The following article appeared in the Pacific Daily News:
A new factory capable of 3D printing industrial-grade parts for the Navy could begin manufacturing items by the early part of 2026, according to the lead for the Applied Science & Technology Research Organization, ASTRO, America initiative.
ASTRO director and general manager Alex Benham said the factory will be at the Pacific Industrial Park in Dededo.
They will have an initial operating capacity within the first quarter of next year, with plans to scale up.
Within the initial 8,000 square-foot Dededo factory, there will be industrial 3D printers for metal, smaller printers for plastics, metallurgical, advanced measuring and testing capabilities, as well as equipment to reverse engineer hard-to-find parts.
Benham, a mechanical engineer with a background in industrial manufacturing, leads the Guam Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Accelerator, GAMMA.
It’s a partnership between ASTRO, the Navy, the government of Guam, and the Colorado School of Mines to establish advanced industrial 3D printing capabilities on Guam and train up the local workforce.
“The Navy is, of course, our first and primary customer at this point in time, like they are funding this initiative to stand it up,” he said.
But anyone who may be interested in using the factory’s services can get into contact with him to work out the details, he said.
According to Benham, the operation will require about 80 employees on the low end through the next six years.
But plans to train up the local workforce, and increased business interest in the island as a result of the new manufacturing base, could lead to bigger economic opportunities, he said.
And having the ability to manufacture needed parts and equipment locally will be its own benefit to the community, Benham added.
“I can’t overstate the importance of doing it all here, building the workforce here, the factory here, building the parts here, supplying jobs here, all that stuff has to happen here, and it has to all grow at some sort of steady pace together,” he said.
Defense production
Producing parts for Navy ships is one of the main aims of the GAMMA initiative, but being able to 3D print industrial equipment also has a bigger impact on defense in the region, according to Benham.
“Navy ships are constantly needing new parts, just because things break,” he said, adding that saltwater wears down metal even quicker. “On top of that…having a manufacturing capability here on island is really impactful for that calculus that the adversaries are doing.”
Benham said producing necessary parts to repair equipment locally, and sustain operations, adds to the ability to deter any threats.
“We don’t have to wait for response from the mainland or from Hawaii, which is the next closest real manufacturing type of area that could get us, which is 4,000 miles away,” he said.
Education, economic impacts
The GAMMA initiative is looking to educate and train up locals with skills in manufacturing and mechanical engineering, Benham said.
He said it wouldn’t be sustainable to build a new manufacturing industry if there wasn’t a base of people on Guam to work in that industry.
“What I’m doing is to work with the local institutions, you know, reaching down into high school all the way up and through graduate level,” Benham said.
Those skills alone will improve job opportunities.
Benham said there is also an increasing interest from different companies not only in marine supply, but also aviation and automotive firms in the region because of the 3D manufacturing initiative.
The benefits of 3D manufacturing, as opposed to traditional factory lines, are of interest to different businesses, he said.
Benham gave the example of a factory producing a pair of sunglasses.
One pair might have just three parts, he said. But each of the three parts needs very specialized tooling to make, and that tooling can only make that specific part.
That makes sense if you need to make one million pairs of sunglasses, but not if you need to make lots of different things in smaller quantities.
“Having additive (3D manufacturing) here allows you the flexibility in your supply chain to make whatever you need, whenever you need it,” Benham said. “A traditional production line requires massive amounts of investment to make a bazillion of one thing. If you need a whole bunch of different things, not the solution.”
That capability is of big interest to the Navy in a remote location like Guam, but could also entice different businesses to do work in the region.
Beyond that, 3D printing also has the benefit of allowing the production of more unique components, with better efficiencies like strength to weight ratios, that traditional manufacturing processes don’t.
Civilian use, reverse-engineering
According to Benham, the new factory could also produce parts and provide new capabilities that will benefit local civilians.
He said intricate components are probably the most likely candidates for local production runs, not simple items like nuts and bolts, which could already be bought cheaply at Home Depot.
“Someone comes to me and they say like, ‘A gear for a water pump is out, and we need a new part,’” Benham said, for example.
If that person could provide a model for the part, production could proceed quickly.
But if they couldn’t, the reverse-engineering capability that GAMMA is bringing can be used.
“We have the ability to scan so we can make a digital copy of it, reverse engineer it, make a 3D model, and then we’re at the same point again,” Benham said.
Depending on requirements and the size of that gear, the customer could have the item in their hand in between two days and one week.
Other intricate components, for example impellers commonly found in automotive water pumps, could also be good candidates for 3D production.
That reverse-engineering capability can also provide parts that are very old and out of production, or very hard to find, according to Benham.
Unique designs, recycling
There are also opportunities to get creative with designs for parts for different uses, given the benefits that 3D printing has for materials efficiencies.
Benham, a self-described gear head, said any local racing teams with an interest in parts that could solve specific problems might have an interest in the tech.
There are also plans down the road for a recyclable foundry that could repurpose scrap metals.
Some technical challenges are involved, including requirements for measuring what exactly any scrapped metal is composed of.
Benham said they are working on a “characterization lab,” which will tell them the materials an item is made up of.
“If you recycle it, we can measure it and tell you what is it, how strong it is,” he said.
The goal is to get to the point where materials found around the island could be recycled and reused, he added.