3D Printing: Navy Must Go All In on Additive Manufacturing, Official Says.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

The traditional means of making metal parts by casting and forging has served humankind well for the past 2,600 years or so, but additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is the future, at least as far as the Navy is concerned, a senior service leader said.

The sea service has made some headlines lately installing 3D printers aboard ships, which allows sailors to make lost or broken parts on the spot without having to wait weeks or months to have replacements delivered.

That is a positive development, said Matt Sermon, executive director of the strategic submarines program executive office.

However, he predicted that ship manufacturers and their suppliers will have to make the switch from the traditional means of making metal parts to these advanced manufacturing techniques. It is the only way to solve the Navy's current and future supply chain issues, he said.

"I earnestly believe that metallic additive manufacturing is the path to the capability and capacity you need for critical materials in the submarine industrial base. And that same holds true for surface ships, and its systems, and for sustainment as well," he said recently at the American Society of Naval Engineers annual conference in Arlington, Virginia.

For Sermon--who has emerged as a leading voice in the Navy on reviving the nation's manufacturing capacity--additive manufacturing is not something on a wish list, but a necessity if the service is to deliver all the ships and submarines it plans on building in the coming years.

There are current supply chain issues for parts made of heavy metals through casting and forging. The Navy is working with suppliers to train workers and make them more efficient, but that won't be enough in the coming years, Sermon said.

The submarine sector alone is aiming to produce three boats per year, two Virginia-class subs and one Columbia class. Then there are modernization and sustainment programs.

"There is a war for talent. In particular, I'm talking about the manufacturing workforce," Sermon said.

Between the Navy, the major shipbuilders and their approximately 17,000 suppliers, there will be a shortage of some 100,000 workers on submarine programs over the next decade, the Navy estimated.

"We are in the fight today, investing in those market sectors, working with vendors to help on their human resources side, their workforce pipeline, those kinds of things," Sermon said. But when the Navy looks at its future manufacturing demands, it...