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It is a competitive world out there, and additive manufacturing (AM) OEMs face pressures like all manufacturers to differentiate their products from their competitors. Why will an end user choose your machine over that of another supplier? While it may come down to features and ease of use, often the overriding criteria is how complete of a solution you can offer. In the AM world, completeness comes down to a question of how tightly coupled the software solution is to your machine, and how much of the process/workflow it can handle. In order to offer a complete solution, AM OEMs have taken a number of approaches: 

3D visualization is the process of using 3D visuals to analyze designs or scenarios.

3D visualization -- interchangeably used with 3D modeling, 3D graphics, 3D rendering and computer-generated imaging (CGI) -- is basically the use of 3D images to analyze designs.

Following the design and analysis phase, computer aided design (CAD) files are usually converted into polyhedra file formats for preparation and manufacturing in 3D printers. STL (STereoLithography or Standard Tessellation Language) is the most common polyhedra file format, having originally been developed to translate CAD files into a readable format for 3D printers in 1987.

Since launching in 1995, SolidWorks has emerged as a widely adopted computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided engineering (CAE) suite. In fact, as of March 2016 SolidWorks had captured 32% of the CAD market, making it the leading CAD suite in use.

Since its introduction in the 1980s, IGES (short for “Initial Graphics Exchange Specification) was the main computer aided design (CAD) format used for enabling the sharing of CAD files.

The main phases involved in additive manufacturing are that of design and the manufacturing process. Practically, the design work is done on a computer aided design (CAD) suite such as SolidWorks (and others), while the physical production phase - i.e. 3D printing - is facilitated by exporting the CAD file (e.g. SLDPRT) to STL, a format that can be read by 3D printers.

The use of additive manufacturing is growing in high-tech industries. According to the market research firm MarketsandMarkets (M&M), 3D printer production and additive manufacturing outputs grew in value to $3.5 billion in 2017. The leading adopters of additive manufacturing were the medical devices, aerospace and automotive industries.

In our interview with Spatial’s Director of Product Management, Ray Bagley, we discuss how 3D printing and additive manufacturing as a whole are changing the manufacturing industry.

With additive manufacturing - such as 3D printing - growing in adoption, especially in high-tech industries such as aerospace, we speak to Ray Bagley, Director of Product Management at Spatial to build an understanding of the fascinating trend.