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00:00:01
AAMN Introduction
139 Plays3 years ago
Welcome to the Alberta Additive Manufacturing Network!
In our first episode, we discuss AM in Alberta and why the Network exists. From Polymers to Metal, Design to Post Processing, AAMN is your source for learning everything there is to know about AM.
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Transcript
Introduction of Guests
00:00:11
Speaker
All right, joining us today is Tanya Wolf and Matthew Cornell, and I'd like to introduce them to you, but I have no idea what they do. So I think the best thing to do is for them to introduce themselves. Let's go first with Tanya, please. Thanks, Jordy.
Roles and Expertise in Additive Manufacturing
00:00:27
Speaker
We're really excited to be here today and kick off our inaugural Alberta Additive Manufacturing Network podcast series and tell everybody about what we're about and why you want to be a part of this.
00:00:42
Speaker
So I'm currently the manager for the Center for Innovation and Manufacturing, which is a technology access center at Red Deer Polytechnic, and definitely an advocate of this organization and moving additive manufacturing forward for Alberta businesses. Matt? So I like the question to ask about what we do, because I think mine changes from day to day.
00:01:10
Speaker
Currently, my name is Matt Call. I am one of the technology development advisors for Alberta Innovates. I'm based in the central region, so I work very closely with the Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network and also with a bunch of clients from throughout the province who are looking to develop new and novel technologies. And during her previous time with also InnerTech, Dr. Tonya Wolf,
00:01:36
Speaker
approached me at an event talking about additive manufacturing and how we could do more to get it out wider in the ecosystems. Excellent. Well, thanks very much for the intros. That sounds really
Understanding Additive Manufacturing
00:01:46
Speaker
cool. What is this thing called additive you guys keep talking about? Is that the same as 3D printing or am I discounting the term? And why is it important to Alberta? Good question, because we hear a lot about are you 3D printing or what is this that's going on? So 3D printing is part of the whole additive manufacturing process.
00:02:04
Speaker
So when we think about how we solve a problem, there are multiple steps in that. And then same thing with this process and any other manufacturing process. So for additive manufacturing, you have to think about what is the design? How am I designing it? What are the materials that I need to? How do I configure that on whatever method I'm making it? How do I
00:02:26
Speaker
take it out of that process? What do I do with that? Which is the post processing stage? And is there any heat treatment or testing I need to do? So that in its whole piece is additive manufacturing. And the 3D printing part is just that little part in the middle, that's actually fabricating the part. So you have to really think about the whole process and each factor is unique in itself. And it's kind of a different process than how we normally design and manufacture processes. It's a different
00:02:55
Speaker
a different way of thinking and a different set of tools to be able to do this. So your question next one is like, why do we care about this? 3d printing sort of evolved over the last 20 years. And it's kind of at this mainstream thing.
Significance and Potential of Additive Manufacturing in Alberta
00:03:08
Speaker
I think a lot of people have seen the benefit of being able to turn an idea, you know, into something or manufacture it relatively quick and easy. Right. So with additive manufacturing and it coming to Alberta or in Alberta,
00:03:25
Speaker
What's the idea of this network? Is there some gaps? Matthew, have you noticed some gaps in the region? How are we going to fill those gaps? Just to be honest, the manufacturing sector is a massive part of the economic makeup of Albert and we'll be going into the future as well.
00:03:49
Speaker
you know, you know, being at the forefront of that technology shift is going to be important. And one of the things I was going to jump on as well is, is, you know, a bit of bit more of that background on, on, on Alative. I think people at times from how they maybe come across it through the media, as you, as you mentioned, Shorty, kind of almost as a replacement for something or kind of an idea. And Tonya made the, you know, made the really important point that it's, it's more than that. It is, you know, it's, it's, it's a solution, you know, it's,
00:04:15
Speaker
It's a toolkit to provide a solution to end users.
Benefits for End-User Industries in Alberta
00:04:20
Speaker
So in Alberta, traditional manufacturers that people are aware of have sprung up to provide pieces and expertise, solutions that end users like the agriculture or the energy sector have required for a long time. Additive manufacturing fits into that small as well. It's just, again, the design and the fabrication and the way of producing that piece or those parts
00:04:45
Speaker
is slightly different than maybe more traditional manufacturing has been. So clearly, you know, Alberta has these massive end users that are going to have a need for for pieces moving. The reason I've been so passionate about that is exactly meeting that gap is that Alberta is known for strong innovators in the energy and agriculture sector. And for us to move forward to that next step, we needed another set of tools to be able to satisfy our
00:05:12
Speaker
our drive to come up with new solutions. And additive manufacturing is that discussion point to start thinking about how we design products and to do something in a different way. So thinking about not our normal manufacturing processes, but opening up our mind to a completely new way of solving problems and giving that tool to Albertans so that they can continue on their innovation path and come up with even better solutions to be able to provide their industry. So that's what's really important and why
00:05:42
Speaker
people really need to take a hold of that. It's not just the 3D printing part, it's the ability to think about problems in a new way. And also to make competitive as well, because the other thing that we're so passionate about when it comes to additive manufacturing is, like you say, we have the end users for manufactured products. And in Alberta, we could go down that kind of
00:06:07
Speaker
kind of race to the bottom piece where you try and find the cheapest piece and get it shipped over from manufacturing in the traditional, maybe not as a higher value, and maybe not as an environmentally conscious manner from somewhere overseas and shipped in. Or what we can do is we can look at the challenge that's being asked for by the end user and find the most efficient, most modern way to do it that uses higher technology and higher and higher skill sets and is done locally. And that, to me, is a potentially far better solution.
