South Korea to create 10-year 3D printing roadmap

When it comes to 3D printing, South Korea has recently become quite the country to watch in terms of growth and innovation. As validation of its industry’s development, the South Korean government announced Wednesday that it plans to draw up a 10-year blueprint to promote the country’s 3D printing market, and to help transform the manufacturing sector.

Under the blueprint, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will devise detailed plans for the local 3D printing market by October.

“The 3D printing industry is a new growth engine to bring about innovation in the manufacturing realm,” said Lee Kwan-seok, an official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. “It is anticipated to take a key role in the country’s creative economy drive by converging with the ICT sector.”

The statement added that a roadmap spearheaded by the government was necessary to better coordinate research efforts currently being conducted in silos at the various universities and institutions. According to the Yonhap News Agency, the ministry in June said it planned to deploy 3D printers at 227 libraries and 5,885 schools across the country by 2017, and is targeting for 10 million South Koreans to use 3D printers by 2020.

As previously reported in Bits & Pieces, demand for 3D printing is projected to rise more than 20% per year, ultimately hitting $5 billion in 2017. While professional uses such as design and prototyping will continue to account for the majority of demand, the most rapid growth will be seen in production and consumer applications.

(SOURE: ZDNet)

Still made in the USA

Atmel just did a great 4th of July infographic celebrating the resurgence of American manufacturing. The US still manufactures 75% of everything it consumes. As a former auto engineer who saw millions of jobs lost and trillions of dollars washed down the drain, this really delights me. When I was an EDN editor I attended a presentation by Beacon Economics. This outfit was started by Chris Thornberg, the UCLA professor that predicted the 2007 housing crash in 2006. It was at this presentation that I learned that US manufacturing has never crashed, as many people popularly believe. Indeed, in dollar terms the output of US manufacturing has been on a pretty steady upward march.

In dollar terms, US manufacturing has been on a steady and impressive rise for 40 years.

What has declined is US manufacturing employment.

The huge increase in productivity means we don’t need as many workers in manufacturing, even though output has climbed.

This is because computers and automation and robots have greatly increased the productivity of the American worker.

The output per US worker has steadily increased over the last 70 years.

A century ago agriculture took 70-80% of the US employment. But tractors and the green revolution has allowed American food to be grown by 2% of the work force. The same revolution that improved farming is now improving manufacturing.

Indeed the future of US manufacturing has never looked better. Many companies are continuing to invest in their US operations. Atmel just created a new production line in its Colorado fab for our XSense touch sensor film. And though the 2007 crash made for a dip in manufacturing output, there is a slow but steady recovery back to the historical trend lines of healthy growth.

Indeed, the rising costs of off-shore manufacturing have caused a lot of companies to bring manufacturing back to the USA. As noted in this link:

“The reshoring trend is rocking global business, with hundreds of companies working to bring their manufacturing operations back … to North America.”

“…the recent surge in reshoring has shocked even experts and researchers.” Hal Sirkin

I myself saw this trend 4 years ago when I visited Trail Tech up in Washington State. They are a power sports manufacturer with a line of HID (high-intensity discharge) headlamps for trail bikes. Their representative told me that they were getting the vacuum-impregnated transformers from an offshore supplier. But they just could not get the quality they needed. Once the transformer was potted there was no method of incoming inspection that would reveal poor potting or construction. So they moved the transformer manufacturing back to the US.

This HID head lamp from Trail Tech uses a transformer that they make in the USA, so they can maintain strict quality standards.

Indeed, many companies are bringing manufacturing back. We have seen GE move its hot-water heater production back to the USA. GE will spend $1 billion to tool up its U.S. appliance production. This will add 1,300 jobs in Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and Indiana. NCR (National Cash Register) moved its ATM machine production from overseas to Columbus Georgia. Farouk Systems hair driers and Coleman water coolers are coming back to US production. And good-old Converse has a line of shoes made in the US because of strict quality requirements. New Balance, American Apparel, and Timbuktu now make products in the U.S.

Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris has declared that they intend to return production lines to the United States. Indeed, Hal Sirkin, of the Boston Consulting Group forecasts that two to three million manufacturing jobs will come back to the U.S. during this decade.

So don’t despair about the state of manufacturing in the USA. There are good reasons to buy American and there are good reasons to buy imports. Don’t forget the economic principle of comparative advantage, and don’t forget there will always be different advantages for different countries. David Friedman, son of Nobel laureate Milton Friedman has noted there are two ways to make automobiles. One way is to mine ore and make steel and build factories and put together cars. The other way is to fill a big boat with wheat and float it to the West. It will return full of cars. What a miracle modern economics is. So don’t worry and be happy, and if people tell you how the US is lagging, show them this chart:

This chart shows just how healthy US manufacturing is.

Infographic: Made in the USA

With the month of July officially underway, Atmel is celebrating Independence Day in patriotic fashion, paying tribute to one of the quintessential cornerstones of the nation’s economic engine – manufacturing. Before cueing the Springsteen, firing up the grills and preparing for your 4th of July festivities, we’re celebrating U.S. manufacturing with this nifty infographic, “Made in the USA.”

