The digitisation of the manufacturing industry has been a hot topic for the last few years. The main discussion points usually revolve around the optimisation of in-house workflows. At the same time, a whole new industry has sprung from this movement towards digitisation – cloud manufacturing.
Cloud manufacturing enables users to upload their CAD drawings or models for instant pricing and lead times. This possibility streamlines the outsourcing of manufacturing by decreasing time spent on procurement processes.
A string of websites offering similar solutions have been appearing over the last few years.
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3D Printing Brought the First Success
3D printing was the driving force behind bringing manufacturing online. The manufacturing industry is largely based on long-lasting connections that act as a source of trust in an environment where quality is of the utmost importance.
As a new concept, 3D printing did not have those connections. As a result, they could start from scratch and offering their services online made sense.
Today, the market is full of providers who can give instant prices based on .STL models only. Nobody is hesitating about turning to such services, as this is the new norm.
First Generation of Metal Fabrication
Not long after, the first platforms for laser cutting services appeared. In the UK, Ponoko, Razorlab and others started offering laser cutting for wood and plastics.
The first generation had a specific niche group of followers – hobbyists. Now they had someone to turn to in order to get a few items produced without the hassle of going through long lists of service providers.
With the evolution of these platforms, more materials were added, including metals. While this was a huge step towards a large industry, the first generation still stuck to their audience.
The main stumbling block was the limitation to cutting only and the inability to quote 3D models. While this is enough for most hobbysists, it does not meet the requirements of the industrial side of manufacturing.
Full Service for Engineering Companies
Today, the first providers of online metal fabrication are up and running. While many have been anticipating this a the next logical step in manufacturing, quite a few engineers are surprised when finding these possibilities.
All of the platforms base their prices on similar features – the geometry of parts, location of the customer, material selection and quantities. Another common feature is that each of them has a network of manufacturing partners who take care of the fabrication process.
This opens up the opportunity to offer a wide variety of capabilities, short lead times and competitive prices all at one place. The partners, in turn, can fill gaps in production.
At the same time, each of these platforms brings some different qualities. Hence, we decided to give a brief overview of each of the leading cloud manufacturers in Europe currently.
Fractory
Fractory is a UK-based sheet metal fabrication company that offers laser, plasma and waterjet cutting services along with metal bending. The automated pricing algorithm currently works for laser cutting and metal bending.
The platform allows users to upload .DXF drawings or .STP files for instant pricing and lead times. The price changes are immediate after any of the inputs, e.g. material or quantity, is tinkered with.
The system reads the material thickness from the 3D model. Our sample order of 10 pieces of the same carbon steel part gave us a total cost of €184. The lead time on display was 7 days.
A noteworthy feature is that the platform does not require any manufacturing drawings to go with the 3D model.
Laserhub
Although they are currently only operating on 2 markets – Germany and France – they are expanding fast. So we can rest assured that they will soon reach the UK with their service.
Laserhub also offer laser cutting, metal bending and other related services. They have also included CNC machining but the pricing is still done manually for that.
Laserhub’s platform also accepted our .STP test part for pricing. The possibility to select rolling direction and deburring options caught the eye. Otherwise, the service seems quite similar to that of Fractory’s.
The quick quoting mechanism showed us that the production of 10 units of the same part costs €222 but the lead time is indicated as one month.
In case of parts that need bending, a manufacturing drawing should be enclosed.
Xometry
Xometry is the platform that has existed the longest of the three and has a well-established user-based in the US. They recently announced the acquisition of Shift to open up a path for European expansion.
The platform itself has quite a few services on offer. On top of sheet metal fabrication, they also do injection moulding, 3D printing, urethane casting, etc.
There are evidenly more options regarding specifications. For example, a selection from a long list of surface finishes, tolerances and inspection methods is available. Although each of them adds to the final cost, they all come handy in certain situations.
The largest downside is the price which is $1,491 for a 2 week lead time. Those prices are valid for the US though and we will have to wait to see how the pricing changes when they fully establish themselves in Europe.
Similarly to Laserhub, Xometry also requires a drawing when bending operations are to be performed.
A Way to Go
While nobody can really argue that a lot of time is wasted on procurement processes that can be at least partly automated, the applications of cloud manufacturing are still limited.
The coming years will show us which operations can be fully automated. The platforms have room to grow in order to meet all the expectations of the industry. A rise of similar systems will bring more competition and a need for quick development. This is the factor that will drive the growth of such ecosystems.
Still, cloud manufacturing is solving a real problem regarding the outsourcing of manufacturing. And the step into digital manufacturing is inevitable. Rather sooner than later.
