Fieldmade using NOMAD on-site Additive Manufacturing for spare and replacement parts during shipbuilding
June 20, 2023
Fieldmade, headquartered in Lillestrøm, Norway, is using Additive Manufacturing to produce large quantities of spare and replacement for use in the Johan Castberg, a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel used in the oil industry and undergoing final construction at the Aker Stord shipyard in Norway. The company has manufactured over 2,000 polymer and metal parts in just six months, all within a shipping container located on the quayside, reports Maskinregisteret.
Fieldmade was established in 2016 and originates from FFI (Norwegian Defence Research Establishment) at Kjeller. In addition to developing digital supply chain and digital inventory services, the company offers in-field Additive Manufacturing through its NOMAD series of portable, shipping container-sized micro factories. These self-contained mobile units include options for both polymer and metal AM production, and can house up to four operatives.
Maskinregisteret met with Technical Manager Svein Hjelmtveit at Fieldmade’s NOMAD03 mobile production unit, situated within the shipyard not far from the Johan Castberg vessel. Hjelmtveit explained, “Here, in addition to our micro factory, you can also see the containers from the many supplier companies from all over the world. In them are stored spare parts for various technologies that are installed on board the ship. These are large volumes and often it turns out that parts that have been delivered do not fit the equipment to be assembled on board. This is where we come in.”
Fieldmade can 3D scan the object, transfer it to a 3D modeling program and then simulate additive production. Based on this reverse engineering, parts can be redesigned to fit and then additively manufactured from polymer or metal.
Being located in the shipyard has numerous advantages. Hjelmtveit continued, “Our experience here at Johan Castberg is that there is not a single industry that has not been in contact with us, and imagine how many actors there are on a project like this. The fact that in six months we have produced two thousand components for all kinds of purposes says something about the potential for Additive Manufacturing in the field. Because that’s what we’re talking about, locally produced, a few meters from where the ship is built.”
But it is not only in ship building where the company sees the advantages of being located next to the point of need. Brage Vasseljen, Product Development Engineer at Fieldmade, added. “One thing is that we see how great the need is for spare parts for building ships, but this could just as well have been building a factory. Faulty designs, faulty deliveries of parts and things that wear out or break during the construction process give us countless opportunities to demonstrate how good Additive Manufacturing is. Many times we make better parts than the originals, and in record time. The feedback we get is good and that is the most important thing for us.”
To read the original Maskinregisteret article, click here.
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