CCJ

June 2018

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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6 commercial carrier journal | june 2018 3D printing could add new dimension to product distribution Analyst predicts changes for trucking as additive manufacturing takes hold BY JEFF CRISSEY T he speed at which new technologies go from concept introduction to market-ready product continues to accelerate. While some highly publicized technolo- gies that promise to change the way we live and work turn out to be colossal flops (remember Google Glass and the Segway scooter?), often it's the technologies not part of everyday water-cooler discussion that turn out to have tremendous impacts for business and society. In trucking, hot-button topics such as omni-channel distribution, e-commerce, electric vehicles and blockchain often blot the agendas of industry events and association meetings. Yet one topic that remains on the periphery could wind up having a profound change on the industry — additive manufacturing. Commonly referred to as 3D printing, additive manufactur- ing now is more than just machines that spit out plastic resin prototypes. Today's additive manufacturing industry prints parts on-demand using a wide variety of materials, including metals, polymers, concrete and biomaterials. "We are seeing a significant change within the additive manufacturing environment," said Eric Starks, chairman and chief executive officer of FTR, an industry transportation research and analysis firm. "The amount of different materials that are available to this market is huge. This is not hypotheti- cal. I think additive manufacturing is probably going to be the biggest change you will have to go through over the next five years." Starks' comments came during an economic outlook presentation to Volvo Trucks North America dealers and fleet customers at a business symposium in Newport, R.I. Additive manufacturing remains in the early phases of adoption, but Starks points to the medical and dental indus- tries, where the Food and Drug Administration already has approved more than 350 machine-printed implant devices for use today. The Federal Aviation Administration is allow- ing machine-printed parts for planes, including a GE jet engine nozzle and titanium parts for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. VTNA already is identifying and cer- tifying 3D-printed parts for new truck manufacturing, and Daimler Trucks North America late last year announced a pilot program to deliver 3D-printed plastic parts to select fleet customers and dealer service locations. Engineers at Renault Trucks, also part of the Volvo Group, last month announced the completion of a 600-hour bench test of 3D-printed and metal additive manufactured camshaft bearing caps and rocker arms on a prototype DTI 5 four- cylinder Euro 6 engine. "The premise that we cannot additive-manufacture parts to go on trucks because of wear-and-tear is a fallacy," said Starks. "It is not a possibility, but a reality." While the initial costs of additive manufacturing parts certainly will be higher than traditional parts, consider that a $500 OEM part that takes one or two days to deliver could cost substantially more than a part printed on-demand when you add the associated downtime cost of more than $1,000 per day. "This will be a big deal for the aftermarket," said Starks. "I think any aftermarket shop or dealer service location is going to have an additive manufacturing machine acces- sible to them." As online retailers lower purchase-to-delivery times from two days to the same day and even two hours, additive manu- facturing could become a viable option. UPS (CCJ Top 250, No. 1) operates more than 50 3D print- ing locations around the country where customers can print 3D CAD files. Starks said the package giant is developing a service where 3D printers mounted in delivery trucks can print a product while en route to the customer. Starks also referenced a 2014 prediction by Biz Stone when the Twitter co-founder said Nike would be a software company by 2024, allowing consumers to purchase a one-time license to 3D-print their favorite sneakers in their own home. "If that happens, how does that play into trucking?" Starks asked attendees. "You're not going to be shipping shoes. You'll be shipping polymers, resins and things that are bulk commodity. You need to keep focus on your core business, yet at the same time, you have to be paying atten- tion to when these other things are happening. How do they impact your business?" UPFRONT JEFF CRISSEY is Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jcrissey@ccjmagazine.com.

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