Boeing titanium aerospace machining (buy-to-fly ratio)

Boeing as Digital Alloys' early investor and strategic partner. Example part: 7 kg block → 0.5 kg machined part; 10 kg block → 1 kg part. Ninety percent of titanium ends up on the floor as machining waste. Boeing's interest in additive is waste reduction, energy savings, lightweighting.

In my experience working with companies like Boeing, oftentimes you'll start with a big block, and you may be creating just a T-bracket — something like that — and you'll have to mill away all of that material. Sometimes you'll start with a ten-kilogram block and end up with a one-kilogram part. With a material like titanium, which aerospace is using more — ten kilograms of titanium, $500 or $600 worth of titanium, ninety percent ends up on the floor. One reason Boeing invested in us is to think about how they can improve that. Companies like Boeing look at 3D printing as a way to save money and time. If you can print this faster than you can machine it from billet, there's time savings. There's also the environmental footprint — a ton of energy goes into producing the primary material, especially with titanium. If you can reduce a lot of that scrap, you reduce your energy footprint. And if you can make a lighter part that goes into the plane, the energy savings there can be massive.