Industrial
Technology
A guide to developing advanced
industrial products with additive
manufacturing
What’s in this guide?
Introduction
Use cases
Part 1
Page 3
Part 2
Supply chain
restructure
Design
automation
Part 3
Part 4
Page 11
Page 8
Page 14
Agile hardware Design
development software
Part 5
Page 16
Part 6
Page 18
2
Executive summary
Amid supply chain disruptions, economic uncertainty, and decarbonization
initiatives, industrial hardware companies increasingly rely on digital
technologies to adapt.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is vital in developing the next generation of
advanced industrial products. AM enables engineers to produce parts with
complex geometry and better performance, and can also accelerate the product
development process and simplify supply chains.
This guide covers the most compelling use cases of additive manufacturing in
industrial hardware. We examine how industrial technology companies leverage
next-generation engineering design software with advanced modeling and
design automation capabilities to realize AM’s full benefits and change how they
develop advanced products.
When combined with the right software tools, additive manufacturing can lead to:
Lighter products that consume less energy
Lower CO2 emissions throughout the product lifecycle
More flexible, efficient, and resilient supply chains
Faster and more agile development processes
It wouldn’t be possible
to create such a
component with a
traditional CAD system.
Martin Blanke
Additive Manufacturing Project
Engineer at DMG MORI
End-of-arm robot head designed by DMG MORI in nTop
Part 1
3
Industrial technology trends by the numbers
72%
72% of industrial
manufacturers believe
persistent shortages and
ongoing supply chain
disruptions present the
biggest uncertainty for their
industry in coming years.
15x
Additive manufacturing
offers up to 15x greater mix
and new product introduction
flexibility compared to
Source traditional processes.
$366 Billion 75%
Source
The combined investment in
clean energy and sustainable
consumption industrial
technologies reached an
estimated $366 billion in 2021. Source
Additive manufacturing parts
can reduce CO2 emissions by
up to 75% throughout the
product life cycle.
Source
Two out of three hardware
development companies want
to improve their early-stage
development processes, like
conceptual design and
Source
prototyping.
57% of design engineers are
dissatisfied with the stability
and performance of their
CAD software, and 48%
would like access to nextgeneration modeling tools.
Source
63%
Part 1
1 in 2
4
Trends in industrial technology
The landscape that industrial technology companies
are navigating is uncertain and ever evolving.
1
2
Sustainable production
Supply chain disruptions
Companies are prioritizing reductions in their carbon
footprints due to growing ecological, political, and
economic pressures. Decarbonization in production
can take many forms, from investing in renewable
energy and carbon-capturing technologies to
reducing energy consumption and recuperating
energy waste.
Workforce shortages, the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent
geopolitical turmoils in Europe have exacerbated supply
chain complexity in many industries. In response,
companies are shifting from global to regional sourcing,
boosting local capacity, opening new production facilities,
and investing heavily in digital technologies. Each of these
shifts introduces new challenges.
3
4
Digitization
Automation
Digital technologies are expected to increase
competitive advantage. Companies are looking to
enrich and solidify their digital backbone to get a firm
footing on large-scale innovation. Moreover, their
existing processes are undergoing new levels of
scrutiny to manage the unprecedented complexity
introduced by new technologies.
Digitization throughout the value chain means that certain
processes become excellent candidates for automation.
From robots and cobots to software that eliminates
repetitive tasks and increases transparency during
production or product development, automation leads to
improved quality, shorter lead times, more robust
processes, and rapid development cycles.
Additive manufacturing
for industrial applications
ompared to traditional technologies, additive
manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing,
offers certain advantages that directly support
digitization and automation initiatives.
C
Rapid product
development
Higher performing
products
Simpler supply
chains
Additive manufacturing’s short lead
times, set-up costs, and absence of
hard tooling translate to overall
faster development cycles and
more streamlined transition from
prototyping to production.
Additive manufacturing enables
you to apply new optimization
techniques to refine your designs
or consolidate multiple functions
into a single part to increase the
overall system performance.
As a replacement technology,
additive manufacturing can directly
or indirectly replace the most
friction-inducing links in supply
chains, localizing production and
bypassing disruptions.
Synergistic technologies
Additive manufacturing pairs well with other cutting-edge technologies to unlock added value.
