Traceability bolsters prospects for additive manufacturing

Although a variety of part traceability solutions are available for traditional manufacturing processes, including bar coding, laser etching and adding serial numbers and radio frequency identification, those technologies are not particularly efficient or effective for additively manufactured parts, which tend to have complex geometries and can be microscale, according to Cody Burke, co-founder and COO of SmartParts.

To overcome those challenges, SmartParts reports that it developed an integrated solution that combines advanced material taggants, hardware and software to connect manufacturing data to additive materials and parts.