00:06:37
Speaker
is the next iteration that I think our really skillful manufacturing sector can really jump into because we've shown that we can adapt with times and be at the forefront of that sector for the last 100 years. So, you know, this is going to be a key part of how we're going to remain at the forefront for the next 100 years. What you guys are doing is planting a really good seed to educate people of, you know, where this is going. Knowing that customers really at the end of the day, and I say this jokingly, only want three things now, perfect and free.
00:07:07
Speaker
You know, I think this is one way of bridging the gap between that, right? It's how do we get that problem solved as quickly as possible, the cheapest way possible, and to make sure that it's done, you know, done once, really, and can solve the issue right away. Because as everyone knows, time is money. So it sounds really good. I mean, you guys are
00:07:29
Speaker
set this up. How do we become involved? A typical committee has a board in place. What type of people are involved with this? How are you getting some of the feedback? It sounds really good. Well, we were very keen when we set this up for this to be something that was supported by people like myself and Tonya with our roles in institutions, but for its actual heart and its actual soul to be something that involves
00:07:58
Speaker
involves people from throughout that entire additive manufacturing spectrum, be it producers, be it end users, and for it to be really something that has a direction that comes from the industry, rather than also in government saying, this is what we think you should do. It actually to be industry to work with us and actually move the whole sector forward, and it's to be their vision behind it. So the other question about how do you get involved, again, our membership is there.
Building Awareness and Partnerships
00:08:25
Speaker
It's accessible via our website.
00:08:28
Speaker
And, you know, and, and honestly, if you want to get involved, the more voices we have, the better, you know, you know, the better picture that we have from the industry and, and the more applicable these, the, um, the parts that we undertake will be for industry. So we recently developed our strategic plan going forward to 2025 and in there we have a number of strategies that we're working on.
00:08:53
Speaker
And the first one really is building awareness of our capabilities. And we're going to be doing that through developing an asset inventory map that we want people to participate in so we know who's doing what and who wants to do what so we can make those connections. So it's really important that if that we have that collective and understand what we have in here, but it also identifies what gaps we have.
00:09:18
Speaker
so that industry can take advantage of that gap and maybe fill that with some of their capacity. The other piece we're looking at is the partnership building, and that will come dynamically through understanding all of our assets and bringing people together. So someone that has a problem, some unique skills and how to gap those, and we'll be able to start coordinating that through the Alberta Additive Manufacturing Network.
00:09:46
Speaker
piece as well about that is the outer manufacturing network, for the point that Tony just made about being much wider connected, is part is also connected to the wider manufacturing export enhancement project that started up in Alberta and is going to go kind of Western Canada-wide. And again, one of the other things that we're going to do to help the industry along is make sure that we have these connection points with other entities from other jurisdictions all around the globe because
00:10:15
Speaker
that's, you know, you know, bringing those skill pieces together is how we're going to really have that knowledge transfer to happen. And that's really going to be what helps propel the industry forward. Sounds fantastic. I mean, obviously you guys have thought about this. You've developed this over some time and it sounds like it's going to be from a need driven perspective, a pull, a pull, you know, industry is basically pulling what it can out of the resources that exist in this province and in Western Canada.
00:10:45
Speaker
instead of a push, which we typically see, you know, a push from the wide ivory tower, I like to say, you know, that are not connected to industry at all. So I think as we start doing more of these podcasts, we're all going to learn a little bit more about not only the technology, the inventory and the capacity of what this great network is going to provide,
00:11:09
Speaker
But it's also going to help players that don't know anything about additive manufacturing or manufacturing in general. I mean, some people that I've encountered, they don't know that manufacturing gets done in this part of the world. So it's a really good education piece. And again, it's that pull methodology. Now, I've got some people come to me and they say, well, you know, it looks like as a machine shop, you guys are going to probably lose your jobs because 3D printing is changing everything. Now, all you have to do is really get a design and then
00:11:39
Speaker
Yeah, just send it over wirelessly to the printer, and then you kind of hit the print button, and then voila, it's done. So is that kind of what I can expect if I join this network? I can kind of learn that magic. It's got to be that simple, right? Well, as I alluded to earlier, that's one of those, I think, those big misconceptions that we hope that the network can help to dispel, because, you know, additive manufacturing, when it is applied
00:12:08
Speaker
in its most effective manner is far more involved than that. It goes right the way from talking to an end user and working out what their problem is, and then designing a solution to that that can use very methodologies, including advanced manufacturing and additive manufacturing. And that requires an immense amount of skill, of knowledge, an immense amount of very highly talented and technical people to work at the very different points of that process.
