The effects of COVID-19 are rapidly diminishing in the West, with stubborn pockets remaining in China. The impact on global supply chains for manufacturing due to the pandemic has been severe. Supply shortages in everything from advanced memory devices to washing machines have caused the first significant analysis of what robust and efficient supply chains mean in a globalized world.  

Reshoring is now the watchword, and the coming wave of new build domestic production facilities represents an opportunity to rethink manufacturing from the ground up. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to implement advanced manufacturing technologies, such as additive manufacturing, into processes from the start of production.  

Jim Anderton speaks with industry experts about where additive manufacturing can restart and improve manufacturing supply chains.

The post Additive Manufacturing: Can Additive Restore Global Manufacturing and Broken Supply Chains? appeared first on Engineering.com.

This video is brought to you by FARO.

As 3D scanning advances, new fields are finding applications for the technology, from more traditional metrology to product development, digital museum archiving and even design for the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Reverse engineering, in particular, has been completely revolutionized by the ability to capture data from the physical world and create 3D models from that information, which can then be manipulated and brought back into the physical world using modern fabrication technologies.

Mammoth Machine + Design services original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that perform automation and large-scale manufacturing. To help customers repair or retrofit existing equipment, Mammoth uses a series of CNC machines and 3D printers, as well as a FARO Edge ScanArm with HD Laser Line Probe for 3D scanning.

For Mammoth, the traditional 3D scanning workflow moves as follows: once a part is oriented on the firm’s large granite table for scanning, Mammoth engineers will grab 3D data with the ScanArm before using the probe to capture the object’s key features, such as hole locations. This data is brought into Geomagic Design X to recreate the part as a solid model. From there, the team will create engineering drawings and pursue traditional subtractive manufacturing or 3D printing as needed.

To find out more download the whitepaper How 3D Scanning Speeds Up Reverse Engineering

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