What’s stopping procurement teams at large OEMs from taking advantage of cost savings and other benefits from 3D printing legacy parts? As summarized in this previous post, they face complex challenges — from determining which parts can feasibly be 3D-printed to assessing the cost of a 3D printing program compared to one-time purchases of parts being discontinued.
Accio3D was founded by leaders in supply chain risk management and pioneers in agentic AI to solve these challenges for our customers. Our mission is to empower customers to embrace on-demand production, reduce waste, cut costs, and optimize how they buy, stock, and distribute the critical legacy parts their long-term customers need.
While customer needs and the legacy part specs differ, we developed a six-part Agentic AI Ecosystem that evaluates and targets 3D printing opportunities for virtually any part.
Accio3D’s Agentic AI Ecosystem
1. Printability Agents
A large OEM may stock hundreds or even thousands of legacy parts, including items that have become obsolete but which the OEM must maintain for customers who are entitled to long-term support.
Some legacy parts are not good candidates for 3D printing with current technology. But many are. Screening parts for printability is a complex process requiring vast knowledge of 3D printing technology and economics. With training in materials science and engineering, 3D printing technology, and component specs and requirements across industry domains, our Printability Agents can quickly review a customer’s legacy parts to assess which are candidates for 3D printing. The agents even perform printability assessments when lacking complete data from the customer. For example, our agents can make solid assessments with only a 2D rendering or limited data on functional specs.
2. Materials & Equipment Agents
After the initial printability screening, Accio3D’s Materials & Equipment Agents perform a deeper dive, determining what materials and types of 3D printing equipment are best suited to make each part based on size, materials, strength requirements, likely order volumes, and other factors.
3. Sourcing and Ordering Agents
Armed with a comprehensive and growing database of 3D printing vendors, the Sourcing and Ordering Agents generate a list of entities likely to meet the customer’s needs. In addition to technical qualifications, the agents consider geography, identifying firms closest to where the customer wants to receive the parts. The Sourcing and Ordering Agents generate a Request for Qualification (RFQ) for potential vendors and provide the customer with a list of 3D printers who likely meet their needs.
3D printing vendors who onboard with Accio3D respond to RFQs. Even if they do not respond, 3D printing vendors can gain market intelligence as they review potential customer requests. In some cases, we anticipate that vendors will suggest innovations that had not occurred to the potential customers, advancing the state of industry expertise in a synergistic cycle that benefits both parties.
4. ROI Agents
The Accio3D ROI Agent produces cost estimates and projections for 3D printing specific parts in relevant quantities. For some commodity parts that are inexpensive to produce with metal stamping or other simple methods, the agent quickly determines that the ROI is not there. But the agent is also trained to examine options for materials and printing technology — even some that may not meet all specs but could offer other advantages.
For example, it might identify how 3D printing improves characteristics of an inexpensive stamped part that provides unanticipated value. The human experts weigh in on the tradeoffs, then make a decision. At this stage, collaboration with the customer’s team is important because human expertise is needed to refine options identified by the AI Agent. Teams can gather and verify data on the full-cycle costs of current practices, such as what the OEM is paying to store, manage, and distribute legacy parts. Ultimately, the ROI Agent produces a refined list of potential 3D printing vendors, which the next agent then facilitates through supply agreements and vendor relationships.
5. Logistics & Payment Agents
This is the most straightforward element of the process. These agents streamline contracting, pricing, terms, shipping arrangements, and other functions. The Logistics & Payment Agent also facilitates agreement around a prospective vendor’s provision of sample parts for the customer’s procurement team to evaluate.
6. Qualification Agents
These agents bring a refined understanding of a part’s specifications and manage the qualification of prospective vendors, while the OEM’s engineering team reviews samples of parts for quality and conformance.
The Qualification Agents are trained to pay special attention to the requirements of highly regulated and security-intensive industries like pharmaceuticals, aerospace, and defense. In these and similar industries, qualifying a new supply vendor can take many months, even years. In some cases, the ROI Agent will alert that 3D printing will not be cost-effective given the intensity and duration of qualification procedures.
Deepening Collaboration
Our Agentic AI Ecosystem does not act independently. It collaborates with human experts in 3D printing, product engineering, materials science, industry requirements, and other subjects, helping to train the agents. When a customer needs specialized help – for example, if they lack a 3D drawing for a part, require high-level qualification for a spec-sensitive item, or don’t know enough about 3D printing to understand how orientation affects tensile strength — an Accio3D component engineer will help.
However, beyond making 3D printing more accessible and feasible for individual customers, Accio3D supports the emerging industry of 3D printing companies by expanding their total addressable market and educating and empowering potential customers in industry domains that require large quantities of legacy parts. 3D printing vendors, 3D printing manufacturers, and large OEMs have been eager to collaborate with us because they can see the value in harnessing 3D printing for legacy and discontinued parts. They understand how our mission and business model support a new advanced manufacturing industry.
Bindiya Vakil is Accio3D’s founder and CEO