00:12:36
Speaker
And that's where those workers in the machine shop, to me, aren't going to be losing their job. Their jobs are going to be changing. And also, you know, I think this is, this is one of those other misconceptions that we say that as a manufacturing and that tomorrow we're going to burn all the CNC machines and they're all going to disappear. That's not the case. It's another tool in our toolbox, in that wider manufacturing solution that end users are required to produce the pieces and parts that they need. It's moving us towards that digital ecosystem and
00:13:04
Speaker
We hear about Industry 4.0 and what does that mean to us, but it's taking advantage of our digital capacity and having more freedom of the types of products we make and a deeper connection with value add and providing specific solutions to
Integrating Additive Manufacturing in Traditional Ecosystems
00:13:22
Speaker
our end users.
00:13:23
Speaker
No jobs are changing, but nobody's going to be out of a job for sure. So the question you had before too, that I wanted to like touch on about pushing a button, wouldn't that be really nice? And certainly those services exist where you can upload your drawing and it'll go out to a farm market somewhere and get printed and then be in your hands, I don't know, wait a week later. But
00:13:47
Speaker
There's so many pieces to that that get missed on that. Is it the right kind of design? Does it do what you need to do? Does it fit? Do mating services meet up? Is it really taking advantage of additive manufacturing, the concepts of part reduction, of adding complexity, where complexity is needed? And then, you know, does it actually fit where it's supposed to go? So those are those parts that having a connected group of highly talented people,
00:14:15
Speaker
will address other than the cloud approach. And the cloud approach is great where it needs to be, but if we're truly going to make a shift, we need to work as a community to get there. I like that. Kind of like an iterative process and having the talent in-house, being able to do those three things, I guess, is what to try and fulfill those three things to now perfect and free.
00:14:38
Speaker
Well, and the other lovely thing is in Alberta, we have end users that have really complex problems as well. And that's one of the reasons why, when we look at this network, is that we weren't just focused on the designers or the 3D production places. We actually include also institutions and post-secondary institutions, like where Tony works for, Red Dead Polytechnic, and the end users, because we know it's that collaborative mix together is where we're going to find that sweet spot.
00:15:06
Speaker
That sounds fantastic. I'm looking forward to this series. It's going to be highly educational for myself and I'm sure for many, many people. And as we start seeing our libraries and our high schools and elementary schools getting more into this type of technology, I think what we're doing is really preparing the workforce for these higher skilled people to come out and show us
00:15:34
Speaker
traditional manufacturing gurus or I'm talking for myself here, you know, old guys would love to learn some new tricks to be more competitive and compete in the world. So as we start developing the series, obviously, there's not just one type of, dare I say it, 3D printing. I'm trying to learn that it's more additive manufacturing and that encompasses everything. So that's one thing I'm learning. You guys are teaching me quite a bit here.
00:16:00
Speaker
What types of technologies are there? Are we looking at just plastics? Are we looking at wood? Is it powder? Is it metal? Is it resins? Is it everything? So I think what you can definitely expect over this series is the Alberta users to be sharing their experience of what they've found and what they're using so far. So certainly you're going to see all types of materials. So what is the world of plastics doing?
00:16:27
Speaker
What does metals look like? What are ceramics? And what about those other weird materials, like combinations of multiple materials coming together? So you'll definitely get a touch of all of that, the equipment that supplies it, how to design, and what they're using. So you'll really get a good flavor of what additive manufacturing looks like in Alberta and their clients as well.
Community Engagement and Innovation
00:16:49
Speaker
So it should be a really informative series. Sounds really exciting. I can't wait to hear.
00:16:56
Speaker
see some of these success stories. I wanted to reach out and say thank you to our sponsors for making this event happen. Because the Alberta Additive Manufacturing Network is industry and member driven, please go to the website and become a member and if you have some stories to share then absolutely reach out to us because we'd love to hear from you as well. Yeah and I'd add to that as well is that we've done an immense amount of work behind the scenes so
00:17:21
Speaker
you know, we have been working for a couple years. I mentioned the manufacturing export enhancement project, which is a major, much major piece of work that is also looking at some funding as well. So what we're hoping that as they slowly inch towards the finishing line, that, you know, from 2020 to 2021 was, you know, there's going to be a couple of years there where we're hoping to have some significant, you know, programming ability from that. So again,
00:17:51
Speaker
As Tonya said, go to the website, make it aware of challenges, make it aware of your capabilities, because what we're hoping to have is some really practical pieces of work coming out of the next couple of years that really will help demonstrate to the industry how useful additive manufacturing is and how it's going to move the industry forward. I'm really looking forward to it. Thank you so much, Matthew and Tonya. I really appreciate your time. And as Tonya said, anybody out there that has any questions,
00:18:20
Speaker
or wants to share their stories, I'm more of a question guy. So I'll be asking lots of questions, I'm sure, and hopefully you are too. And we look forward to continuing the series.