Accelerating the NPI Process in the Medical and Aerospace Industry

Conference Abstract: In industries such as Medical and Aerospace, Additive Manufacturing (AM) is increasingly playing a pivotal role. However, transitioning to certified production presents unique challenges compared to traditional manufacturing processes, such as:
- Understanding the correlation between part quality and the multitude of AM process parameters
- Validating new AM-specific in-situ process monitoring methods
- Monitoring the inherent AM process variability

Throughout the R&D and NPI phases, these challenges increase the time and resources required for the qualification process. This, in turn, impacts the speed of go-to-market and adversely affects the ROI for the project. Setting up new processes and systems, specifically for AM, is required in order to accelerate AM qualification and to ensure in-depth control of the production process.
During this presentation, a tangible implementation will be presented, based on real case studies that showcase how this approach contributes to successfully qualifying critical AM parts. This implementation not only streamlines the qualification process but also increases the cost-efficiency of production by reducing scrap and facilitating root-cause analysis. In addition to the current status, an overview of the upcoming steps aimed at further optimization will be provided.