Lockheed Martin has opened a 16,000-square-foot facility dedicated to meeting the company’s additive manufacturing goals.
New Heights
Lockheed Martin hopes to bring additive manufacturing (AM) to “new heights,” supported by the new Texas facility. Heavily stocked with cutting-edge technology, the site will house heat treatment and inspection equipment, as well as some of the largest-format multi-laser machines in the state, according to Lockheed.
Why Additive Manufacturing?
The biggest benefit 3D printing brings to Lockheed is speed, and the firm suggests that its designers will leverage the equipment to quickly integrate their latest designs into the factory floor. Cost is also a factor, according to Tom Carrubba, vice president of production operations at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, the plant where the AM hub is housed. Investing in this technology, said Carrubba, “allows us to create affordable and modular designs that can simplify both high and low-volume production processes.” Using large-format machines to make parts also reduces machining and material waste because it allows Lockheed to manufacture parts that are a nearly finished product.
Bigger Implications
The move should help propel some exciting trends. 3DPrinting.com notes that this expansion enables Lockheed to support customers’ “immediate and future product needs and drive the growth of 3D printing in aerospace and defense.” Additionally, there are downstream implications for the company, which can spread the benefits in capacity and agility to its supply chain partners, ultimately developing a more localized and robust domestic industrial base.
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