Digital thread
Design software
Digital thread initiatives aim to gather
data from the whole product
development lifecycle to enforce
collaboration and drive the
development of next-generation
products. The broader, richer, and
more inclusive the collected data, the
higher the potential for innovation and
business impact.
Starting engineering
with an accurate
Modern
software enables
representation
theofpatient’s
you
to get valueofout
your data. For
anatomy
and
physiology
is a design
example, nTop’s field-driven
requirementallow
for allengineers
personalization
capabilities
to drive
workflows.
Imagining
software
design
features
directly
from that
uses
machine
learning
postsimulation
or test
data.to
Such
process
CT
scan
or
MRI
data
can
techniques often introduce design
improve segmentation
accuracy
and
complexity
that only AM
technologies
speed
up surgical planning [7].
can
handle.
art 1
P
Design automation
hether the goal is to eliminate
repetitive tasks in product
development and operations,
shorten iteration cycles in design
exploration, or create reusable
workflows for mass
customization, design automation
is essential in scaling additive
manufacturing initiatives.
W
6
The anatomy of an industrial
component
Industrial products span a wide breadth of applications with
vastly different requirements. Here is how a typical industrial
component can be optimized for additive manufacturing.
Workflow
Shell
Lattice
p impeller
entrifugal pum
C
designed by
op
Wärtsilä in nT
Core
Centrifugal pump impeller designed by Wärtsilä in nTop
Shell
The shell preserves the
original shape and bears
most mechanical loads.
Simulation or test data
can drive its thickness to
locally reinforce highstress regions while
keeping the weight low.
Part 1
Lattice
The lattice infill contributes to the part's
structural integrity,
ensures manufacturability, and minimizes
deformation. Its properties can be optimized
using simulation data.
Core
Workflow
Computational design
techniques can be used
to further refine the
design. In this example,
topology optimization
was used to define the
geometry near the hub.
The optimization workflow can be packaged
within an automated
design process,
eliminating repetitive
work, minimizing
iteration cycles, and
making it reusable on
different parts.
7
Use cases
The benefits of additive manufacturing technologies
can be applied to many industrial applications. Here is
an overview of the most promising use cases.
Structural components
From brackets, connectors, and handles to
flanges, clamps, compliant mechanisms, and
couplings, engineers are turning to additive
manufacturing for its ability to shorten
development cycles and simplify supply chains.
Lightweighting is typically the primary goal.
Reducing the weight of mechanical components
using topology optimization, lattice structures,
and other structural optimization techniques
lowers manufacturing costs. It can also lead to
cascading product benefits, such as improved
energy efficiency, smaller motor sizing, easier
assembly, and reduced installation costs.
Structural bracket lightweighted using topology optimization and surface ribs
Thermal systems
Thermal management plays an essential role in
many industrial products. Heat exchangers,
such as oil coolers, cold plates, heat sinks, and
intercoolers, are one of the most widespread
industrial applications of additive manufacturing
today. Moreover, engineers are using AM to
develop embedded systems, like cooling
channels, thermal guides, or heat shields. The main design goal is to maximize heat
transfer while minimizing pressure drop and
overall size. AM can produce complex structures
with a high surface-to-volume ratio for the heat
exchanger core. This increases performance,
reduces the number of components, and
improves system reliability by minimizing the
points of potential leakage.
Part 2
Cross section of a two-domain heat exchanger with gyroid core
8
Fluid systems
Hydraulic manifolds, nozzles, air ducts, diverters,
mixers, pressure vessels, filters, and catalytic
converters are examples of industrial components
related to fluid flow that show high potential for
additive manufacturing.
AM enables engineers to manufacture structures,
such as flow guides and baffles, that precisely
manipulate the flow, eliminating dead zones and
reducing pressure drops. At the same time, piping
can conform to the available space or be embedded
into a structure and locally reinforced at areas of
high pressure to minimize the system's total weight.
Fins with thickness and orientation controlled by the flow velocity
Tooling
For manufacturers of industrial production
machinery, tooling is often part of the final
product. From jigs and fixtures to vacuum forming
and paper pulp molding, additive manufacturing
opens new opportunities in terms of tooling
performance, lead times, and customization.
The benefits of additive manufacturing for tool
design include advanced features, such as
conformal cooling channels and intricate
perforation patterns. Moreover, additive
manufacturing streamlines tooling customization
when combined with design automation.
