去年，波音公司（Boeing）與3D打印鈦合金結構件供應商Norsk Titanium AS簽訂合同，意在合作生產用于波音787 Dreamliner飛機的FAA（美國聯邦航空局）認證鈦合金結構件（如圖中的新加坡航空公司飛機所采用的結構件）。此外，總部位于特拉維夫的Assembrix公司可能將負責管理并保護這兩家公司共享的知識產權（圖片來源：波音公司）。
位于芝加哥總部的波音公司管理層與總部位于特拉維夫的Assembrix公司正在開展合作磋商，后者將負責管理并保護波音與全球增材制造（又稱3D打印）和部件供應商之間共享的知識產權，以支持波音在商用航空、太空以及軍用航空領域的發展。
Assembrix公司所提供的軟件，實際上相當于一個能夠實現工業3D打印虛擬化的云平臺，使得3D打印生產工藝變得更為簡化、安全與高效。該軟件采用安全的數據傳輸方法，可幫助波音公司在分配工作和生產的過程中確保增材制造的設計信息不被攔截、破壞或解密。
波音公司全球20家工廠具備增材制造生產能力，同時還與全球供應商合作，生產用于商用航空、航天和國防領域的3D打印部件。 波音打算大力開發增材制造技術以實現生產系統的轉型，并支持公司業務的增長，而Assembrix軟件將在其過程中確保整個生產鏈上的信息安全。
波音公司以色列分部總裁David Ivry表示：“波音公司有意合作的全球供應商所生產的部件，應當符合嚴格的質量標準、時間表安排要求、成本要求與智力資本標準，而Assembrix公司則符合我們所有上述標準要求。這一合作協議既擴展了波音與以色列工業的聯系，也幫助了類似Assembrix公司的企業拓展了業務。”
波音此前與瑞士的科技集團歐瑞康（Oerlikon）合作生產航天鈦結構件的增材制造粉末床，其目標是實現從初始粉末管理到最終成品的整個工藝流程的標準化。去年，波音同3D打印鈦合金結構件供應商Norsk Titanium AS公司簽訂了合同，意在合作生產安裝在波音787Dreamliner飛機上、且經過美國聯邦航空管理局（FAA）認證的鈦合金結構件。
工業3D打印產業的不斷發展，以及波音對3D打印技術的應用，使得增材制造生產與數字化服務變得日趨重要。盡管3D打印行業發展潛力巨大，但由于將3D打印技術應用于大規模生產所耗成本巨大，且3D打印所涉及的信息流技術（在軍事領域被稱為“數字線”）還存在一定局限性，因此對3D打印最終成品的生產起決定性作用的數字化設計尚未成為主流。
要實現增材制造業的產業化，就需要確保一條數字線能夠將包括最初的設計構想與最終的成品生產在內的整個工藝流程無縫連接起來。因此，這一數字線所涉及的信息包括一個部件在設計、成型、生產與監控階段產生的所有數據。而除此之外，要實現增材制造業產業化，并應對3D打印技術所帶來的復雜挑戰，相關產品生產商還必須對數字主線（即數字線）所包含的復雜運算有深入的了解。如果這期間產生的所有信息只能存儲卻不能分享，那么生產商就無法對整個部件的制造流程獲得清晰全面的了解。
而 Assembrix公司所提供的軟件，正是專門負責監督包括從最初部件建模到最終成品確認在內的整個增材制造線，方便用戶對工業3D打印機進行任務分配與監督，從而實現了整個流程的全自動化與自我控制，提高了3D打印機的利用率與投資回報率。
Assembrix公司的CEO LiborPolak表示：“我們很高興能夠與波音合作，并珍視波音對我們的信任以及對我們能力的肯定。這一合作將有助于我們開發并實施創新方案以更好地連通世界，并進一步推動增材制造數字線技術的發展。”
波音與以色列的第一次合作可以追溯到70年前以色列建國時。自那以后，波音就一直同以色列商用航空與軍用航空領域的客戶及供應商保持著密切且長期穩定的合作關系。以色列的3D打印行業為波音供應了許多部件，應用于包括F-15戰斗機、AH-64D長弓阿帕奇（Apache Longbow）、新一代箭-3（Arrow 3）導彈攔截器以及波音737飛機、777飛機與787飛機在內的波音產國防部隊飛機及商用飛機。
Boeing officials in Chicago are collaborating with Tel Aviv-based Assembrix to manage and protect intellectual property (IP) shared with vendors across its global supply chain for additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, parts to support Boeing commercial aviation, space, and military platforms.
