Overview of 3D Printing Implementation at BSF

Mike Hubbard, Process Excellence Department, May 2016

Introduction

3D printing is believed by many to signal the beginning of the third industrial revolution and is a technology that hasalready disrupted several major industries by decentralizing production.1The concept behind 3D printing is straightforward – specialized printers are able to print objects made of a wide array of materials (plastics, metals, foods, fabric, carbon fiber, etc.) based on a computer assisted design and “additive manufacturing.” A thorough explanation of additive manufacturing is beyond the scope of this article, but an informative infographic can be found in the Appendix and a wealth of additional information can be found on the web. The technology is advancing and changing on a weekly basis, so one should always verify that online resources are still relevant.

Since BSF generates revenue mostly through procurement, sales, and distribution, the relevance of 3D printing to BSF may not be immediately apparent. The goals of this report are (1) to highlight the disruptions 3D printing has already brought to other industries, (2) to highlight potential disruptions this technology may bring to BSF in the future, (3) to provide an overview of specific potential benefits that BSF could achieve by pilot-scale 3D printing implementation, and (4) to examine potential barriers that could hinder implementation efforts.An excellent buyers’ guide is listed in the references,7 and whileit should be noted that prices change continuously, prices for printers currently range from $600 to over $100,000. Many impressively engineered devices with unanimous customer satisfaction are in the $1,800-$2,500 price range.

Section I: Current Disruptions in Industry

High profile senior executives all over the world are diligently working to understand potential disruptions this emerging technology may bring to their specific business models. By understanding how other industries have identified threats, BSF leadership may be able to intuitively understand threats and potential disruptions to the business that are not mentioned directly in this report; thus, an overview of disruptions to other industries is provided before potential BSF threats are identified.

Automobile: At conventions all over the world, a US-based company called Local Motors allows attendees to design a vehicle on a computer, and by the end of the conference the company has 3D printed the vehicle and takes the attendees on a tour in the vehicle they designed. Local Motors plans to sell the first 3D printed vehicles to consumers in 2016.2 The model, called LM3D Swim, is projected to retail for $35,000 and consists of only 50 individual parts (far less than a traditional vehicle manufactured with ~30,000 parts), 70-90% of the entire vehicle is 3D printed (Image 1). Needless to say, every automotive manufacturer in the world is both observing and investing in 3D printing technology to stay “ahead of the game,” mitigating and being informed of any serious risks to their industry. China and other nations invested in manufacturing have invested billions of dollars into the technology to ensure they are not left behind.

Apparel:Certain 3D printers print clothing for consumers. It is possible for a female consumer to see a dress she likes on a French website, visit community forums to achieve and perfect the design on her computer, and print the dress to wear for negligible costs of materials. Jewelry is also commonly produced by 3D printing.Nike is one of the world leaders in utilization of 3D printing technology.

Medical: The following is a list of products that have been successfully 3D printed in the medical industry: prosthetic limbs, animal prosthetics (including crab shells), titanium bolts and plates, surgical instruments, antimicrobial resins for dental applications, human organs, cartilage, jawbones, and many more. The pharmaceutical industry has also been disrupted by 3D printing, and the FDA approved the first 3D printed pill in August, 2015. 3D printing may present significantly lower costs to drug manufacturers and allows for pill production that enables higher digestibility for higher dosage in pills.

Food: See Section II (Potential Disruptions to BSF).

General public: 3D printing is being used in art (sculptures, casts, molding), communication (couplers, waveguides, bends), education (supplies, artifacts, models), architecture (models), engineering (models), and domestic applications. Specifically, in the home 3D printing is used by a rapidly expanding consumer base for items such as coat hangers, doorknobs, kitchen utensils, furniture, firearms (see Image 3), drones, musical instrument components, and many more.

Section II: Potential Disruptions to BSF

Immediate direct threats would be present to BSF if the company’s main methods for generating revenue were viamaterials manufacturing. However, according to the Sea Est Status Report 2015, consistently only about 10% of BSF’s food item revenue has been from in-house manufacturing (namely 2% from kitchen items and 8% from repacks).3Nevertheless, 3D printing still may present certain disruptive threats to the business.

