Product design with integrated holistic validation of economics of metal-based 3D-printing by the help of a recommender system

Abstract

Metal-based 3D-printing is nowadays particularly applied by branches with special needs concerning weight and strength as well as complexity of geometries of metal parts (e.g. aeronautics, automotive), or in case of needs with respect to logistics of metal spare parts (e.g. defense). The broader community of manufacturing enterprises still struggles with a holistic economic decision-making that covers aspects of geometry, supply-chain management, future maintenances, or the production volume over a product’s lifetime. This paper introduces a concept of a recommender system that supports the decision-making during product design and manufacturing process design in order to validate economics of the involvement of 3D-printing for creating single components or parts of the designed product.