Decades of outsourcing and offshoring have significantly reduced the United States’ manufacturing capacity and know-how. Revitalizing domestic production is now a national priority, but rebuilding traditional manufacturing capacity requires massive capital investment, new factory infrastructure, and a newly trained, skilled workforce.

Additive manufacturing holds the potential to transform and revitalize the United States’ manufacturing capability. However, adoption to date has been limited by slow print speeds, poor cost competitiveness, especially at high volumes, and a widespread lack of industry trust that 3D printed components will perform as reliably as traditionally-manufactured parts.

At Roadrunner Venture Studios, we co-build advanced manufacturing companies with the nation’s most brilliant scientists, engineers, and innovators. We’ve explored 3D printing company concepts across hardware, materials, and parts manufacturing, ranging from intricate, high-complexity components to large-format builds like boats or walls for houses. However, nearly every company faces the same problem: qualification, particularly when targeting mission-critical parts in high-stakes industries.

Traditional manufacturing methods like casting and forging date back to the BC years. Hence, there is a deeply ingrained industry belief, supported by centuries of evidence, that these processes yield predictable, repeatable outcomes: if you do “X,” you get “Y.” Since additive manufacturing is comparatively new, it has yet to earn the same level of trust, with many buyers needing further validation that parts produced via this process are of good quality.

To mitigate risk and ensure that additive parts are designed and manufactured as intended, and will reliably support a functioning system as expected, manufacturers and customers have developed complicated and bespoke qualification processes. The process of qualification is one of the most significant barriers to broader adoption of AM. It can take several years and several million dollars for a new supplier’s first part to be qualified for a new customer, with some estimating that this work and ongoing quality control can account for up to 70% of production costs.

There needs to be a better way.

At Roadrunner, we envision a future where parts made via additive manufacturing are trusted with the same confidence as those made by traditional casting or forging and the speed by which they are qualified is similar to traditionally manufactured components.

While several entities (ISO, ASTM, etc.) are in the process of creating standards and common frameworks, we think there is a significant opportunity for tech innovation in the qualification space.

Topics That Excite Us

  • Technologies that reduce or eliminate post-inspection processes, especially expensive CT scans and destructive evaluation.
  • Technologies that reduce the number of required test coupons while maintaining statistical confidence.
  • Technologies that correlate part design with print outcomes, including prediction of material properties from actual builds.
  • Design intelligence that guides part design, material choice, and process parameters to effectively achieve functional requirements.
  • One-stop-shop qualification service companies that streamline and manage the full qualification process for manufacturers.

Roadrunner is interested in founders, startups, and scientists with innovative ideas on how to move the needle on qualification.