The Future Looks Bright

During her CAMX 2019 keynote presentation, Vicki Holt, president and CEO of Protolabs, praised composite materials as a game changer. “The amount of solutions that your innovations can bring are second to none,” she said. “Composites and advanced materials are one of the leading innovative industries that are going to continue to change the future.” When CAMX wrapped up in Anaheim, Calif., earlier this year, it was clear the future looks bright for the composites industry. Nearly 8,000 industry professionals attended the annual conference Sept. 23 – 26, visiting more than 520 exhibitors on the show floor and picking up invaluable insight at 48 educational sessions. One theme resonated throughout CAMX 2019: By embracing technological changes and Industry 4.0, the composites industry will continue to grow and play a pivotal role in several global megatrends.  The Impact of Manufacturing 4.0 Manufacturing 4.0 is more than a lofty notion: It’s changing the landscape of manufacturing as we know it, and that’s a good thing, said Holt during the CAMX 2019 general session. “Technology and digitization can bring value to the products we make, can bring value to the workplace of our employees and can bring efficiencies to our plants,” she said. Founded 20 years ago, Protolabs is a manufacturer of custom prototypes and on-demand production parts with manufacturing facilities in five countries. It pushes the envelope of digital manufacturing to accelerate product development, reduce costs and optimize the supply chain. Holt provided insight on how to harness manufacturing 4.0. “If you think you can sit on the sidelines and not be part of this manufacturing revolution, I think you are wrong,” she said. “It will happen all around us, and we need to take advantage of the tools and think about how to use them to bring value into our businesses.” Holt shared 5 tools that are impacting manufacturing:

• Data Analytics and Computing Power – “Today, with all the data we can collect and the relatively inexpensive computing power that we’ve got, we can very quickly analyze a lot of data and put it through very complicated pattern recognition algorithms using multiple variables,” said Holt. Protolabs uses data to improve its efficiencies, optimize tool pathing, reduce waste and more.

• Augmented Reality – “Virtual reality is a tool many of us can use in our businesses,” said Holt. Protolabs utilizes it in its sheet metal business to train welders. Some companies use it to do jobs more safely and efficiently, such as checking out large pieces of equipment before they are shipped to customers.

• Automation – “Automation has been around for a really long time, and it’s not going away,” said Holt. “Robotics, sensors and co-bots – those that work right along an operator – are only going to grow.”

• Industrial 3D Printing – 3D printing represents about 13% of Protolabs sales revenue, and it’s growing faster than the company’s other services. “We are leaning into 3D printing,” said Holt. “We think it’s a great tool for manufacturers across all industry verticals.”

• B2B E-commerce – “I believe business-to-business e-commerce is a huge opportunity for the manufacturing space,” said Holt. “When you can connect with your supply chain digitally it takes out errors, you have a single record and a digital thread for quality purposes, and you always know you’ve got the right version because everything is digitally connected.” Protolabs uses a 100% e-commerce business model.

Holt concluded her keynote address by encouraging the audience to embrace technology and the constant change it brings. “Embrace manufacturing 4.0,” she said. “Find opportunities to deliver value to your customers, your employees and your business.” Technology in the Composites Industry It was abundantly clear walking around the CAMX exhibit hall that many companies are, indeed, embracing manufacturing 4.0. Here are just a few of the solutions showcased on the floor:

• Toolless Thermoplastic Parts: Mikrosam displayed a proof-of-concept toolless thermoplastic manufacturing process that uses dual robots to create thermoplastic parts without a mandrel. One robot lays up thermoplastic tapes using controlled angles, while a second follows the same path on the opposite side of the part to maintain its shape.

 

• Automated Patch Placement with Self-Corrective Quality Control: Cevotec’s new patch placement system is designed to help aerospace manufacturers automate. By placing different materials on complex surfaces – such as adhesives and prepreg glass fiber on honeycomb – the system can replace hand lay-up. It also uses cameras to check quality at multiple production points and correct any problems in real time.

 

• Fully-Automated Hydraulic Presses: Langzauner’s hydraulic presses help customers meet short cycle times through automated mold changing. Traditionally, changing molds – especially hot ones – is a time-consuming task that can take up an entire shift, while Langzauner’s automated process can do it in 15 minutes, according to the company.

 

• Trainable Robot for Spray Lay-Up: CAMX attendees gathered around the Composites One demonstration area to watch MVP demonstrate a new spray lay-up robot that can be taught without programming. The teachable, automated sprayer is currently used to manufacture boats, pools and other products.

Global Trends to Keep an Eye On The way people and cargo move from place to place is rapidly changing, and there are overarching global transportation megatrends impacting societies and economies. At CAMX 2019, several of these global megatrends were discussed at educational sessions, on the exhibit hall floor and among conversations at networking events. One such trend is electric vehicles (EVs), which are beginning to experience unprecedented growth that will continue through 2040, according to Nick Albanese, research associate on the advanced transport team at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (NEW). One of the panelists on an educational session on the future of ground transportation, Albanese said that while electric vehicles still represent only 2 to 4% of the automotive market, annual sales doubled in 2018 and will reach 2 million to 3 million in 2019, putting 5 million EVs on the road. “There are very few industries where you go from zero to five million this quickly,” he noted. Albanese said that rapid acceleration will continue due to three key trends: reduced battery pack costs, commitment by automakers to electrification and government incentives and mandates, notably those in China. Within the automotive sector, composites companies should also keep an eye on shared mobility, where users access cars on an as-needed basis. While ridesharing through companies such as Uber and Lyft are beginning to boom, other shared mobility models will continue to develop, said Dale Brosius, chief commercialization officer of IACMI—The Composites Institute and moderator of the ground transportation session. “The average privately owned vehicle is used about 4% of any 24-hour period,” he said. “The rest of the time it just sits.” Brosius noted that this provides additional opportunities for sharing, as owners increasingly offer their private vehicles for use by others. Another transportation megatrend on the horizon is urban air mobility (UAM). As more people continue to migrate to cities and populations grow, urban air mobility (UAM) has generated buzz for its ability to alleviate congestion and efficiently transport people and cargo. At the CAMX featured session, “Urban Air Mobility – City Infrastructure Design and the Promise of Composites,” Michael Dyment of NEXA Capital Partners shared an overview of UAM and its potential for the composites industry. The market size for urban air mobility is close to $2 trillion, said Dyment, whose firm conducted an economic study examining the potential for UAM. “There are over 200 companies or projects today designing vehicles,” he said. “They are heavily oriented toward composites because they need to be very lightweight, super strong and capable of performing in really tough conditions.” Whether on the ground or in the air, the transportation market will be impacted by even larger trends. “To set the stage for where the [composites] market is going in terms of changes in the transportation industry, we have to frame it all in the new paradigm of mobility, autonomy and electrification,” said Brosius.