CLEVELAND — Power management company Eaton announced the opening of an Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) at its Southfield, Mich., Innovation Center. The AM CoE will usher in a new era in the company’s manufacturing capabilities by adding cutting-edge manufacturing technologies in 3D-printing for both metal and non-metal applications.
Eaton’s investment in the AM CoE will enable the company to meet increasing demand for complex high performance components, tools and fixtures, while improving speed to market and advancing sustainable manufacturing efforts.
“Additive manufacturing opens up opportunities to combine novel materials, designs and process innovations at a much faster pace than utilizing traditional manufacturing technologies,” said Ramanath Ramakrishnan, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Eaton. “It enables the engineer with quick and cost-effective design iterations and may well change the paradigm from a ‘design for manufacture’ to ‘manufacture to design’.”
Eaton engineers globally will train at the AM CoE, and eventually contribute to further developing additive manufacturing techniques and facilitating the technology’s rapid adoption in real world products. The initial investment included dedicating 3,700 square-feet within Eaton’s Southfield Innovation Center, staff and machines for direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), and a range of 3D-printing technologies for polymers, supporting computing and machine shop.
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