A number of factors are contributing to an increased interest in American manufacturing, such as in-shoring (bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.), educational pathways focused on developing curriculum for manufacturing careers, and the Maker Movement. Technology is playing a crucial role as well, as 3D printing is making the process of additive manufacturing more accessible with the proliferation of 3D printers growing in homes, schools, hackerspaces, libraries and businesses found at the local strip mall, like Staples and the UPS store.
The manufacturing community has taken notice of this growing fascination with 3D printing and many companies nationwide have showcased their 3D printing capabilities as part of National Manufacturing Day, which was celebrated on Oct 3rd. National Manufacturing Day was established in 2012 by the collaborative efforts of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the Manufacturing Institute, the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership to help spread the importance of American manufacturing to a broader audience.
On Oct 3rd over 1600 manufacturing companies from across the country opened their doors to showcase their manufacturing capabilities. 3D printing was a popular means to create engagement, introduce young people to the manufacturing process, and to launch new 3D printing initiatives.
The participants included some well known names in the 3D printing community such as Shapeways, Studio Fathom, America Makes and Purple Platypus along with influential companies in the aerospace manufacturing sector, including NASA and Lockheed Martin.
The various 3D printing companies involved celebrated the day by helping increase the knowledge of 3D printing’s capabilities to manufacturers unfamiliar with the growing technology and by introducing 3D printing to the public-at-large through on-site tours and equipment demos.
Studio Fathom, with locations in San Francisco and Seattle, participated in the day’s event to share workflows that integrate new 3D printing technologies and materials with legacy manufacturing methods.
“Participating in National Manufacturing day is very important to FATHOM, because it’s a great chance to share with the public what is really going on in the serious digital manufacturing space,” stated Elizabeth Griffin, Marketing Manager for Fathom. “FATHOM is making the unmakeable. Our advanced technology-focused team is helping industry-leading companies put satellites into orbit, electric cars on freeways, and a full spectrum of devices into people’s hands and homes using the latest in additive manufacturing – from concept to prototype to manufacturing in a way that wasn’t previously possible.”
Purple Platypus Design, located in Irvine California, opened their doors to engineering customers, students, educators, media, and the local community to demonstrate their advanced prototyping solutions, which included a Roland desktop milling machine, Stratasys 3D printers, and SpaceClaim’s 3D direct modeling software. Also showcased was their 3D printing service bureau called Purple Porcupine.
“National Manufacturing Day was the perfect opportunity for us to open our doors and educate attendees on manufacturing in today’s world, and how 3D printing is a big part of that revolution,” explained Deanna Sciarra, Marketing Manager at Purple Platypus. “An important part of manufacturing day is to educate our community with the exciting future career opportunities in the manufacturing sector. As a nation, we should be inspiring our students to enter into the field of design and engineering, manufacturing, production, and product development. Manufacturing in the U.S. is a big part of our economy and future. And, this is not the same as manufacturing in our grandfather’s day and age. Manufacturing today is different. It is advanced. It is ever-changing. And, it is growing rapidly. Participating in this movement gave us the opportunity to show that with our advanced prototyping technologies.”
Shapeways gave a tour of their 3D printing facility, which included a brief discussion from David Gillispie, Shapeway’s Vice President of Manufacturing, on the challenges being faced in American manufacturing and how Shapeways is handling them. The following hyperlapse video gives an insider view of the Shapeways tour.
Graphics System Corps, at their locations in Illinois and Wisconsin, hosted open houses at their 3D printing showrooms to teach inquiring minds how 3D printing is revolutionizing the manufacturing world.
“We were excited to participate in Manufacturing Day because we’ve seen a huge rise in the use of 3D printing for manufacturing applications,” noted Roxanne Daly, Marketing Coordinator. “Several of our manufacturing clients have had huge success with adding a 3D printer to their process.”
As an added bonus, all attendees at the Graphics System Corp events took home a 3D printed part.
Not to be left out, NASA tweeted a photo showcasing laser additive manufacturing and the NASA 3D printer developed by Made in Space, reminding everyone of the potential for off-planet manufacturing.
Other companies participating who showcased their 3D printing capabilities included Protopasta (makers of filament for 3D Printers), 3D Parts Manufacturing LLC, the Arizona Advanced Manufacturing Institute, Bastech Inc., Big Systems, DASI Solutions LLC, Kitware Inc., Maine Fablab, Midwest Prototyping, Moddler, Newark Element14, Rapid Prototype + Manufacturing LLC, Rapid Prototyping Services, Solidscape, Stacey Machine and Tooling, Tomak Precision, Triton College, the University of California in Irvine, the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation, and many more.
The National Manufacturing Institute found the day to be a tremendous success and they were extremely pleased with the focus placed on advance methods of production such as 3D printing.
“3D printing is a shining example of 21st century manufacturing,” said Jennifer McNelly, president of The Manufacturing Institute. “By opening our doors and offering plant tours on Manufacturing Day, manufacturers are showing students, parents and teachers the high-tech and in-demand careers that manufacturing has to offer.”
Gardner Carrick, vice president at The Manufacturing Institute also noted, “the advancement in technology and how it’s changing the image of manufacturing for next generation employees is attracting a new skill set that’s necessary on the shop floor.”
National Manufacturing Day gained even more credibility when President Obama officially declared October 3rd to be National Manufacturing Day from this point forward. The ongoing celebration of American manufacturing established on Oct 3rd will give more 3D printing-focused manufacturers and educational institutions the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities for years to come.
More information on National Manufacturing Day can be found on the MFG DAY site. And for additional knowledge on how the manufacturing community is adopting 3D printing, the Manufacturing Institute has released a study on 3D printing’s growth in manufacturing, which can be found here.