The Killing Jelq posted:

Ah, the dynamism of free enterprise

https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/boeing-says-it-cant-make-money-with-fixed-price-contracts/

quote:

U.S. Military To 3D Print Its Way Out Of Supply Chain Woes

Keeping mission-critical supply chains running is nothing new to military operations. But when contracted manufacturing partners struggle to overcome pandemic-induced backlogs, raw materials are stuck in ports, and chip shortages halt production lines, the U.S. military turns to 3D printing to get essential parts and components.

Recently, the U.S. Navy released a plan to pair suppliers who cannot meet growing demand for submarine parts with 3D printing companies that can print the metal parts around the clock to boost supply.

According to Matt Sermon, executive director of Program Executive Office Strategic Submarines, this plan will help Navy contractors – many of whom are the sole sources of components to the Navy – by removing pressure as they struggle to keep up with the current workload.

Last week, the Department of Defense released its assessment of defense critical supply chains in response to President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains. The report recommends the military expand its use of 3D printing (also called “additive manufacturing”) as a key focus area and strategic enabler required for mission success.

3D printing spare parts is actually nothing new to the U.S. military. 3D printed parts are currently in critical aircraft engines, on tanks and submarines, and on the soldiers themselves.

In fact, the use of 3D printing in the U.S. military is now so widespread, the Department of Defense established an additive manufacturing strategy last year that outlines the technologies and applications it intends to fund and employ within all the branches. Its detailed 3D printing strategy calls for the military to use 3D printing to rapidly prototype and produce spare parts, and for use in the battlefield to produce "innovative solutions."

“Additive manufacturing offers DoD unprecedented supply chain agility while enabling our developers to sustain technological dominance for our Warfighters,” said Robert Gold, director of engineering enterprise at the Department of Defense.

Additive manufacturing enables the military to produce new products quickly and cost-effectively, on-demand and at the point of need, either at base, at sea, or on the frontlines. It bolsters the lifespan of legacy systems and vehicles that might otherwise be retired.

A few years back, Wichita State University in Kansas working with the U.S. Army took apart a Black Hawk helicopter piece by piece to 3D scan each component. The detailed 3D digital models now can be instantly and securely sent to any military 3D printer anywhere for 3D printing spare parts at a moment's notice.

The U.S. Military already, widely uses – or is experimenting with – 3D printing for everything from spare parts for fighter jets to concrete barracks for remote outposts.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is an avid user of 3D printing technology. Its VHA 3D Printing Network is responsible for coordinating the 3D printing initiatives in more than 33 VA facilities nationwide, producing pandemic PPE, custom prothesis, dental tools, and medical models.

The U.S. Marine Corps’ Advanced Manufacturing Operations Cell (AMOC) fulfills orders for additively manufactured parts from throughout the Marine Corps and develops 3D printable solutions that can then be sent to 3D printers in the field. Marines also learned how to 3D print a concrete bunker in just 36 hours that’s big enough to hide a truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher system.

The U.S. Army’s Rock Island Arsenal Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence is just one of the locations housing the military's collection of 3D printing technology. A new additive manufacturing lab for metal parts is set to open at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City later this year. Rock Island recently announced it’s getting a second metal 3D printer from Australian manufacturer WarpSPEE3D, which uses a high-speed metal fabrication technology that can print tools and spare parts in a matter of hours. The 3D printing unit can be deployed to frontlines in a small container.

The ability to bring manufacturing to the frontlines significantly reduces the costs and time of shipping replacement parts from machine tooling hubs overseas. The DoD contracted with metal 3D printer manufacturer ExOne to develop a 40-ft long portable additive manufacturing unit to be deployed on land and sea.

The Army Research Laboratory is currently working on a way forward-deployed units can reduce supply chain dependence by using available plastic packaging materials as a feedstock for 3D printers that can then churn out a wide range of parts, tools, and supplies.

There’s no shortage of parts and products the U.S. Military needs to ensure are available when and where they’re needed. From 3D-printed spare Humvee door handles to 3D-printed submarine parts, the uses of 3D printing within the military are vast and growing, and perhaps a universal roadmap for building supply chain resilience.

Bar Crow posted:

Maybe efficiency can be improved with an app to sell 3D printer time on the open market.

Danann posted:

conclusion: slava taiwan chinese navy is destroyed and the invaders will become prisoners of war

Real hurthling! posted:

lodging all my hussies in poona ftw

jetz0r posted:

Scarabrae posted:

they let people in with full arm tattoos?!

Pomeroy posted:

https://x.com/btnewsroom/status/1777781474730684755?s=46

CPC OP, pls nerf