It’s no secret that additive manufacturing (AM) has been gaining ground in defense in recent years, with numerous new machines, materials, and partnerships. From drones to small arms, defense use cases for AM are exploding, but there’s a tendency to talk about this sort of progress in generalities rather than specific examples.
Look, I’ve just done it!
One reason for this (and a persistent headache for marketers in the tech sector) is that if your product or solution is giving your customers a competitive edge, they’re not likely to want to share their secret sauce. Indeed, for every captivating case study I’ve come across, there are dozens of others that I can’t talk about without violating someone’s NDA.
So, what’s a humble senior editor to do?
Go straight to the source, of course!
I’d seen several recent announcements from major players referencing Beehive Industries, so I reached out to the company to learn more about how it’s using AM to gain an edge in defense manufacturing. I ended up sitting down with Gordie Follin, the company’s Chief Product Officer and an engineer with decades of experience in aerospace.
From GE to Beehive After more than twenty years spent with industry titans, including GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney, Follin was no stranger to AM at scale. His time with GE included work on what he believes is the most additively enabled FAA-certified aircraft engine: the Catalyst. But FAA certification, as Follin acknowledges, is a recurring challenge for AM in production.
Pour lire la suite : https://www.engineering.com/this-is-how-you-do-am-for-defense/?spMailingID=209384&puid=3218464&E=3218464&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=209384
