3D printing on UPS’s doorstep

Location adjacent to UPS’s Worldport in Louisville will allow CloudDDM to offer next morning delivery of prototypes and parts.    CloudDDM, a new company that uses 3-D printers to build prototypes and produce parts has located its manufacturing facility adjacent to UPS’s Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky.
   Co-location on the UPS campus, along with its innovative technology and automation are the factors CloudDDM cites as giving it a strategic advantage as they set out to commercialize additive manufacturing.
   Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is a method wherein solid objects are built by adding layers of material in a linear process to produce a finished part — it’s much like a ink-jet printer, but plastic or metal is built up vertically in many layers to gradually create a three-dimensional object. It’s the opposite of machining, sometimes referred to as subtractive manufacturing, where material is removed from stock to produce a finished part.
   Additive manufacturers can “print” parts that contain complex geometry, features that would be impossible to produce otherwise, or are simply too cost prohibitive.
   CloudDDM says additive manufacturing on an industrial scale is growing. Some companies already offer large scale additive services to industry. In addition to offering a broad range of 3D printing methods, these companies offer consulting services to help customers with specific projects and educate them on materials and how to incorporate additive processes into their designs.
   CloudDDM, which started up operations last month, says one thing that differentiates it from existing suppliers is its high level of automation, or what they refer to as the ability to execute “Direct Digital Manufacturing.”
   Mitch Free, CEO of CloudDDM, says his company has taken additive manufacturing “to the next level.”
   “Our systems are almost entirely automated, from the time a user uploads a digital model, through production, and on to packaging and shipment,” said Free. “Direct digital manufacturing allows us to be incredibly efficient and produce parts, in large volumes, at prices competitive with traditional manufacturing methods.”
   Anthony Graves, a spokesman for the the company, says manufacturing time depends on the complexity of the design and size, but that in many cases a customer can upload a design in the evening and get it delivered the next morning.
   CloudDDM is located at the UPS Supply Chain Campus adjacent to the Worldport hub.
   “Our packages go on a conveyor they get put in a truck and they get taken to another conveyor and put into the UPS system where the packages go on the plane,” said Graves. “The big advantage for us, setting aside all the technology and the automation, is this gives us the opportunity, we estimated it gives us an extra six hours a day of production time.
   “We basically have two different types of services that we provide, and some customers use both. Some customers want to produce prototypes and they generally want those done very quickly. And it just depends on the size of the parts and the volume of the parts but we can easily do 5 or 6 parts from 9 p.m. (Eastern Time) and still get everything processed and on a plane before it takes off. And what that does is it allows people to basically make as many changes as they want to the very last moment and submit their work if they need the part the next day,” he added.
   The system will give customers an estimate for the time of manufacture and the price when a product is ordered.
   3D printing is becoming more common. A recent survey by UPS of high tech manufacturing employees found that 75 percent are using the technology to assist in product development, 34 percent for production of finished goods, 55 percent to generate sample or product mock-ups and 24 percent to generate spare parts.
   In its first phase, CloudDDM has set up the equivalent of 100 3D printers machines at its facility in Louisville and can make products with four different resins – ABS, Polycarbonate, Polycarbonate-ABS, and ULTEM1010. It has plans to add machines that make parts from metal. The company has not said what metals it will use, but Graves said the most popular materials in the additive manufacturing industry are stainless steel and titanium.
   “We are excited to have CloudDDM as a resident on our UPS Supply Chain Solutions Campus,” Mark Wallace, UPS president of global logistics and distribution, said of the partnership. “Locating at UPS Worldport hub allows CloudDDM to leverage our integrated network and end-of-runway location to get 3D printed parts in the hands of their customers as quickly as possible. As this technology continues to become more mainstream, UPS has the ability to scale the shipping and logistics solutions to meet the additive manufacturing services provided by CloudDDM.”
   In addition to locating its operations on the UPS Supply Chain Solutions Campus, UPS has taken a minority stake in CloudDDM through the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund. The UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund is a corporate venture capital fund that focuses on developing critical partnerships and acquiring knowledge that returns from its investments in information technology companies and emerging market-spaces.
   As of launch, CloudDDM had completed Phase I of its installation on the UPS Supply Chain Solutions Campus and expansion is already underway. Additionally, plans are being made for operations to be established in Europe and Asia.
   “The only way that additive manufacturing will become mainstream is to put the benefits of industrial scale additive manufacturing within reach of manufacturers, both large and small, worldwide,” said Free.