Can you find all 90 Pittsburgh neighborhoods on a map? How about Neighborhood 91? Venture out to Pittsburgh International Airport,1 and there it is: an additive manufacturing hub the airport established in 2019 in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh.
Additive manufacturing is basically the industrial version of 3D printing, using computer-aided design software to precisely add layer after layer of metallic powder. In contrast, traditional manufacturing often uses milling, machining and other methods to remove material. Additive manufacturing has been used a lot for prototyping, and some think it could be the next big thing in the manufacturing industry.
Soup to nuts
The innovation in Neighborhood 91 is that it consolidates the supply chain on a single campus, shortening production times by as much as 80% and lowering costs.
Metal Powder Works makes copper and aluminum powders on site. Metal powders are the key material used in the additive manufacturing process.
Arencibia supplies and recycles argon gas, needed to create an oxygen-free environment to avoid combustion while printing with metal powder.
HAMR works on moving materials from the lab to commercial production settings. The company has installed WarpSPEE3D, a cold spray additive manufacturing system that can handle a wider variety of metals and cement. The company works with with the Department of Defense, NASA and other partners
Wabtec traces its roots to George Westinghouse’s invention of the air brake. But at Neighborhood 91, the company employs three people and a $2.5 million 3D printer, or more technically a selective laser melting machine, to make brake parts and heat sinks for transit and freight rail.
Cumberland Additive is a Texas-based contract manufacturer that makes parts for the defense, aerospace and energy sectors. It’s added an electron beam powder fusion bed at Neighborhood 91, allowing it to make parts from titanium.
The airport provides the final link in the chain, allowing companies to ship products quickly. Wabtec, for example, hopes eventually to deliver parts anywhere in the world within 24 hours of production. The location is also near major highways, rail, and rivers.
Additive manufacturing could help the supply chain more broadly. Instead of building up costly inventories, companies could manufacture parts as needed, quickly pivoting to make a different component.
Down the assembly line
Manufacturers elsewhere in southwest Pennsylvania are also finding ways to make almost anything, and fast.
Want to make shin guards? Racing drones? An artificial limb? Pittsburgh startup RapidTPC makes all of these things and an array of others, using a compression molding machine it invented about a decade ago. Customers start by sharing product drawings. RapidTPC then helps them select the right material.
Its collection of thermoplastics can take on the properties of materials such as metal, glass, and wood. True to its name, RapidTPC takes just one to two weeks to pump out thousands of units of a newly designed product.Re:Build Manufacturing wants to capitalize on the nimbleness of operations like RapidTPC’s. In the spring, this Massachusetts-based firm announced its plans to build a factory – its first – in New Kensington.
Re:Build has acquired 11 companies, combining their design, engineering and production capabilities to help companies across industries produce a variety of goods, be it sports gear, airplane parts or pharmaceuticals. The company either makes the goods itself or advises customers on how to do so, with the goal of bringing more manufacturing back to the U.S.Manufacturers struggle to fill job openings. Formlogic, located in Robotics Row, wants to expand the labor pool by using robots and AI. Its software allows machinists located anywhere in the world to program equipment located on the factory floor, giving Formlogic access to a global workforce.
The remote machinists still rely on workers who are physically present to tell them when a machine starts to act up. But they can make necessary adjustments on their computer at home.
Quick hits
🤖 Domo arigato: With backing from a federal Build Back Better grant, the Robotics Factory officially launched to help boost robotics startups. [Technical.ly]
👉 The point: Google launched a community space called “The Point” to better engage with the community. [Post Gazette]
💸 VC for all? Pittsburgh-native Brandon Brooks is launching Zinsu with the goal of making venture capital investing open to more than just the wealthiest individuals. [Biz Times]
Despite its name, Pittsburgh International Airport is not technically in Pittsburgh. The airport itself spans both Findlay and Moon Townships. Neighborhood 91 lies on the Findlay side. However, the business district, perhaps in an effort to make it a little more mysterious like the purported UFO site Area 51, lists its address as Clinton, Pennsylvania, which is a census-designated place within Findlay Township.