October 2021
Clarity 💎
Howling storms here, and my wife is preparing for a Halloween kids party like no other, which I am sure to be roped into, so I will keep this short. There are so many changes that have happened as a result of our team listening to clients over the past months, but one stood out in particular to me: The updates that were made to the QR app to make things clearer. In one fell swoop we bought clarity in 4 ways:
Specific statement of what run is being worked on
Information about the next run coming up on that workstation
If work instruction entry is required, guidance on what range is within tolerance
Next steps for each of the parts in the build.
Frankly, I am kicking myself for not seeing some of these when we built it. But having caught them now with the help of our users, and having addressed them so quickly makes me very proud of the team.
Same is true for some of the larger changes that are happening. I spoke to you about assemblies recently, but having sat through a few demos of it now I didn’t realize that there was more to it, specifically: the difference between co-printed and standard assemblies:
Standard assemblies are what I demonstrated last time: the ability to print multiple parts, potentially in different printers and with different materials/finishes, and assemble them to a common object.
Co-printed assemblies are arguably more common, especially among multi-material printers from Stratasys and others. These require a definition of different colours and materials at different parts of what is essentially the same object. They can’t be separated and are built on the same machine in the same build.
With every conversation I have, more detail emerges on what is possible with additive. To distinguish these two types of assemblies in such a structurally meaningful way doesn’t only solve our partners needs today, but gives us the platform to build on and address tomorrow’s issues too.
Several of those issues are already being discussed: Can we integrate simulation as backend processes, find additive “as designed” parts in the “as printed” parts to make probe point identification easier, manage consumable inventory, automatically suggest areas in which parameters are to vary within a single object, and much more. If you want to hear some of our thoughts, log in to my ASTM ICAM session with Andy Imrie from Lloyd’s Register this Wednesday.
We’d love to discuss both our current solutions and future opportunities with you directly. Please just find a time or, if you’ll be at Formnext, let’s meet in person. Find us at our booth or book a time. At that time, I’ll also be able to talk to you about an announcement that’s forthcoming this week.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you. There’s so much to do, we have to work together! Onwards, with clarity.