Ushering in a new era of digital manufacturing for metal parts
We are all keen to finally arrive in the era of digital manufacturing, where we can order any part in any material in any quantity. And we want it fast, too!
As 3D printing gained momentum over the last decades it felt like this moment had almost come but a large market of parts was excluded from the convenience of digital manufacturing: metal parts – the cornerstone of industries including automotive, aerospace, and industrial.
Metal parts are traditionally procured in large quantities with frozen designs for years as the tooling for these parts is often expensive and cannot easily be changed. Direct metal 3D printing has also not taken off for metal parts of a medium or large size, due to size constrictions in metal printing beds and due to cost and material unavailability. This meant that the metal parts market remained rather static and on-demand, digital manufacturing remained an ambition for the future.
When Enable first came to market in 2019 with its Additive Casting® process, that combines 3D printing technology with traditional metal casting, it was able to provide a solution to metal part manufacturers to produce any part in any metal and any quantity, from one offs to 100 thousands, without the investment in tooling and without having to maintain static part designs for months and years.
However, offering hundreds of materials using multiple 3D printing technologies, 3 different casting techniques and a plethora of other options results in over 17 million possible configurations for Additive Casting parts. Coupled with a complex, multi-step supply chain involving over 50 suppliers, Enable had a considerable set of new challenges to overcome to sustain the delivery of high-quality parts within 4 weeks.
To harness the full power of digital and on-demand manufacturing across complex supply chains, process automation was critical to progress orders as efficiently as possible through the supply chain and to minimise errors to keep quality high.
Funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, under the Women in Innovation programme, Enable teamed up with Sheffield based technology company The Curve to developed a custom software package – called EnableChain – that will track & trace jobs from order to invoice, making it possible to deliver metal parts made with Additive Casting within 4 weeks. What makes this software very special is that each order can be configured with a dedicated supply chain, like a Lego block concept, as orders are usually unique and supply chains are put together based on the material requirements, part size and required add-ons such as machining. The nature of Additive Casting is to enable on demand metal part manufacturing, and this means most orders will have a small to medium volume and will often require unusual material, which will result in custom supply chain configurations for every order.
‘There was no off-the-shelf software solution available on the market that would meet Enable’s needs to custom configure a supply chain for every customer order, so the team came to us to work on a custom software solution together. Over the next nine months, we conceived, developed, and delivered a unique programme that has digitised Enable’s supply chain and will help them to achieve their growth targets.’
James Ridgway, CTO and Co-Founder at The Curve.
Enable’s vision was to create maximum transparency and better communication and coordination throughout the supply chain. Clients can now monitor the status of their order at a simple click and can also choose to be notified about their orders’ progress. Suppliers will receive proactive notifications about the parts’ progress, for instance letting them know if a part will arrive on time from a previous supplier in the chain. Suppliers can also integrate with Enable via API for an even more efficient process. All these features are helping to manufacture the parts very efficiently, even in highly complex supply chains with multiple players.
‘We believe that by combining our Additive Casting service with our new EnableChain tracking software, we have now set a solid foundation to bring on-demand digital manufacturing to the metal parts market and we are excited to now be offering an improved customer and supplier experience across the Enable network.’
Anja Stolte, Head of Marketing at Enable.
Purchasing metal parts through digital supply chains has many benefits including the ability to re-shore production, reduce emissions and accelerate innovation by cutting design and product development cycles short. The team at Enable believes that this is the future of metal manufacturing and will manifest itself in the 4th industrial revolution.
About Enable Manufacturing
Enable is bringing a new, innovative manufacturing process to life – Additive Casting. The process uses moulds made via additive manufacturing to cast high-quality production parts from over 130 different metals. It bridges the gap between traditional casting and state-of-the-art manufacturing, offering the volume benefits of casting while increasing possible complexity, cutting lead times and eliminating the need for expensive tooling.
For more information, please contact our office at +44 (0) 3333 05 09 04 or office@enable.parts.
About The Curve
Led by industry-leading technical experts, The Curve Consulting provides businesses with technical solutions that help them succeed and grow by turning their vision into realities.
Founded in 2019, The Curve was formed by a group of pioneering engineers who previously designed, built and ran the UK’s most successful Global Telematics Platform, from the ground up. The company they built is a global success and currently employs more than 100 people in Sheffield.
United by their passion for technical excellence and fostering the very highest process standards, the team at The Curve believe the collaborative power of technology will always lead to better solutions for all participants. For more information, please contact our office at +44 (0) 114 303 4070 or info@thecurve.io.