If you're following the 3-D printing space, you might know that aerospace companies are gung-ho about 3-D printing technology and are quickly embracing it. While General Electric (NYSE: GE) gets the lion's share of the press, its primary competitor,United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) , and other aerospace companies are also involved, to varying degrees, with 3-D printing technology.

We're going to explore a sampling -- it's by no means complete -- of how General Electric and United Technologies, which both have divisions that produce jet engines, are using or planning to use 3-D printing in their production processes. Both companies, like many large manufacturers, have been using 3-D printing for prototyping for many years.

Why should aerospace investors care? Aerospace companies that more quickly and successfully put to use 3-D printing throughout their operations will likely sport a competitive advantage over their slower-moving or less effective peers because of the considerable cost savings and innovative possibilities that this technology can unleash.

Why the aerospace industry is all-aboard the 3-D printing train (or plane)The aerospace industry is keen for 3-D printing for the same reasons many other industries are -- the technology can save time and costs, and it allows for increased innovation.

The cost savings are driven by a few factors, including less raw material use than in traditional manufacturing. This is because 3-D printing is additive, and builds a component up layer by layer, rather than subtractive like traditional manufacturing, which involves whittling away at a chunk of material -- a process that generates much waste. Increased innovation is made possible because 3-D printing allows for designing and producing some parts that can't be made using traditional manufacturing processes.

While raw material cost savings aren't a benefit unique to the aerospace industry, they're a bigger factor than in most other industries because aerospace-grade materials, such as titanium, are very pricey.

There is one big factor rather unique to the aerospace industry: weight. Weight is of critical concern for aerospace components, as small reductions in weight lead to huge savings in fuel costs. 3-D printing allows for some components to be constructed in a such a way as to make them considerably lighter than would be possible using traditional manufacturing techniques. Weight, of course, is a factor among automakers, too, but not to the same magnitude.

General Electric: $255 billion market capGeneral Electric's big push into 3-D printing started when it bought Morris Technologies in late 2012. This acquisition gave GE a full-scale 3-D production facility near its aviation division's Ohio headquarters, as Morris was then equipped with 35 3-D printers, mainly comprised of privately held EOS's direct metal laser sintering systems, along with at least one or two of Arcam's (NASDAQOTH: AMAVF) electron beam melting, or EBM, systems.

In mid-2013, General Electric announced it planned to use 3-D printing to produce the fuel nozzles for its new Leap jet-engine, each of which will contain 19 nozzles. This is a huge undertaking, as GE needs to fabricate 85,000 nozzles for the engine orders it has in hand, and expects its annual production to eventually require 45,000 nozzles, according to a Bloomberg article.

The company's massive nozzle production goals would require it to buy at least 60 very pricey 3-D printers, which isn't cost effective. So GE plans to use current technology to ramp up its production while also working with supply chain manufacturers to develop new higher-capacity systems.

Read the original here:

3-D Printing in the Aerospace Industry: How General Electric and United Technologies Are Using This