Posted prev*...XJO thread?
Relevant to A3D /From an article :A New Landscape for Mining
Could 3D printing spell profound change for the mining supply chain?
"While the hype is exciting and the impact in other industries has been significant, the characteristics of a mining operation mean that there are a number of barriers that 3DP must overcome in order to make a meaningful impact....First, and most important, product safety and quality features must be proven. Second, suppliers, both international and local, must buy in and have both the capability and desire to enable production in situ. Third, the economic case must be robust: the cost of production at mine site, including equipment, labor and raw materials, must be lower than for shipped goods.
As with all evolving technologies, there are practical difficulties, also. While a good proportion of items used in mining are relatively simple and generic, many still are precision engineered in order to be able to withstand significant loads and challenging environments. Although production of items made of multiple materials, or composites, has become technically feasible,
3DP remains relatively unproven for precision-engineered parts.
Furthermore, many spares required for key pieces of mining equipment are proprietary to and supplied by original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and, as in many sectors, there are likely to be concerns in ceding control of final
production to customers with potential implications for equipment warranty."
just remember Ventracor , and the syringe production business, years ago... any mining engineers , welcome a response.
How many grades and combinations of metals would need be inventoried ? versus , warehoused parts? Days to manufacture versus days to deliver fully manufactured OEM part?
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-new-landscape-mining