Just weeks following the inaugural White House Maker Faire, it’s evident that the revival of American manufacturing is upon us, as the rise of the Maker Movement represents a significant opportunity for the United States. Last month, President Obama by increasing the ability of more Americans, young and old, to have access to tools and techniques that can bring their ideas to life.

“Today’s DIY is tomorrow’s ‘Made in America,” urged President Obama. “Your projects are examples of a revolution that’s taking place in American manufacturing – a revolution that can help us create new jobs and industries decades from now.”

Whether it’s Makers at home, students in universities or engineers in R&D, manufacturing is on the rise. It’s making a comeback and fueling innovation! Although a global corporation, Atmel is proud of the spirit of what many are calling the manufacturing renaissance here in the United States – in both Silicon Valley and Colorado Springs.

In just the past three years, the U.S. has experienced the creation 500,000 jobs, with Atmel the proud employer of 1,532 manufacturing employees. Bolstering American manufacturing is one of the best ways to increase the number of jobs – that manufacturing is at the core of the American ethos.

As in other parts of the country, businesses related to manufacturing have always played an important role in Silicon Valley. Throughout most of the 20th century, it was the American manufacturing industry that helped create the foundation for the middle class. It was the engine responsible for propelling the U.S. to global economic prominence, while setting the standard for quality; be it for cars, television sets or semiconductors.

As manufacturing boomed, industrialization came to change the very fabric of American life, symbiotically. Today, the semiconductor industry directly employs a quarter of a million people in the U.S. and supports more than one million additional American jobs. In 2013, U.S. semiconductor company sales totaled $155 billion – helping to make the global trillion dollar electronics industry possible. The U.S. has also seen a 52 percent increase in investment in the R&D semiconductor space, with $10 billion between 2007 and 2012. To be sure, U.S. semiconductor companies currently represent over half the worldwide market and are responsible for one of America’s largest exports.

Even in troubled economic times, the U.S. has managed to add approximately 520,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2010 and supports 17.2 million manufacturing jobs as a whole, with post-recession American manufacturing outpacing other nations. Nearly 12 million (about one in 10) people in the U.S. are employed directly in manufacturing.

Semiconductors – the little microchips controlling all modern electronics – are part and parcel of the American manufacturing landscape. As the building blocks of technology, they’re an integral component of America’s economic strength, national security and global competitiveness. Even more importantly, they’re used to develop the technologies helping us build a better future.

Most notably, the President notes that the path to this new era of American manufacturing has never been easier, citing the new tools and tech that are making the building of things easier than ever. Through resources and technology offered through the likes of Atmel-powered devices and other maker communities, we’ve reached a point at which there’s a democratization of manufacturing.

Sparklers and fireworks aside, today Atmel embraces the official observance of the national holiday through showcasing the best of U.S. manufacturing, investing and more. With that said, the Atmel team wishes you a very Happy 4th of July!

 

An Atmel-powered MakerBot in every school

The MakerBot crew has announced a new educational mission to put an Atmel-powered MakerBot Desktop 3D Printer in every American school.

According to Ben Millstein, the first MakerBot Academy initiative includes 3D printing bundles for classrooms, an awesome Thingiverse Challenge along with generous support from both individuals and organizations.

“[You can help] get the word out. Tell the teachers you know to register at DonorsChoose.org. Support a school [and] contribute to the effort by choosing a teacher; help get them set for the Next Industrial Revolution,” Millstein wrote in an official MakerBot blog post detailing the initiative. “[You can also] participate in the Thingiverse Challenge, develop models that teachers can use to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.”

Millstein also pointed out that the rapidly growing 3D market had caught the attention of US President Barack Obama who stated during a recent State of the Union Address that 3D printing “has the potential to revolutionize” the way we make almost everything – with America ready to host “the next industrial revolution in manufacturing.”

“We’re inspired by the President’s commitment to keep America at the forefront of the Next Industrial Revolution and we’re eager to do our part to educate the next generation of innovative makers who will keep our economy strong,” Millstein noted. “[We want to] get thousands of [Atmel-powered] MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printers into K-12 public school classrooms across the country — by December 31, 2013!”

Interested in learning more about putting an Atmel-powered MakerBot in every American school? You can check out the official MakerBot Academy page here.

3D printing for sheet metal, sort of

Incremental sheet forming makes a single sheet metal part by pushing a polished ball against the metal while under CNC control.

My mechanical engineer buddy Dave Ruigh came across a Ford Motor video of how they can prototype a single sheet metal part using CNC (computer numerical control). It’s technically called “Two Point Incremental Sheet Forming.”

Dave noted: “I see a Faro logo on the stylus head (they make 3D digitizers). Looks like they are generating the toolpath in Catia V5. These are Fanuc hexapod robots. Pretty damned slick.”

