is thriving in the commercial space. This is according to a new report from SmartTech Analysis. 2:10 So the research firm predicts that the overall value of 3D-printed parts for the private space is projected to reach somewhere about two point one billion by twenty twenty-six and will reach a whopping five point four billion by twenty thirty. 2:27 Now, here's why. 2:28 Additive manufacturing components are being fabricated for satellites and launch vehicles, and the private sector is embracing additive manufacturing to enhance parts optimization to reduce both weight and cost, which makes a lot of sense. 2:46 So SmartTech anticipates 3D printing will eventually help build satellites, rockets, and off-earth structures that will enable future missions to the Moon, Mars, and deep space. 3:01 We certainly see this interest in space travel growing recently. 3:05 I mean, no matter how you feel or what you feel about, uh, the likes of Jeff Bezos or Richard Branson taking off, uh, into space, you have to admit the overall trend to more space travel is on the upswing these days, and the average person just seems to be enthralled with all of this, and additive manufacturing can actually help and, and help us actually get there. 3:32 And that is, uh, only one exciting example. Over on Connected World, we've written about 3D printing in medical. On Constructuck, we've, uh, covered 3D printing in homes. 3:45 You know, so if you think about it, the opportunities are really endless, as I always like to say, and we are only limited by our imagination and the innovation, and with the help of additive manufacturing, the sky [chuckles] is really the limit, and that means additive manufacturing is going to see big growth, and they're gonna see it very soon. 4:07 So how do we best prepare for all this growth that's bound to come? Standards, industry partnerships, workforce development resources, and so much more. 4:18 You know, this is exactly what Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence aims to do. 4:25 In its recent annual report, it highlights its accomplishments from this past year, and this includes 12 new additive manufacturing research and standards projects. 4:37 Several in progress will address more than 17 standard gap and impact existing and new standards. 4:45 But first, let's kind of start by looking at one of the big partnerships the center has actually made, one of which is with, you guessed it, NASA. 4:55 The cooperative agreement will support activities of, I think, common interests. 5:01 More specifically, the center was awarded a contract from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Jacobs Space Exploration Group to develop and review kind of a state-of-the-art, uh, for in-progress monitoring. 5:17 Another way it's helping NASA is with additive manufacturing defects and inspections. So additive manufacturing defects encompass a variety of types like sizes, causes, and severity. 5:30 You know, while some of the systematic and expected looks at kind of things, there are some system and process instabilities that exceed the normal process bounds. 5:42 So to improve confidence here, these defects types and their causes must be well understood and have a high probability of detection through inspection. 5:55 So the Additive Center for Excellence is addressing this need with NASA under its agreement, which I think is kind of exciting, and it's doing this by developing a comprehensive library of additive manufacturing defects types, inspection and monitoring technologies, and probability of detection analysis methods. 6:18 Kind of is a lot, uh, kind of to unpack-But the results from this information may lead to the development of industry standards. Which brings me to my final point for this segment, standards just in general. 6:33 So let's talk a little bit more about standards here, because I think standards play a very important part. 6:39 Currently, additive manufacturing machine and process qualifications are completed using internal standards, leading to high variation across the industry. 6:51 Now, these non-standardized qualification procedures contribute to increased risks, and it also leads to higher costs and longer times to established approved processes and vendors. 7:06 So the Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence has completed a survey of industry experts to establish areas of high and low consensus on qualification topics. Now, think things like definitions and scope. 7:23 So the center has then used these to develop kind of a work plan f- kind of a round robin to test the proposed qualification schema. 7:34 So the results of this will be used to establish consensus around the new standard, which is expected to come out sometime this fall. 7:43 So the center also has had an R&D project work item approved as a standard in ASTM Committee on Additive Manufacturing Technologies. 7:54 So a lot of the work is being done on standards here, and I think that's critical because we need to look to the future to be able to get things done. So here's my opinion for today. 8:07 Additive manufacturing offers big opportunities for many vertical markets. 