Just Do It Yourself: Implementing 3D Printing in a Deployed Environment

With increased budget cuts and an aging aircraft fleet, the Air Force is looking for innovative ways to reduce procurement, transportation, and inventory costs of tools, parts and supplies. In particular, traditional manufacturing, taking inventory, and transporting aircraft parts and supplies can be slow, costly, hazardous to personnel, and dangerous for the environment. The new manufacturing technology called 3D printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing has been held out as a possible way to reduce repair time, costs of procurement, transportation, and inventory costs, while also being safer, less labor intensive, and more environmentally sound than traditional manufactured replacement parts.