Vacuum forming mold with conformal perforation patterns with variable spacing
Turbomachinery
Additive manufacturing is used in creating smallto medium-size turbomachinery components for
power generation, such as turbine blades or
casings, or pumps and compressors, such as
impellers. In most cases in this category, AM is an
alternative to metal casting with a simplified
supply chain.
Additive manufacturing creates opportunities for
higher product performance. For example,
embedded thermal management systems can
improve overall efficiency and safety. Another
opportunity is weight reduction. Lightweighting is
particularly relevant for mobile applications, and it
offers additional technical benefits that enhance
reliability, such as reduced load on bearings.
Part 2
Auxiliary power unit casing with embedded cooling channels designed by KW Micro Power
9
Robotic systems
The growing field of robotics is full of opportunities
for additive manufacturing, from lightweight
structural components to custom end-of-arm
tooling and protective covers for cobots.
Moreover, the relatively lenient qualification
requirements bypass some bottlenecks to
adopting AM in other highly-regulated industries.
The lightweighting capabilities of additive
manufacturing can have cascading effects on the
overall system's equipment, installation, and
energy consumption costs. Also, customization is
relevant in designing job-specific end effectors or
protective covers for impact absorption that use
3D-printed foams.
High-stiffness and low-weight robotic gripper
Electronic and RF systems
Additive manufacturing offers an alternative
path to production for electronic components,
such as connectors and wire harnesses,
especially in cases where a high level of
customization is needed.
Signal integrity and wireless communication
also benefit from AM’s ability to produce graded
metamaterial lattice structures with tailored
responses for characteristics like dielectric
property and refractive index. Such structures
find applications in the design of nextgeneration antennas.
Part 2
Luneburg antenna lens with a gradient refractive index for wireless communications
10
Focus area
Supply chain restructure
Additive manufacturing can replace traditional
technologies to help companies localize their
production and eliminate weak links in the supply chain. However, this supply chain resiliency comes at cost.
Legacy components and systems often need to be redesigned for AM because the technology follows
different design rules.
DfAM challenges and opportunities
Design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) is the process of creating, optimizing, or adapting the form and
function of a part, assembly, or product to take full advantage of the benefits of additive manufacturing.
Despite the increasing popularity of AM technologies, knowledge of best DfAM practices is a rare skill among
design engineers. Having access to design software that allows you to create, package, share, and automate
DfAM processes can reduce reliance on experts.
Learn more
Lightweighting
Functional
integration
Architected
materials
When assessing the viability of
replacing a traditional overseas
supply network with regional additive
sourcing, cost is always part of the
equation. Since materials play a
significant role in the total cost
calculation for AM, lightweighting
becomes an important consideration
to minimize manufacturing costs.
Consolidating multiple functions into
a single part simplifies assembly and
reduces potential points of failure.
Functional integration can take the
form of embedded systems like
cooling channels, compliant
mechanisms, or surface textures that
eliminate the need for an additional
step in the supply chain.
Architected materials are highly
engineered structures with targeted
mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic, or biological performance
characteristics. Their applications
range widely, from tunable foam-like
structures to sustainable alternatives
to hazardous materials that can
decrease risk from the supply chain.
Part 3
11
Case study: Wärtsilä
System-critical spare parts
Background
Wärtsilä is a global leader in power sources and industrial
solutions for the marine and energy sectors. Wärtsilä’s
engineers turned to additive manufacturing as an
alternative to casting for its ability to reduce spare part lead
times from months to weeks.
Turbomachinery components, like the impellers of
centrifugal pumps, come in many sizes, so the team needed
an efficient process to redesign these system-critical
components rapidly.
Solution
The team developed a reusable design workflow in nTop for
lightweighting turbomachinery components. They used the
shell and infill approach to preserve the external shape of
the part while cutting its weight by almost half. The
thickness of the shell and internal lattice structure was
driven by the results of static analysis. The area near the
hub was further reinforced, driven by topology optimization
results. Once created, Wärtsilä's engineers used this exact
workflow to optimize similar rotary components for AM with
zero additional design work — from impellers of different
sizes to propellers.
Key results
Learn more
44%
500 h <24 h
reduced weight
bench tested
Part 3
design lead time
12
Case study: Siemens Energy
Overcoming manufacturing
bottlenecks
Background
The additive manufacturing division of Siemens Energy
provides engineering services to many industrial
sectors, including the energy, aerospace, and
automotive industries.
