The Digital Warehouse: A Look Inside Additive Manufacturing w/ Melanie Lang
Melanie Lang, Co-Founder and CEO of FormAlloy, discusses the evolution of additive manufacturing from prototyping to production, focusing on Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology. She explains how DED uses laser energy and metal powder to build or repair parts layer-by-layer, enabling multimaterial solutions and large-scale builds without support structures. Lang highlights aerospace applications like rocket nozzles and heat exchangers, where DED combines copper alloys for thermal properties with nickel superalloys for strength. She also addresses the industry's shift toward viewing manufacturing as a 'digital warehouse,' where digital files replace physical inventory, though she notes that trust and certification standards are still evolving.