Assembrix's software is a cloud-based platform that virtualizes industrial 3D printing to enable simpler, secured, and more efficient production processes. The software will enable Boeing to transmit additive manufacturing design information using secure distribution methods to protect data from being intercepted, corrupted, or decrypted throughout the distribution and manufacturing processes.
Boeing uses additive manufacturing capabilities at 20 sites worldwide and partners with global suppliers to deliver 3D-printed parts for its commercial, space, and defense platforms. Boeing is currently leveraging and accelerating additive manufacturing to transform its production system and support the company's growth, using Assembrix software to secure its proprietary information across the supply chain.
"Boeing seeks suppliers globally who meet stringent quality, schedule, cost, and intellectual capital standards, and Assembrix does all that," says David Ivry, president of Boeing Israel. "This agreement expands Boeing's ties to Israeli industry while helping companies like Assembrix expand their business.”
Boeing previously teamed up with Swiss technology group Oerlikon to create powder bed additive manufacturing of structural titanium components for the aerospace industry with the goal of standardizing everything from initial powder management to finished product. Last year, Boeing also hired Norsk Titanium AS, a supplier of additive manufactured structural titanium components, to deliver FAA-approved structural components for installation on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Boeing’s advances make protecting additive manufacturing productions and digitization of increasing importance as industrial 3D printing begins to take off. Despite the industry’s promise and potential, digital designs dictating the production of end-use 3D-printed objects have not yet moved fully into the mainstream, due to the high cost of large-scale mass production and limitations on information flow, which the military community calls the “digital thread.”
For additive manufacturing processes to scale at the industrial level, a single, seamless strand of data must stretch from the initial design concept to the finished part, constituting the information that enables the design, modeling, production, and monitoring of an individual manufactured part. The intense computing of this digital thread or data strand must be dissected and understood by the manufacturer to enhance and scale additive manufacturing and manage its complexities. If information remains siloed, the manufacturer can’t gain full visibility across the additive manufacturing process.
Assembrix will oversee the entire additive manufacturing thread from the initial part model to the verified physical part and beyond, enabling the allocation and monitoring of industrial 3D printers. The company’s efforts will likely lead Boeing to a fully automated and self-controlled process, increasing printer utilization and return on investment.
"We are pleased to partner with Boeing and value its confidence in us and in our capabilities," says Lior Polak, Assembrix CEO. "This collaboration supports our vision to develop and implement innovative solutions that connect the world and take the additive manufacturing digital thread one step forward."
The relationship between Boeing and Israel stretches back 70 years to the founding of the state of Israel. Since then, Boeing has worked closely with Israeli commercial and military customers and suppliers to develop lasting partnerships. Israeli industry supplies parts for many Boeing defense and commercial products, including the F-15, the AH-64D Apache Longbow, the next-generation Arrow 3 interceptor, and the 737, 777, and 787 airplanes.
Author: Anna Fiorentino
Source: SAE Aerospace Engineering Magazine
去年，波音公司（Boeing）與3D打印鈦合金結構件供應商Norsk Titanium AS簽訂合同，意在合作生產用于波音787 Dreamliner飛機的FAA（美國聯邦航空局）認證鈦合金結構件（如圖中的新加坡航空公司飛機所采用的結構件）。此外，總部位于特拉維夫的Assembrix公司可能將負責管理并保護這兩家公司共享的知識產權（圖片來源：波音公司）。
