Integrated Product, Production and Material Definition for Conventional versus Generative Manufacturing Technologies

Abstract

Generative or additive manufacturing is today getting more and more an appropriate de-facto standard in industrial production. The often-cited “industrial revolution from the printer” exhibits enormous potentials even concerning a creative design freedom as well as huge varieties in flexibility (e.g., a broadening diversification of the individual product spectrum associated with small lot sizes). In contrast, however, conventional manufacturing technologies within the automotive industry, for instance, still point out benefits with regard to process stability, automation, productivity, but also quality assurance. Set against this background, and to support the systematic and increasingly industrialized application of additive manufacturing (AM) in industry, this contribution presents a scientifically detailed view on a methodological set-based approach, which provides a technical, economic and ecological significance in terms of choosing the right manufacturing technology, associated with its principle design and appropriate material already in the early phase of product development.