Then audio guru Steve Williams chimed in: “Is this truly 3D printing? Is there a class of this that involves plastic sheet deformation as an alternative to sheet metal stamping, which was sort of what they were comparing. What is the plastic and how common is the sheet deformation (presumably through heat) method, compared to depositing layers of material as in normal 3D stuff?” To this Dave replied:

“They are forming metal sheets with this process, not plastic. 3D printing is just a made up buzzword that broadly covers any rapid prototyping technique. I guess we could call it “unconventional fabrication technology,” or UFT, if you would prefer. That said, you might do a similar process with plastic sheet using heat. Plastics tend to deform nonlinearly though (they stretch a lot, then spring back), which makes predicting their formed shape difficult.”

“Guess we’re gonna have to call it “Incremental Sheet Forming.” Specifically, “Two Point Incremental Sheet Forming.” Ford claims this tech is patented, but I’ve yet to find it. This work at the Computer and Automation Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences does seem to predate the Ford work.”

This is a slap-my-forehead, “why didn’t I think of that” technology. When I was in the auto biz we did short-run prototyping with Kirksite dies. Instead of H3 tool steel, the die was machined out of a high-strength zinc + 4% aluminum alloy that had a brand name of Kirksite. It was invented in 1929 and called Zamak by the Germans. Thing is, how often do you want just one prototype part? I always said you need three. One to hold, one to install and compare against the old part, and one that gets shipped to the show in Duluth so the sales guys can peddle it before its ready to sell.

So Dave Ruigh was the guy that told me how modern tool and die folks just carve the male form in carbon with a 5-axis machine and then EDM (electrical discharge machine) the tool steel to near-net shape. Polish it up and stamp away. So now I assume you could just high-speed machine (another thing Dave taught me) the Kirksite, mount it into a press and bang out 10 to 500 parts depending on how rude the die had to get with the sheet metal.

The major problem with this incremental forming is that it will not show if the die is manufacturable or if the shape of the sheet-metal can be made in high volume with a die. When you prototype something you should also be prototyping whether you can make more than one. So if Ferrari wants to make some goofy fighter-plane-looking chin spoiler, this “incremental sheet forming” is ideal. They are only going to make 5 parts total. Better yet, when some rich yuppie prangs the car as he drives home from the dealership, the fine folks at Ferrari can slooooooowly make another one for him and charge him the requisite $10 or $20 grand of machine time it takes.

What do you figure Dave? A big expensive machine like in the video needs to make $150 per hours of spindle time? A stylus, a spindle, either way you have to pay for the machine. So I wonder if a part that you can incrementally form cost $10k, could you make 100 parts for $20k using Kirksite?

Oh, I suspect that Ford claim of “first” is because they have a lower cup that follows the stylus whereas the Hungarians just pushed the sheet metal into a female die.

And here is 26 glorious minutes melting steel and stamping it out the old-fashioned way in the 1936 Flint Michigan GM plant.

Aaaarrrrrgggg matey, that thar is real sheet metal work,….

Atmel celebrates July 4th… infographic style

For many, the Fourth of July is all about the festivities and fireworks. Here at Atmel, it’s also a day when we pay tribute to one of the quintessential cornerstones of the nation’s economic engine – manufacturing.

As in other parts of the country, businesses related to manufacturing have always played an important role in Silicon Valley. Throughout most of the 20th century, it was the American manufacturing industry that helped create the foundation for the middle class. It was the engine responsible for propelling the US to global economic prominence, while setting the standard for quality; be it for cars, television sets, or semiconductors.

As manufacturing boomed, industrialization came to change the very fabric of American life, symbiotically.

Today, the semiconductor industry directly employs a quarter of a million people in the U.S. and supports more than one million additional American jobs. In 2012, U.S. semiconductor companies generated $146 billion in sales – helping to make the global trillion dollar electronics industry possible. To be sure, U.S. semiconductor companies currently represent over half the worldwide market and are responsible for one of America’s largest exports.

Even in troubled economic times, the U.S. has managed to add approximately 520,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2010 and supports 17.2 million manufacturing jobs as a whole, with post-recession American manufacturing outpacing other nations. Nearly 12 million (about 1 in 10) people in the U.S. are employed directly in manufacturing.

In 2012, U.S. manufacturing contributed to $1.87 trillion to the economy, up from $1.73 in year prior and every $1 of manufacturing activity returns $1.48 to the U.S. economy. In terms of cost savings, U.S. factories’ access to cheap energy equates to cheaper costs than overseas oil and pricey shipping.

Semiconductors – the little microchips controlling all modern electronics – are part and parcel of the American manufacturing landscape. As the building blocks of technology, they’re an integral part of America’s economic strength, national security and global competitiveness. Even more importantly, they’re used to develop the technologies helping us build a better future.

TIME Magazine recently wrote that new “Made in America” economics is centered largely around cutting-edge technologies, like 3D-printing and robotics, two industries near and dear to Atmel’s heart and that of the Maker Movement we support.

Last December, President Obama made his case for a reinvigorated manufacturing base, a vision that is not unachievable. According to Moody’s Economy.com, if every American spent an extra $3.33 on U.S. made goods, it would create nearly 10,000 new American jobs.

Although Atmel is an international corporation, we’re awfully proud to be headquartered in Silicon Valley, just as we are to operate a major fab in Colorado Springs.

Happy July 4th to one and all!