Many top food companies are investigating the applications of 3D printing of food products. Companies and consumers are already printing full scale food items, including pizzas (Image 4), bakery products, artificial meat and sustainable animal materials, dairy, fruit, and vegetable products. Mass manufacturing of 3D printed food products could be years away from realization, but this application of thetechnology absolutely still may present a disruptive threat to BSF. BSF uses many other non-seafood suppliers for ingredients that may be suited for 3D printing, including sauces, confectionary items (bread crumbs, etc.), spices, powders, and dairy products. If competitors begin using 3D printed ingredients at lower costs and comparable quality while BSF still uses non-printed ingredients from suppliers at higher costs, this may cause BSF’s value added product costs to exceed market value.

Additionally, BSF competitors may be utilizing 3D printing to reduce lead times for sample preparation and to supplement R&D efforts. Benefits of BSF using 3D printing for R&D are specifically outlined in Section 3, and the potential disruption is that if competitors begin using 3D printing to reduce lead times and supplement R&D efforts, BSF may be viewed unfavorably by customers for not using new R&D techniques and still experiencing lead times that exceed industry standards.

As referenced in the introduction, executives all over the world are investing significant resources into predicting disruptions relevant to their industry, so this overview of potential disruptions to BSF is by no means a comprehensive list. As demonstrated by the Kano model (Figure 1), new technology appears as novel and exciting initially (i.e. “delighters”), but over time existing standardsare disrupted and emerging technologies become basic needs that dissatisfy customers if they are not featured and utilized properly. By ignoring emerging technologies with direct relevance to their industry, businesses risk financial loss and business disruption in the future. 3D printing will absolutely not be an exception to this model.

Section III: Specific PotentialBenefitsto BSF

Maintenance: Possibly the most widespread application of 3D printing to major businesses is in maintenance. All businesses (including BSF) are unique in their equipment inventory, repair methods, and in-house capabilities, but 3D printing has already significantly lowered maintenance costs for many firms and could certainly potentially benefit BSF. Manufacturing Business Technology published an article noting several benefits 3D printing has to producing repair parts: (1) no minimum quantity required for ordering nor production, (2) for parts that repeatedly break, retrofitted strengthening of the part is possible, and (3) parts can be manufactured in extremely short timeframes.4 Additional cost savings could be realized since many equipment companies currently monopolize proprietary special parts and are able to charge exorbitant prices to customers. Since 3D printing technology is by nature decentralized, certainly the potential exists to either purchase a printer and materials required for in-house production of replacement parts, or to source parts from a 3D printing firm such as Advanced Technology Services (ATS), a company that uses 3D printing to provide for companies such as Caterpillar, Siemens, Georgia-Pacific, and Panasonic. Sourcing replacement parts from a 3D printing company could also allow BSF to experience much of the cost savings from this technology without requiring investments in specialized printing equipment for maintenance parts. Further investigation on appropriate 3D printing models, 3D printed parts suppliers, and maintenance department cost drivers and order details is warranted in this area.

Office areas: As noted in Section I, countless household items are currently produced by 3D printing. The list is growing, largely due to the fact that designs can be more elegant than commercially available materials and costs are much lower. Office supply lists could be reviewed and relevant items could be printed, potentially avoiding significant costs to retailers such as Office Depot. This would likely be a supplemental benefit of BSF’s 3D printing implementation.

Sea Est kitchen production: One of the challenges with continuous improvement is the massive variation in product types produced in the kitchen area. One successful lean project was focused on standardizing the process of weighing and placing lobster meat mixtures on top of potato portions for the Lobster Au Gratin project. Eventually, some appropriate metal scoops were identified and ordered, but a 3D printed solution could have been tailored specifically to the improvement application and perhaps would have saved even more time during production. In fact, many of BSF’s value-added products are specifically molded (stuffed fish and crab cakes), specifically cut (Beer Bang’n Shrimp), and/or specifically poured (sauce on Lobster Au Gratin, butter glaze, sauce on pastas for Signature Singles). With 3D printing, molds and utensils are extremely common, and the possibilities for making custom tools and molds to aid in production are endless. Food safety is a major concern, but most all issues have already been addressed by food technologists to mitigate food safety concerns.5

R&D:Several BSF R&D department processes could experience significant benefits by implementing 3D printing. Upon applying the Theory of Constraints, one would identify that the most frequent bottleneck experienced in the R&D new item creation process (for both repacks and kitchen items) is ordering and receiving new packaging material. Often new dies are needed for packaging manufacturers to create new trays, cartons, or boxes for BSF, and significant costs and lead time are associated with creation of these dies. Minimum order amounts are also required, and if any issues arise after suppliers have created the dies and provided the product, BSF is forced to either relabel over any issues, order new packaging and take a loss on the incorrect packaging (as well as wait for the additional lead time required), or accept the incorrect packaging as-is. None of these options are ideal and all result in additional costs to the business.

