Growing an Industry, Layer-by-Layer
Alex Dick - Vice President SLS Operations
The story of Northwest UAV Propulsions Systems
and Northwest Rapid Manufacturing
May 18, 2010
April 29, 2010 13:00 - Insitu Inc. announced today that its ScanEagle Unmanned Aircraft
System (UAS) recently exceeded 300,000 combat flight hours, making it a leader in Group 2,
the small tactical class of UAS.
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Copyright Northwest UAV Propulsion Systems Inc and Northwest Rapid Manufacturing LLC
Brief Points:
• Introduction
• NWUAV company history including capabilities
• The prototype market – NWUAV experience
• Forming NWRapid and taking control of the process chain
• Future growth opportunities and applications
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About Alex:
• Mechanical Engineering degree from Grand Valley State University in Grand
Rapids, Michigan.
• 5 years at EOS as an application engineer where he was the plastics technology
expert providing training and technical support
• After meeting Chris Harris, President and Owner of Northwest UAV, Alex saw
great potential in his vision
• Leading SLS effort for last year in Oregon to help develop applications for the
UAV market and beyond
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About NWUAV and Chris:
• Company founded in 2002 by Chris Harris who has 25 years in aviation
• Previously Chris was VP of Maintenance and Engineering/Special Projects at
Evergreen International Airlines
• Projects included Boeing’s LCF, Supertanker, and NASA SOFIA
• From 1st protos to producing over 4,500 turnkey propulsion systems, 1 person
in a garage to 25+ people in about 2 years
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Recent NWUAV Acheivements:
• 9 total MEMS patents acquired from HP (05/2009) and PicoJet. Also licensed
patents for variable pitch propeller technology from Vari-Prop (08/2009)
• Recent AS9100 certification (07/2009)
• Fully implemented multi-company ERP System (03/2009), passed Boeing cost
& pricing data audit (09/2009) and Quality Audit (02/2010)
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NWUAV’s Investment in Capabilites:
• About $2 million invested in capital equipment including altitude chamber,
engine dyno and run room, flow bench, Mori Seiki mill, P390, P730, etc.
• HP Proliant Server System including Virtualization Platform with SonicWALL
and offsite backup tape storage
• Software capabilities include Solidworks 2010, Altium Designer 6.0, Magics
14.0, Netfabb 4.5, and MasterCam
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NWUAV’s Potential:
• In 2009, 2x growth rate over 2008 with $1 million working capital line of credit
to facilitate funding of inventory when necessary
• Occupies 5 buildings (approx. 15,000 sq ft) encompassing engineering,
production, inventory, and administrative functions
• High flexibility, low overhead, no sales tax
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Copyright Northwest UAV Propulsion Systems Inc and Northwest Rapid Manufacturing LLC
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Copyright Northwest UAV Propulsion Systems Inc and Northwest Rapid Manufacturing LLC
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Copyright Northwest UAV Propulsion Systems Inc and Northwest Rapid Manufacturing LLC
The Prototype Market – NWUAV experience:
• Start work in garage, had to outsource all prototypes
• Varying quality and lead times – late and delaminating/glued
• Also volatile pricing, material availability, etc. – “out of control” process
• More critical as quantities and quality expectations increase
• Bring in house - focus on application for highest quality
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Forming NWRapid Manufacturing:
• Split out from NWUAV as a separate company effective 12/2008
• Woman owned small business
• Occupies 2 additional buildings comprising approximately 4000 sq ft for
production and development
• Lay foundation to bring technology in house, growing parts production
business
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Taking Control of the Process Chain:
• Purchase EOS P390 to use with PA2201 (nylon 12)
• Set parameters and control variables to make strong thin walls
• Works for 1 year – 6 thin wall geometries – thousands of parts
• P390 machine near capacity level – running 24/7
• Approach to focused to produce broad range of geometries
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Growing NWRapid Manufacturing:
• Hire Alex Dick to take SLS operation to next level
• Purchase P730 to increase production capacity
• Use P390 to investigate other materials and applications
• Further optimization of processes and parameters
• Grow the business in core market and beyond
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NWRapid Machinery:
• P730 and P390 for plastic laser sintering
• Mori Seiki for machined Aluminum
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NWRapid Commitment:
• Committed to quality improvement
• Revamp process for determining material
parameters
• Unfilled PA12 (PA2201) process more
reliable and versatile
• New offerings including lighter weight,
increased stiffness, investment castable,
and flexible options
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Why NWRapid’s SLS parts:
•Prototype and production with one material/process – smooth transitions
•Dense parts with properties of base material not glue or sealant
•Glue or sealant as well as dying and/or painting okay when not Band-Aid
•Threading, inserts, metal coating – other value add post processes
•Support development, volume production – solid know-how and experience
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NWRapid’s Future Growth:
• Continue expanding portfolio - new materials and new applications
• UAV components include production ducting, shrouds, inlets, structures, flex
joints, fuel tanks, engine heads and cylinders and prototypes too.
• High quality, low cost parts work good in other markets too, already working in
consumer, medical/dental, military, and general prototyping
• Stay small and flexible with strong core know-how to grow new markets
• Grow partnership with NWUAV and grow new partnerships as well
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Questions?
Contact us for more information:
503-464-6845 or 503-437-0680
alex@nwuav.com
Also check out our websites:
www.nwuav.com and www.nwrapidmfg.com
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