As additive manufacturing (AM) continues to revolutionize the commercial panorama, Pittsburgh-based consultancy The Barnes World Advisors (TBGA) helps form what that future seems to be like. As the most important unbiased AM consultancy on the planet, TBGA combines deep technical data with strategic experience to assist producers, establishments, and protection companions in navigating the complexities of AM adoption.
On the core of TBGA’s mission is a dedication to turning knowledge into actionable perception. “We’re a group of skilled professionals who can steadiness the technical and the strategic,” says founder John E. Barnes. “We flip knowledge into data and knowledge into insights, so the technique is knowledgeable by knowledge.”
That technique has already been applied. It’s being realized in locations like Neighborhood 91, an innovation hub situated on 200 acres of land at Pittsburgh Worldwide Airport. The initiative was born out of a dialog between Barnes and Christina Cassotis, CEO of the airport. Their thought was to construct a centralized campus for AM, one which leveraged Pittsburgh’s deep roots in manufacturing, supplies science, and educational analysis.
“Inside two hours of Pittsburgh, we now have printer producers, powder manufacturing, complementary manufacturing, and prestigious universities,” Barnes explains. “I mentioned that if we consolidated that right into a 200-acre campus centered on manufacturing, not on analysis, we might have an fascinating mannequin. Nobody else was doing that.”
Cumberland Additive at Neighborhood 91. Picture courtesy of The Barnes Group Advisors.
Launched in October 2022, Neighborhood 91 is now residence to a rising community of producers, analysis establishments, and know-how companions. The objective is to construct a extra environment friendly and collaborative AM provide chain, cut back manufacturing timelines, and lower prices via co-location and shared infrastructure.
TBGA’s involvement in Neighborhood 91 is only one piece of its broader dedication to constructing a extra linked and scalable AM ecosystem. As a longtime member of America Makes, TBGA can be engaged in key initiatives seeking to decrease the boundaries to AM adoption throughout numerous industries.
One such initiative is the Delta Qualification undertaking, designed to assist pace up and cut back the price of qualifying AM supplies.
“We noticed the necessity and knew it was aligned with our values as a result of that is on the core of what we do,” says Barnes.
As a part of the undertaking, TBGA took on a management position throughout the authorities’s Pink Group, a gaggle of specialists tasked with reviewing and difficult the undertaking’s technical method to make sure its success. On this position, TBGA helped information each the technical and strategic path of the hassle, offering important insights to enhance outcomes and align the undertaking with real-world trade wants.
In partnership with the Nationwide Heart for Protection Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), TBGA additionally supported the AMNOW (brief for Additive Manufacturing NOW) program, which tackled digital thread gaps within the sourcing and supply of AM elements. The consequence was flight-ready rotorcraft elements, new AMS specs, and a mannequin for accelerating future AM deployments.
Trying forward, TBGA helps lead the New England Superior Manufacturing (AMNEW) Information Problem, which engages highschool and undergraduate college students within the New England area. With assist from America Makes and NCDMM, this system is designed to strengthen engineering workforce improvement and join rising expertise with real-world AM challenges in metals and polymers.
And the Neighborhood 91 idea might not cease in Pittsburgh. TBGA is actively exploring methods to increase the mannequin to different areas and functions. One thought into consideration is utilizing the neighborhood mannequin to assist submarine manufacturing for the U.S. Navy.
“To construct elements for submarines, you want a community,” Barnes says. “Can Neighborhood 91 match that description? We’re working with BlueForge Alliance on these forms of challenges. That’s a unbelievable downside to resolve.”
By connecting stakeholders, constructing actual infrastructure, and creating next-gen expertise, TBGA is creating an ecosystem the place additive manufacturing can scale. From native financial progress to nationwide protection readiness, the agency’s work represents a imaginative and prescient for AM that’s as sensible as it’s formidable.
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