machines or devices that are produced by the hundreds it s not a reasonable way to manufacture things No significant new risks Febo explains that under current conditions additive manufacturing doesn t present sig nificant new risks The equipment can be located in a typical moderate hazard manu facturing operation with automatic sprinkler protection in work areas and storage rooms Cleanup of manufactured parts should be conducted in hoods or enclosures equipped with suitable ventilation and dust collection systems and where the alloys are combustible basic ignition source controls should be in place The handling of powders and their disposal should be done in accor dance with the manufacturer s instructions and safety data sheets Febo says the rules for additive man ufacturing are not much different from FM Global s current recommendations But he said that the evolution of 3 D print ing has only just begun The application of the technology is endless and if the last six years are any indication additive manufac turing will only get faster more refined and more widespread Additive manufacturing is expected to impact just about every industry including automotive medical business and industrial equipment education architecture and con sumer products Unpredictable future As the process improves 3 D printing may become practical for producing items by the thousands instead of the hundreds Instead of manufacturers having one or two 3 D printers in R D they potentially could fill an entire manufacturing floor Hundreds of 3 D print ers linked together churning out products What happens in five years when things change asks FM Global s Mark Blank assistant vice president and opera tions chief engineer Someone is going to develop new techniques that make the pro cess faster and less costly Do they do it in a way that introduces a mixture of materials that are more reactive As the role of additive manufacturing expands so do the potential risks says Dr Jenny Chao senior lead research scientist FM Global She pointed out that while the current small scale use of 3 D printers doesn t pose a significant explosion risk conditions could be different in a full scale additive manufacturing environment The storage and handling of large quantities of metal powders may require completely different protection recommendations than are being used today Beyond understanding the hazards associated with how our clients currently use 3D printers and what we can do to help them avoid or reduce loss we also need to identify potential hazards that can develop as additive manufacturing rapidly evolves says Chao We have to ask ourselves what are the innovations that will drive additive manufacturing in the future Right now the desire is to print large parts quickly but there are new innovations such as printing parts using multiple materials from a single machine that may completely transform 3 D printing This change may introduce an entirely new set of hazards that we need to understand in order to protect the value of our clients businesses One machine for prototyping is dif ferent from full scale production Chao said What happens when you go from little jars of powders to much larger con tainers What happens when stand alone machines are replaced by hundreds that are interconnected The hazards may be some thing that is not covered in our current engi neering data sheets Researchers are predicting that addi tive manufacturing will eventually redefine the entire manufacturing process Factories will be smaller and located closer to the con sumer as additive manufacturing negates the benefits of large scale production facilities On demand printing will reduce the need to store finished products and raw materials in powder and liquid form will be stored in large containers Additive printing has been touted to be able to reduce supply chains assembly lines and inventories says Chao Although we are not there yet if this becomes a real ity our clients may be able to simply print what is needed on demand instead of having parts shipped from a network of supply chains around the world This implies that in addi tion to explosion and material reactivity con cern clients may also face equipment hazard issues This has the potential to have a large impact on business continuity And while it still seems like the Back to the Future promise of the hoverboard predic tions include the day when everyone has a 3 D printer at home When you wear out your favorite sweater you just print a new one The technology is going to continue to evolve and we re not entirely sure where it s going Blank added Wherever it takes us we are committed to staying ahead of the new developments and effectively managing these changes so we can adhere to the utmost standards of property loss prevention What happens in five years when things change Someone is going to develop new techniques that make the process faster and less costly Do they do it in a way that introduces a mixture of materials that are more reactive Mark Blank OPERATIONS CHIEF ENGINEER FM GLOBAL 20 REASON ISSUE 2 2015

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