The future of prototyping and 3D printing in the CNC lathe shop

Still, 264,000 manufacturing jobs are expected to be added in 2020. In precision manufacturing, including the milling and machining industries, analysts continued to report good news. The labor market remains stable, and we are experiencing the best manufacturing employment growth of the past 30 years, even as we overcome the ever-growing skills gap. CNC lathe machining consumption is expected to grow 11% this year, recent tariffs and trade wars have not dented many bottom lines, and advances in robotics, automation and even additive manufacturing are expected to make up for any labor shortages. This is all good news as our industry continues to thrive and experience a boom not seen long since the recession of 2008.

Our thoughts are naturally about the future of the CNC lathe shop industry. Technological trends that keep pace with the times are always part of our business plan in our ongoing effort to meet our customers' manufacturing needs for high-precision parts and components. The CNC lathe machining industry has rapidly evolved with the development of hardware and application software, more advanced milling machines and machining equipment, process automation, Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 and the integration of additive manufacturing (3D printing) technologies with the machine tools we want A brief review of topics of particular interest to us and the future of precision manufacturing operations; prototyping and the expanding role of 3D printing in the modern CNC lathe shop.

One of the major trends affecting the global CNC lathe machining market today is the integration of 3D printing technology with machine tools. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process of creating three-dimensional solids from digital models using an additive manufacturing process, originally invented to create small plastic models and prototypes. 3D printers place successive layers of material, usually liquid, paper, powder or sheet material, until the desired shape and form is obtained. Whereas traditional CNC milling machines can remove material, 3D printers can add material, so additive manufacturing is possible. When originally envisioned, 3D printing was conceived as a way to manufacture products on demand, including those traditionally machined from various metals by CNC lathes. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened yet. To date, 3D printing metal parts has been time-intensive, expensive, and labor-intensive for post-processing finishing steps. Despite these obstacles, many machine tool builders are slowly integrating the technology into their equipment.

However, for today's precision CNC lathe shop, 3D printers are not really a replacement for time-tested methods of milling and machining metal parts. Instead, they will complement them and create a new digital manufacturing ecosystem while solidifying its use in on-demand rapid prototyping. Today, additive manufacturing has revolutionized the prototyping process, and the technology is now worth using for smaller operations. The process of producing prototype parts for customers is an essential step in the precision machining process, but requires labor, machine hours, setup time, bar inventory costs, and more. Additive manufacturing depends on the job, and many samples can be placed into the hands of customers, giving them more flexibility in designing and choosing end-use components. CNC milling and machining remain the best choice for rapid prototyping of high-quality metal and plastic parts that require maximum dimensional accuracy, critical surface finishes and material-specific properties.

There is no denying that production 3D printing is now playing an ever-changing role in the CNC lathe job shop environment, which many predict will be an unstoppable force driving the next industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. Stepping back from the realm of prototyping and short-run production today, an important shift from additive manufacturing to higher volumes and mass production emerges with a market expected to double in size over the next few years. Growing innovations in direct metal printing and the number of alloys that can be printed, along with a better convergence of improvements in speed and printing technology, means the industry will get a boost.