Using nTop, they design high-performance heat
exchangers with complex structures that fully utilize the
benefits of metal AM. However, many projects are
scrapped because of practical bottlenecks posed by the
extremely large size of mesh files.
Solution
In collaboration with nTop and EOS, the engineers at
Siemens Energy bypassed the need to generate a mesh
file for manufacturing. Using the alpha version of nTop’s
Implicit Interoperability feature, the team exported their
design in an implicit format, the native file format of
nTop, and imported it to EOSPRINT for slicing. This new
file format is significantly smaller in size and provides a
lossless representation of the geometry, giving the team
a path to production.
Key results
Learn more
~1 MB 99%
500x
file size
faster processing
Part 3
smaller file size
13
Focus area
Design automation
Regardless of how you use additive manufacturing,
design automation plays a key role in scaling your initiatives.
Software is essential for automating repetitive tasks.
Batch processing
A design process automates a repetitive task
by modifying a large number of similar parts
all at once.
Batch processing is useful when working
with product families, applying unique serial
numbers to each parts, or performing timeconsuming tasks like meshing a large number
of parts.
Design exploration
A design process generates a large number of
design candidates and identifies the variation
that best meets the design requirements.
Automation allows you to explore a broader
design space in less time. Computational
design optimization enables you to identify the
highest-performing design candidates,
lessening your reliance on physical prototypes.
Mass customization
A design process generates an indefinite
number of unique designs over time, based on
new inputs, in a production environment.
Mass customization is a powerful differentiator
as it enables you to create products that best
meet user requirements at a cost and quality
comparable to mass production.
Part 4
14
Case study: DMG MORI
Automation in product design
Background
DMG MORI is a leader in metal-cutting manufacturing
equipment. The company’s ADDITIVE INTELLIGENCE team
was tasked with redesigning for AM a key component of the
Robo2Go 2nd Gen system.
The goal was to maximize the stiffness of the robotic endof-arm tooling while improving handling precision and
reducing weight and manufacturing costs.
Solution
The team applied design for additive manufacturing best
practices using nTop’s design capabilities. First, they
drafted the basic design with embedded channels for the
pneumatic and electrical systems in CAD and color-coded
each surface based on its function. Then, they created a
reusable workflow in nTop that applies a shell and lattice
infill, where the shell thickness varies based on the color of
each surface. They also used topology optimization to
increase the shell thickness in high-loading regions. nTop’s
design automation capabilities enabled the team to rapidly
iterate and refine their design concept without manually
repeating the optimization steps.
Key results
Learn more
62%
reduced weight
Part 4
60% 16x
fewer parts
increased handling
precision
15
Focus area
Agile hardware development
Additive manufacturing streamlines the transition
from a digital design to a physical part, applying best
practices inspired by software engineering to
hardware development.
Traditional hardware development
Time’s up
Time
1st Iteration
2nd Iteration
?
3rd Iteration
Final part
Is this the best
design?
Hardware development with design automation
Final part
Higher confidence in the results
Reduced cost of change
Time
Design Process
Continuous process improvement Reusable in other projects
Requirements
Compared to traditional methodologies, this new way of hardware development requires a
shift in mindset, processes, and tools — and it is not suitable for every case or product.
Focus on the
process
Proximity to
Effective
manufacturing
software tools
Shifting
With
Best-in-class
the focus from the final part
an emphasis on rapid and
to how you develop products both
frequent iterations, direct access to
from an operational and design
AM
perspective is key to success.
test physical prototypes quickly.
systems gives engineers a way to
software tools should
promote collaboration and information
sharing, help you manage complexity,
and automate repetitive tasks.
Benefits
This new approach to product development enhances existing incremental and iterative
processes with powerful design automation and can lead to significant benefits.
Lower cost
Less risk
By
Disseminating knowledge
focusing on reusable processes at
Faster innovation
throughout
Rapid
iteration cycles lead to more
scale, you reduce the cost of change
the organization means you are less
optimized, flexible solutions that allow
even when new requirements arise
reliant on subject matter experts and
you to continually improve the product
during later stages of development.
helps prevent information silos.
even after it's released.
