DEDICATED TO EXCELLENCE: SERVICE • QUALITY • INNOVATION
ESTABLISHED 1953
All Metals Fabricating offers a wide range of manufacturing capabilities in a single partner. For customers developing a new product, however, our in-house engineering team can be just as valuable as our equipment.
Our work with PRINT3D Technologies shows how integrated engineering and fabrication can support faster development and turn an early prototype into a production-ready machine.
PRINT3D Technologies builds 3D-printed concrete homes and manufactures large-scale printing systems used to construct them. Their systems extrude concrete one layer at a time to construct the shell of a home in as little as 48 hours of print time.
The system’s flexibility is one of its major benefits; it can work from a wide variety of floor plans and include features like curves more easily than traditional construction. And once printing is complete, the result is a tightly sealed, monolithic wall structure.
According to PRINT3D, these concrete structures offer resistance to common threats such as fire, high winds, mold, and termites while providing the long-term durability associated with concrete construction.
Craig Pettit, the company’s founder, believes the potential applications extend well beyond traditional residential housing.
“We haven’t even discovered all the potential uses yet,” he said. “The durability and design freedom create a tremendous number of possibilities. It is a truly revolutionary technology.”
In addition to printing homes, PRINT3D Technologies manufactures printing systems for customers that want to use the technology themselves. The company recently began developing its latest machine, which uses a 2-inch hose to deliver concrete to the printhead.
PRINT3D Technologies had already created a functional prototype, but Pettit wanted to improve its appearance and its performance. The early version proved that the concept worked, but it still looked like a prototype. The next version needed a refined appearance and added functionality, all in addition to the reliability that customers would expect for a commercial machine.
Pettit had previously done business with All Metals Fabricating CEO Lance Thrailkill, and spoke to him about the machine when PRINT3D was ready to make improvements. Lance knew right away All Metals had the perfect combination of engineering knowledge and manufacturing capabilities to support it.
Pettit was interested, and visited their headquarters to make his final decision.
“Touring the facility removed any doubt,” he said. “The shop is extremely organized and clean, and you can see the automated equipment moving while everyone works in a coordinated way. The professionalism of everyone I met showed me that this was the right team.”
The project began with design and engineering. All Metals helped PRINT3D Technologies improve the machine’s appearance while also finding areas where functionality could be improved. The work included mechanical design, electromechanical systems, and robotics.
“The improvement in appearance was dramatic,” Pettit said. “The earlier version looked like a rough home-built machine. The new version looks as sleek as an iPhone. And the engineering team has made major improvements to how the machine functions.”
Mobility was one important design consideration. The printer is approximately 40 feet by 40 feet and must travel from one construction site to another. If the system is difficult to assemble and disassemble, moving it between projects can become a bottleneck. The team successfully simplified transport and assembly of the machine.
All Metals has also designed and manufactured a rotary printhead that allows the printer to print a square bead that produces the appearance of traditional brick. Another benefit of the rotary printhead is to automate smoother surfaces that resemble stucco on exterior walls or sheetrock on interior walls.
“To get widespread adoption, the finished home needs to look and feel familiar and comfortable to a customer,” Lance said. “That is one of the areas where All Metals has been engineering innovative new solutions for PRINT3D.”
In product development, once a machine enters field testing, the team will almost always discover issues that were hard to predict during the original design process. And when you’re trying to solve those issues, you want a manufacturing partner that responds quickly.
“All Metals lived by its ‘Whatever It Takes’ core value as they helped us overcome our challenges,” Pettit said. “When we needed support, the team responded, including during nights and weekends.”
One day, for instance, PRINT3D found a component was not performing as intended during testing. The All Metals team immediately redesigned the part and manufactured the replacement overnight, then installed it shortly afterward. An engineer stayed on-site past 10 p.m. to help resolve the problem.
Having engineers and manufacturing personnel on the same team shortens the feedback loop during product development. Engineers can communicate directly with the people producing a part.
“If you’re using a large number of suppliers, there can be a major disconnect between engineering and fabrication,” Lance said. “Having everyone working together makes it much easier to identify a problem and develop a solution.”
All Metals also has the in-house capabilities needed to turn those designs into finished components. The company produces every fabricated and machined part for the PRINT3D system. Different parts pass through nearly every department of our facility, including laser cutting, deburring, forming, welding, powder coating, precision machining, and assembly.
For Pettit, the partnership has shown that All Metals Fabricating’s values are reflected in how its team approaches demanding product-development projects.
“Look at their values and know that they live by them,” Pettit said. “Their results speak for themselves. If you compare them with other shops, you’ll see the difference.”
If you need a manufacturing partner that can both provide engineering support and produce complex fabricated and machined parts, request a quote from All Metals Fabricating.