8:12 Yes, we can do things faster, cheaper, better, and more reliably, and more, even more reliable in general, but it's also true we don't need as much inventory in our plants. 8:23 But there's another big benefit we really need to talk about here for a minute, and we can save material waste. 8:31 And you all know I've been talking about this a lot in my book, Sustainable in a Circular World, I explain how plastic in the ocean will outweigh fish by 2050. 8:42 But if that's not enough to convince you, we're now seeing plastic shortage. It is disrupting our supply chain, and it's disrupting our businesses. It is disrupting, just in general, our lives. 8:57 So if technology or if additive manufacturing can help reduce our, our wasteful ways, we actually need to embrace it, and that's what's so powerful is we just need to embrace it and consider the value of what it can do. 9:12 So consider what technologies or processes might help your businesses reduce waste. Is it time to determine how we can solve these problems in our supply chain and manufacturing plants? 9:30 We have a material shortage. There's no question. We've been talking about this. We, we, we have to really think about this. What's even more of a bigger problem is we have a worker shortage problem. 9:40 When it comes to manufacturing, it is a huge problem, and it's not solving itself right now. And we need to think about upskilling, reskilling, all of those things. But even more, what are we still dealing with? 9:52 We have a slowdown in the supply chain, and we're fixing it, but it's still a problem. How can technology help? We need to look to technology. We need to look to innovation. 10:05 So how can we change processes to address these disruptions? And these are big disruptions. These aren't little disruptions. These are significant ones that are stopping the way we do things in a fast, quick, easier way. 10:21 Additive manufacturing is just one example, and that's the powerful thing is we can look to things to think about how we use technology, how we use additive manufacturing to be more innovative. 10:32 Perhaps that is what makes sense for your organization, but we have to think about many organizations. We have to think about what we do differently. But what else is there? 10:43 You know, what other opportunities do we have to use innovation for the greater good? 10:51 And I think those are the things we have to be thinking about is how do we create those new opportunities, like we talk all the time when we talk about cloud or 5G or AI or IoT. 11:03 We have to be looking beyond those things and think about when we look at vertical markets, how do we step above just the every day and step higher and higher to achieve the greater good for all of us, thinking locally, acting globally. 11:19 You know, those are the kind of things, or whichever way you wanna think, say it, you know, that's what we need to b- think about. 11:25 You know, act locally, think globally, you know, whatever the way you wanna think to help you think about the greater good. 11:32 You know, however you wanna make those words work for your operation, that's what you have to do. We need to be thinking about it. What's that greater good that makes it work for your company, right? 11:43 So if you have ideas, what do you wanna do to make them work? So I'm curious. I wanna know what you think. How would you make it work for your... Is additive manufacturing the solution? So I wanna know your ideas. 11:57 I'd love to hear about them. I'd love for you to share them with me. You know, we're running out of time right now on this segment, but I wanna know what you think. You know, we have to start engaging in dialogues. 12:07 I know lately the dialogues on social media have been getting better and better. I love the dialogues on LinkedIn. I love the dialogues we've been having on Twitter at ConnectedWMag. 12:18 Every time we engage and you share and you take the time, we all learn from each other, and that's the way we get better. So again, put your thoughts up on Twitter at ConnectedWMag or on LinkedIn. 12:28 I want you to engage with me. You know, share your thoughts on LinkedIn with me. Whatever it is up there, put them up there and let's engage. The more... Even if it's controversial, we wanna hear your thoughts. 12:39 We wanna engage with you. All right, listeners, I'm out of time for this segment. But again, you know, check out our website at connectedworld.com, our show website. 12:47 If you've missed a past show, they're always archived at thepeggySmedleyShow.com. And put a, put your comments. You know, go up and share your thoughts. Put your thoughts of what you think about these shows. 12:57 That's the way I can continue to improve and make these shows more valuable to you. All right, we're gonna take a quick break. Go get that quick cup of coffee. That's always like that because we've got a great guest. 13:08 Henry Bizet is gonna come here, and we're gonna talk more about what's happening in automotive because that's what... You know, there's a lot going on. It's been changing. The connected car is changing. 13:18 All right, this is The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. And remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. We'll be right back. [upbeat music]
