🔒New grant program helps supply chain manufacturers adopt 3D-printing technologies

After nearly 15 years with aerospace giant General Electric, Brittany Isherwood had gotten adept at understanding industry trends.

So, when she transitioned to Farmington-based Burke Aerospace, a family-owned supply chain company that provides electric discharge machining and milling services for the aerospace, industrial gas turbines, and defense industries, she knew the company would need to upgrade its technology.

“A lot of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Pratt & Whitney and GE are [transitioning] to 3D-printed parts,” said Isherwood, who has served as the company’s president since 2020. “But that creates a [challenge] for our business because if OEMs are printing parts in 3D, there may not be as much of a need for our type of services.”

While Isherwood recognized a need to incorporate additive capabilities to her company, the costs for such machinery — several hundred thousand dollars or more — can be prohibitively expensive for small- to mid-sized manufacturers.

But with support from the first-year Additive Manufacturing Adoption Program (AMAP), which recently awarded $100,000 grants to six Connecticut manufacturing companies — including Burke Aerospace – Isherwood was able to purchase an industrial 3D printer that she says will significantly improve capabilities, reduce lead times, and increase customer satisfaction.

“A process that may have previously taken eight to 12 weeks to complete in the past might take one to two weeks,” she said.

That competitive edge and continuing innovation is a hallmark of Connecticut manufacturers, says Ron Angelo, president and CEO of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT), which helped administer the AMAP program in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).

Funds for the program, which required an equal or greater match from recipient companies, came from the state’s Manufacturing Innovation Fund, which received state Bond Commission approval this summer for an additional $20 million in support.

“We had more than 60 companies inquire about the program and 16 submit applications [this past spring],” Angelo said.

The adoption phase of the process – when companies make investment in additive technologies – is the final and most critical part of a larger process that CCAT has been building for several years to expose and educate manufacturers.

“It’s been a multifaceted approach where [we] started with webinars to build awareness,” Angelo said. “The second phase was about demonstrations and getting companies to see how [new technology] could help them design their

Greater efficiencies, diversification

That experience and CCAT’s educational guidance was an important part of OKAY Industries pursuing funding through the AMAP program, according to Jim DeVecchis, director of manufacturing for the New Britain-based contract manufacturer that engineers component parts and sub-assemblies for the medical device, automotive and defense/firearms industries.

“There are several different 3D printing [machine] options and CCAT was very open about the pros and cons of each one [for our business],” DeVecchis said, noting his firm invested roughly double the amount of its AMAP grant to purchase new additive technology, a necessity given the evolving needs of core clients in the medical device sector.

He estimates the additive equipment his company purchased will cost around $300,000.

“This technology is essential to continuing the growth of our complex medical sub-components because they’re getting smaller as surgeries become more complex and minimally-invasive,” DeVecchis said. “Our [new] technology allows us to continue to supply our customers with what they need.”

He points to OKAY Industries’ NexTech Labs, part of the company’s prototype division, which helps customers design and test early product iterations. As a contract manufacturer, DeVecchis says, additive manufacturing will enable Okay Industries to ramp up production more quickly and efficiently if a prototype goes into production phase.

For Yash Mirchandani, general manager of Newington-based Beacon Industries, another Hartford area company that received AMAP funding, the additive equipment grant was as much about diversifying its product base as increasing efficiency.

“We predominantly serve the aerospace industry and when the [COVID-related] lockdown happened in 2020, it severely disrupted our operations,” Mirchandani said.

The decision to pursue additive manufacturing has provided Beacon Industries not only with opportunities to onboard several new products, but upskill employees and bring on new ones with the technical skills to support the new machinery.

“Advanced technology requires an advanced workforce,” said CCAT’s Angelo. “And that suits Connecticut very well.”

While the continuation of the AMAP program is not guaranteed, Angelo says, there are other programs he hopes that more manufacturers statewide take advantage of. For instance, he notes, CCAT offers a similar manufacturers voucher program (MVP), which provides up to $49,000 to eligible companies and, like the AMAP program, requires a minimum one-to-one match from company dollars.

“For Connecticut to maintain it’s [manufacturing] advantages, we need to continue to upskill and train the existing talent while companies adopt leading-edge technologies,” Angelo said. “And [the state] has to continue to assist companies with some of the capital costs of doing this.”