With 3D printing, these problems could be potentially mitigated and lead time for packaging samples could be reduced dramatically on the front end. Trays, boxes, cartons, and any other basic shaped product can be printed as a prototype using entry-level desktop 3D printers. Instead of relying on communication with outside suppliers on packaging material, BSF could print a model of the sample packaging material in-house to evaluate acceptability and exact dimensions. Full color labels could be printed, covering the 3D printed models and effectively simulating exactly how the final packaging would appear before ordering minimum large quantities from a supplier.

Other specific new R&D ideas could be investigated using 3D printing at BSF for the hard dollar cost of only the 3D printing material and electricity used during the process. For example, perhaps a new divided tray may be proposed to be used for a kitchen item – would the proposed tray be large enough to hold 8 scallops? Would 10 newly designedcartons fit in an existing BSF box? Would tilapia fillets fit without bulging into a new proposed carton? Would a certain rounded tray fit well in a sleeve? How much head space would there be in a new carton filled with product?Would fillets have too much void space in a specific package design, causing excessive shifting during handling? 3D printed packaging items at BSF would be able to provide models to answer all of these questions in potentially 1 day or less.

Implementing 3D printing at BSF could also be a great selling pointfor swaying potential customers to the business, potentially providing tremendous value to sales. By mentioning that we have a “state of the art R&D department” that is actively pursuing all new technology, including using a pilot scale 3D printer, this could go a long way in convincing a customer that BSF is on top of their game with innovation and doing their due diligence in keeping up with market trends and technological development.

Section IV: Potential Barriers to 3D Printing Implementation at BSF

Similar to any other computer-aided design (CAD) technology, to implement 3D printing the capacity to learn new CAD software intricacies must exist. Specifically, the author has identified only one potential 3D printing implementation at BSF – capacity and talent required to learn the technology and enforce process ownership. To reap any of the potential benefits from this technology, a company would need to have an individual or a team held accountable for learning and keeping up with the technology, and both a staff lead and process owner should also be held accountable to monitor these efforts. Potential operator candidates should have previously demonstrated a sufficient level of technical expertise with computer software.

Conclusion

As demonstrated by the Kano model, 3D printing will soon become a basic technology used in businesses and homes throughout the world. In the past decade, 3D printing has already significantly disrupted several industries and the technology continues to be further developed every day. By keeping up with developments and investing in implementation of pilot-scale 3D printing at BSF, the company could reap several benefits, including potential cost savings in maintenance supplies, reduced lead times and enhanced R&D efforts, and new customer interest toward the company. In addition to the significant issue of BSF personnel for learning the technology operating the equipment, and process ownership, initial capital investment for a highly reviewed and dependable unit would be between $1,800-$3,000.

Appendix: 3D Printing Overview Infographic6

References

  1. A Third Industrial Revolution. The Economist. Last Accessed May 24th, 2016.
  1. The 3D Printed Car That Could Transform the Auto Industry: On Sale in 2016. Forbes. Last Accessed May 26th, 2016.
  1. Sea Est Status Report 2015. Michael Hubbard, Beaver Street Fisheries. Confidential. Emailed on September 11, 2015, to Lathun Brigman, Ray Poinsette, and Lloyd Carter.
  1. 3D Printed Parts: A Big Win for Industrial Maintenance. Manufacturing Business Technology. Last Accessed May 24th, 2016.
  1. 10 Things You Need to Know About 3D Printing & Food Safety. Pinshape Blog. Last Accessed May 25th, 2016.
  1. 3D Printing Infographic.Sculpteo. Last Accessed May 25th, 2016.
  1. 2016 Best 3D Printer Guide. 3D Hubs. Last Accessed May 26th, 2016.