Direct, mold-less production systems

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies in general-and in particular, Selective Laser Melting (SLM)-are characterized by a fundamentally different relationship with respect to costs, lot size, and product complexity compared to conventional manufacturing processes. There is no increase of costs for small lot sizes (in contrast to mold-based technologies) and none for shape complexity either (in contrast to subtractive technologies). Thus, only the holistic development of a direct, mold-less production system that takes all relevant interdependencies along the product creation chain into account provides the full economic, ecologic and social benefits of AM technologies in future production. The following six subjects of the product creation chain were examined: (i) New business models and customer willingness to pay for AM parts are revealed. (ii) The Product Production System (PPS) was totally revised regarding the adoption of SLM technology into conventional manufacturing environment. (iii) The SLM manufacturing costs were examined regarding different machine configurations. (iv) A high-power SLM process was developed for enhancing the process productivity. (v) High manganese steel was qualified for the SLM process. (vi) Finally, two lattice structure types and a design methodology for customer parts were developed.