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LMI Research Institute:

Additive Manufacturing and the DoD Supply Chain

April 30, 2014

Manager, LMI Research Institute Consultant, LMI Logistics Analysis Group

Contents

• Background • Additive Manufacturing and the DoD Supply Chain • Next Steps

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Background

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What is Additive Manufacturing (AM)?

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Modern Deployable AM

• Rapid Equipping Force’s (REF) Expeditionary Lab – Mobile – Housed in standard 20ft shipping

container – Included polymer 3D printer & CNC

milling machine – Not meant to replace parts, but to

develop new parts

www.army.mil

www.core77.com

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Previous PSMC Discussions on AM

• Oct 2012 – Direct Digital Manufacturing

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The considerations presented in 2012 are even more relevant today.

Additive Manufacturing and the DoD Supply Chain

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Overview of DoD Supply Chain

• Supports multiple missions on a global scale • Involves building inventories customers can draw on

when needed • Fiscal Year 2012 supply chain figures

– Approximately 4.7 million parts1

– $95 billion worth of secondary items in inventory1

– $370 million in storage at Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) warehouses2

– Variable customer wait times of days, weeks, or months • Over 400,000 field level requests filled in range of 53 to 433 days1

8

1https://scitools.lmi.org/Default.aspx 2DoD Comprehensive Inventory Management Improvement Plan FY12

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Potential Implications of AM on the DoD Supply Chain

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Manufacturing Distribution Customer

Design Information & Raw Materials

Manufacturing at Customer Location

Conventional Supply Chain

Forward AM Supply Chain

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AM Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages Smaller logistics footprint Lower total cost Shorter build times for certain parts Higher parts accuracy Greater range of parts

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Disadvantages Greater need for process qualification Need to establish quality control procedures Smaller lot sizes Greater need for technical data formatted for CAM Requires additional training

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11

Next Steps

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Next Steps

• Evaluating decision-making tool for deployable AM that we created with VA Tech

• Creating more robust decision process to evaluate AM for reparables

• Considering standardization issues – Technical data – Materials – Process qualification – Quality control/assurance

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Additive manufacturing will disrupt supply chains.

Contact Information

Manager, LMI Research Institute (703) 917-7174 Consultant, LMI (703) 917-7369

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