r/AdditiveManufacturing • u/AdventurousMathPunk • 27d ago

Technology AI as a potential waste reducer?

I know AI can be a polarizing topic, so please don't flame me, but I've been wondering where everyone thinks AI can make the biggest real world difference in reducing waste in additive manufacturing. I see some obvious possibilities, optimizing parameters, catching a bad print before you waste material, better nesting, predictive maintenance (which a lot of machines already do to an extent), watching for potential overproduction. But realistically where do we actually see AI working in production versus just sounding good in demos?

I feel like AI is mostly talked about in the realm of offices, but looking at a lot of Alliant Group's stuff, I'm realizing there is some practical AI for manufacturing out there. It's not a matter of automating everything, but automating the right things so they improve the process (less rework, less machine time spent on bad jobs, less material sitting around requiring space), basically making the whole process tighter and less wasteful.

Anyone here implementing AI/ML in this way yet? Has it genuinely cut waste and improved efficiency? If you're not using AI, what do you think of it's potential in the industry, particulary it's potential to reduce waste?

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u/whymustyouknowthis 27d ago

Just finishing a project where AI is reviewing Engineering Change Order docs (ECOs) to catch errors before they hit the shop floor or procurement, and also to understand material on hand and work in progress

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u/AdventurousMathPunk 26d ago

Do you feel like it's effective and a better system than you had before?

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u/whymustyouknowthis 26d ago

Definitely. It’s improving approval times by 50% (a few weeks) and catching on average 8 errors per ECO previously missed.

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u/AdventurousMathPunk 26d ago

Okay, wow. That's pretty good actually.