Metal AM Technology Assessment

Additive Manufacturing Capability Gap Analysis

Magnitude has created a comprehensive assessment that provides clients feedback within ten dimensions of their organization to improve their service offering, gain a competitive advantage and grow their AM business.

SLM Gap Analysis Overview

The assessment is tailored around interactions with company Management as well as Process, Quality, Production and Application Specialists. It is designed to be run over 2 consecutive days and is delivered through participatory workshops and post-workshop analysis. It  covers the following dimensions of the AM manufacturing capabilities:

Metal AM Process
  • Data handling – analysis of data preparation, software workflow, strategies for generating support geometries, modifying machine and material parameters.
  • Powder Control – review of powder handling, powder testing and acceptance criteria and best practices to maximize powder performance.
  • AM volume production – overview of machine preparation, servicing and preventative maintenance procedures, as well as verification checks performed between builds.
Supporting Capabilities
  • Post-processing – understanding the influence of heat treatment, milling, and polishing steps on final part properties.
  • Quality – quality assurance of the AM process and integration of the quality management system.
  • Research & Development – analysis of R&D targets and missing procedures and hardware for meeting them.
  • Outsourcing – procedures for outsourcing operations that delivers high-quality work and efficient communication with suppliers.
Business
  • Marketing – feedback on brand touchpoints and how to differentiate your offering in AM.
  • Sales – streamlining communication and improving the value proposition by effectively leveraging engineering within the sales process.
  • Strategy – review of AM strategy execution and of application-specific unique value proposition offerings.
SLM Gap Analysis Focus Areas

From prototyping to production

Assessment identifying the quality gates that must be introduced for a production environment, as well as the differences in data preparation, post-processing and quality pitfalls that clients most frequently experience as they transition from making prototypes to low- or medium-volume industrial production.

Cost cutting in AM

Additive offers a number of options to reduce costs, but many of these can be compromising on a customers value proposition when manufacturing quality parts. To mitigate this, we sit down with customers in a combination of workshops and production review in order to discuss the most effective ways to reduce costs in manufacturing while satisfying quality requirements.

R&D readiness

Clients build on their value proposition by developing new technical solutions in AM. Magnitude reviews the processes and practices of the organization in order to help customers avoid pitfalls that lead to poor quality and inaccurate results in their new development projects within AM, significantly reducing R&D times and costs. Additionally, we provide feedback on the results that have been gathered through development and testing to ensure that the work going forward is not based on bad data.

Operational excellence

With our Lean expertise, the assessment focuses on quantifying the areas of improvement based on value stream mapping, 5S and other lean tools in order to identify ways to streamline the production process, understand the value stream from a lean perspective and apply these lessons to future projects.

Supplier audit

Many customers choose to outsource certain steps of their AM production to external partners. Such situations require close exchange and control of the process to ensure on-time delivery and understanding of technical requirements. Magnitude has extensive experience with OEMs in creating procedures for work with suppliers and therefore supports customers by auditing inter-organizational projects with their suppliers in AM to prevent quality, time or cost delays.

Aerospace, energy, or medical production

Aerospace, followed next by medical applications, are two of the least forgiving and highly regulated industries for manufacturing. Through our experience working with OEMs in Europe and North America, we review customer procedures and operations to support them in their qualification efforts and quality as it pertains to critical parts. According to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are important to our client, we sit down to review their operations and procedures in AM.

Tooling production

From experience with tooling applications and additive production, Magnitude provides feedback on how to improve tolerances, design components for quick tooling applications as well as what kind of quality control gates to implement for various tooling application requirements, focusing primarily on costs to meet customer requirements.

SLM Technology Assessment is a great way to identify where to improve your capabilities.

info@magnitude.am