Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and companies working on solutions for shipbuilding. As there is a large number of companies working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 4 promising additive manufacturing solutions.
Heat Map: 4 Top Additive Manufacturing Solutions
For our 4 top picks, we used a data-driven scouting approach to identify the most relevant solutions globally. The Global Heat Map below highlights 4 interesting examples out of 65 relevant solutions. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different.
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Mitchell and Son Additive Manufacturing – Spare Components
The shipbuilding supply chain stands to benefit tremendously from integrating 3D Printing solutions, known also as additive manufacturing, into their operations. Complex structures and metal components can be ‘printed’ faster and in an efficient manner. Instead of cutting and welding various alloys, spare parts and elements are produced layer-by-layer with the precise requirements.
UK-based startup Mitchell and Son Additive Manufacturing leverages 3D printing to develop marine spares. The startup’s solution allows shipyards as well as ship owners to reduce warehousing and shipping costs. Besides, since any part of the ship can be 3D printed, the startup enables maritime companies to replace very old parts that are not in production, reducing spare costs.
RAMLAB – Maintenance
While not all of the sea-worthy components of naval vessels can be produced using 3D printing methods, their maintenance and repair works are being disrupted by this technology, making the whole process more automated and cost-effective. One of the more popular techniques in such processes is powder-bed fusion, which implies using a laser or electron beam in order to fuse and melt the powder into compounded structures and parts.
The Netherlands-based RAMLAB, which is an on-site additive manufacturing lab established by the Rotterdam Sea Port, uses six-axis robotic arms to fabricate shipbuilding spare parts, small and large ship components.
Create it REAL – On-Board Manufacturing
Though on-site 3D Printing solutions are prominent in shipbuilding, numerous initiatives and projects are propelling the industry towards the implementation of on-board 3D printers that make sailing safer, more reliable and self-sufficient, especially in emergency cases where repairs are needed while at sea.
Danish company Create it REAL, which operates mainly as a research and development center for 3D printing, now aims to bring spare parts fabrication on-board vessels roaming the seas. The company’s proprietary 3D printing platform can be integrated with any Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printer and offers sophisticated file encryption to ensure IP rights protection.
Sculpteo – Prototyping & Modelling
Combining cost-efficient additive manufacturing technologies with complex Computer-Aided Design (CAD) 3D models creates a novel approach for naval engineers to showcase their work and design capabilities to potential stakeholders.
Based in France, Sculpteo offers an end-to-end prototyping solution that allows architects to display highly detailed miniature models straight from the CAD environment. It brings together all the tools needed to manage the additive manufacturing workflow – file analysis and repair, 3D review tools, file optimization, quote generation, 3D Nesting, part tracking, printer fleet management, and post-processing management – all on one cloud-based platform.
What About The Other 61 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence for your Proof of Concept (PoC), partnership, or investment targets. The 4 solutions showcased above are promising examples out of 65 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria and collaboration strategy, get in touch.
