How Can MES and Workflow Software Transform Production Planning for Additive Manufacturing?

Why do I need to think about production planning for my AM facility?

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”― Benjamin Franklin

Successfully manufacturing certified AM parts requires careful consideration of the entire production process. It’s the result of a highly integrated sequence of steps that must be followed to achieve the end result.

A lack of production planning means a lack of control over the production process. This increases the likelihood of inefficiencies across the workflow and missing key bottlenecks in the process.

Production planning for AM is your strategy for managing the entire additive manufacturing process. It covers the key stages of the AM production process, such as build preparation, production scheduling and machine status monitoring.

A clear production planning process brings greater control over the production process itself.

Production control means that you have a complete overview of your operations and are able to respond to events in real time, regardless of where your facilities are located. These capabilities will ultimately allow you to scale your AM operations over time.

As companies look to integrate AM into their manufacturing operations, now is the time to consider how you can optimise your production management processes to achieve maximum efficiency and productivity.

The 8 most common challenges manufacturers face with production planning for additive manufacturing

40% of manufacturers reported having adopted additive manufacturing in-house, according to a report by EY. With this figure set to grow, it’s never been more important for OEMs to consider production planning as a central part of their internal AM strategy.

However, there are a number of potential pitfalls that companies may face when it comes to establishing a clear planning strategy. Below are eight of the top challenges faced when it comes to production management for AM.

Challenge #1: No clear understanding of capacity

Defining existing capacity for production is key to efficient production planning.

A realistic assessment of production capacity includes factors such as the availability of machine time, the flexibility of the various types of AM systems for different tasks, and the availability of skilled labour within the facility.

However, many AM manufacturers face capacity planning issues, not least because they rely on siloed data.

Using disparate, unconnected systems means that data often needs to be manually synchronised before it can be acted upon. Not only does it add time, but it also makes data outdated before it can even be used.

Without a real-time visibility into capacity, AM manufacturers will struggle to fully understand their current capacity, leading to inaccurate forecasting of future capacity needs.

Challenge #2: Using unsuitable and dated technology to schedule production 

In addition to capacity planning, there are also challenges in planning production activities of the AM factory. AM manufacturers often struggle to increase throughput and schedule the minute-to-minute activities on the AM shop floor.

Many AM manufacturers attempt to do production planning and scheduling with legacy systems or data manipulation tools poorly equipped for the task.

For example, your ERP system may include planning modules for master production scheduling and material requirements planning. However, none of these planning systems was designed to schedule AM production.

Without the correct tool for the job, it can be difficult to create an accurate schedule, which factors in the unexpected priorities and changes that may arise.

Challenge #3: A manual job tracking process

Outdated manual job sheets are very inefficient when compared to automated job sheets within a software system.

Printed job sheets often get lost when technicians hand them to one another, leading to delays. Additionally, this process doesn’t provide any visibility into work in progress without being physically on the shop floor.

Challenge #4: Preparing 3D printing builds for production

Dealing with a variety of orders from many customers adds another layer of complexity to production planning.

The orders typically have to be produced using different materials and 3D printing technologies, which means they first need to be grouped together.

Paper-based or disconnected systems limit your ability to group orders and schedule them efficiently. They also don’t provide real-time information and, as a result, you can’t utilise your time or capacity to its full potential.

Challenge #5: Lack of data visibility

Data is at the heart of all AM production.

“With all of the different material and post-processing options, additive manufacturing can easily get complex,” explains Timm Kragl, Senior Consultant at Phanos GmbH.

“For companies, the question then becomes, how can we keep track of these complex workflows and large amounts of data?”

This is a key question, as within any AM facility, data is being generated at every stage of production — continuously.

This includes:

• Machine-generated data (e.g. technology, machine status, activity, sensor data),
• Part data (e.g. part orientation, position, parameters)
• Material data (e.g. material type, stock levels)
• Post-processing and quality management data (e.g. post-processing steps, compliance requirements)
• Data for reporting (e.g. print success vs. failure rate, throughput)

Due to the volume of data that is generated throughout the production process, keeping track of this data and utilising it to make important decisions is a key challenge.

Challenge #6: Ensuring repeatability

Quality is a key priority when it comes to AM.

Particularly for serial production, additive manufacturing must be able to maintain the same standards as traditional manufacturing processes.

Achieving this requires repeatable and consistent production steps to ensure that each part meets the same requirements.

As a result, documenting the exact process steps is critical to producing the same, high-quality part each and every time.

Without a system in place to track this, ensuring production repeatability becomes virtually impossible to achieve.

Challenge #7: Operational traceability

Who made that change to a CAD file? Has this part already been inspected? What material batch has been used to produce this component?

These (and other) questions can only be answered when there is end-to-end traceability across your operations.

Traceability means being able to track every step of your AM workflows, along with the production steps that need to be taken at any stage.

Additionally, traceability means knowing exactly what action has been performed at what time and gives you an in-depth insight into potential bottlenecks in your operations.

This knowledge is key to understanding and optimising the performance of your operations.

And yet, traceability is incredibly challenging to achieve, particularly if you are operating multiple production sites.

“Companies must have visibility on information like what has been ordered, by whom and in what time period, as well as the different steps that are required for production, how to schedule and so on,” explains AM consultant, Timm Kragl.

Two of the biggest barriers to traceability are disconnected systems and manual processes, which don’t allow for real-time access to data.

Crucially, a lack of traceability will make it virtually impossible for you to scale your operations effectively.

Challenge #8: Managing and coordinating suppliers

26% of OEMs outsource at least part of their 3D printing production to their suppliers, according to EY.

Outsourcing provides a way for manufacturers to complete AM jobs that can’t be done in-house. It also makes on-demand manufacturing — the concept of producing products on demand, close to or at the point of need — a reality. This has the additional benefit of reducing factory downtime and increasing operational efficiency.

Therefore, for most manufacturers, AM production planning will need to include managing the outsourcing of specific jobs to third-party suppliers.

This means that OEMs must be able to manage and execute operations not only internally but also externally, across their supply chains.

Outsourcing requires a high level of coordination and integration to ensure that a product is delivered with the right specifications at the right time.

For OEMs and suppliers alike, this means knowing what needs to be outsourced – and to whom – and ensuring that key stakeholders are kept up-to-speed at all times.

This level of coordination is challenging if, as is the case with the majority of manufacturers, there is no centralised system in place to facilitate communication between OEMs and their suppliers.

How you can solve your production management challenges with Additive MES software

Despite the challenges involved when it comes to production planning for AM, the good news is that MES software, developed specifically for additive manufacturing, offers the tools necessary to solve these challenges.

Additive MES software is workflow software that helps manufacturers manage their AM operations by enabling greater traceability, better data insights, and establishing best practice processes across their entire AM workflows.

But how can you use MES and workflow software to improve your production management processes?