4
Part 5
16
Case study: Ocado Technology
Additive-first product
development
Background
Ocado Group’s vision is to transform online grocery shopping
through cutting-edge technologies. The global technology
provider relies on highly efficient automation to succeed in
an industry with razor-thin margins. Ocado Technology is
making this possible by developing advanced capabilities in
robotics and AI. The company's engineers needed a new approach to product
development to meet the aggressive timelines and weight
reduction targets for their 600 Series grocery fulfillment bot.
Solution
Ocado Technology applied an additive-first approach. Inspired
by the world of agile software development, they introduced
concepts like sprints and design retrospectives. Since additive
manufacturing eliminates the need for hard tooling, they quickly
transitioned from prototyping to production. This radical
approach was enabled by a range of modern software tools
including nTop. The team relied on the robustness of implicit
modeling and the software’s automated topology optimization
post-processing capabilities to eliminate labor-intensive steps
and generate hundreds of lightweight design candidates in
every sprint.
Key results
Learn more
>3x
50%
3week
reduced weight
3D printed by weight
development cycles
Part 5
17
Engineering design
software for additive
manufacturing
nTop is a next-generation engineering design software that
enables you to take full advantage of the benefits of additive
manufacturing.
nTop gives you tools to develop and scale robust design
processes that automate repetitive tasks and accelerate the
development of next-generation industrial products.
Get a demo
Import
Upload CAD files and
other engineering data.
Part 6
Generate
Explore innovative
geometry to create high
performance parts.
Export
Convert to the
format you need.
Connect
Integrate with your
existing software stack.
18
Turn nTop’s core tech
into your competitive
advantage
Implicit
modeling
Design technology
that will not break.
Remove design limitations and
overcome fundamental design
challenges with nTop's unique
modeling engine.
Base your critical designs on
processes that don’t break when
inputs meaningfully change
Generate structures with billions
of design elements in seconds.
Rapidly iterate on your designs
with real-time visualization.
Field-driven
design
our data goes in;
optimized designs
come out.
Y
Feed your design workflows
with real-world data, physics,
and logic to harness the power
of implicit modeling.
Control design parameters at every
point in space.
Use simulation and test data to
drive your designs.
Encode your expertise to fine-tune
critical design features.
Design process
automation
Build processes,
not just parts.
Create reusable workflows and
algorithmic processes that save
you time and empower your
team to scale.
Part 6
Eliminate repetitive tasks to focus
more time on innovation
Package and share design
processes to empower others
Fully automate design generation
with nTopCL scripts.
19
nTop features
Development phase
Solutions to tackle the
specific challenges of your
industry and application
Design
Optimize
Scale
nTop’s design engine enables you to
generate geometries that are
impossible to create with traditional
CAD tools.
Manage the design complexity of
additive manufacturing by encoding
your process knowledge.
Deploy processes that enhance
your existing workflows and
product architecture.
Lattice structure
Variable shellin
Ribs and perforation
Real-time visualization
Data-driven desig
Topology optimizatio
Simulatio
Field optimization
Reusable workflow
Software integration
Floating licensin
Scripting
Augment your software stack
nTop connects with industry-standard CAD, CAE, PLM, and manufacturing tools to support all
aspects of your product development process.
Export to CAx
nTopCL
PLM connector
Export designs in file types
compatible with traditional CAD,
CAE, and CAM and integrate nTop
into your internal processes.
nTop’s command line interface
enables you to execute design
workflows through a programmatic
environment using scripts.
Connect nTop to your company’s
digital thread to ensure traceability
and compliance and boost crossteam collaboration.
More than just a software
Your success is our success. We're here to help you apply best design practices in your
advanced product development initiatives.
Learning Center
Onboarding
Services
Our Learning Center offers an everexpanding list of self-paced courses
that guide you through basic and
advanced design topics.
With your nTop license you get access
to our comprehensive library of
training resources and the option to
access our team of experts.
Our ongoing support packages
include planning, solution, and
workflow consultation sessions to
help meet your specific goals.
Part 6
20
Ready for the next step?
See for yourself why leaders in industrial, aerospace,
automotive, medical, and consumer industries depend
on nTop to develop revolutionary products. Speak with
our experts and application engineers today.
Get a demo
Overcome
Accelerate
Unlock
design
bottlenecks
engineering product
development
the potential of additive
manufacturing
Part 6
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