Challenge 3
Challenge #3: Control Regimes Enabling Sustainable Additive Manufacturing for Ships
Winner: Precise Design (NS) in partnership with Tronos Aviation (PEI)
The maritime and naval sectors face ongoing challenges in maintaining complex supply chains for ship parts. Many components become obsolete or unavailable from original manufacturers. Ships operating far from ports must perform timely repairs and upgrades without relying on traditional supply channels.
Additive manufacturing—such as 3D printing of metals and plastics—offers a solution by enabling on-demand production of parts. However, integrating this technology into established supply chains while meeting stringent regulatory and quality standards remains a significant hurdle. The dynamic environment at sea, diverse material requirements, and need for trained personnel add further complexity.
This challenge sought innovative solutions that embed additive manufacturing within compliant, supply chain-integrated frameworks. The goal: enhance operational readiness, reduce downtime, and future-proof ship maintenance for remote and extended missions.
The Winning Solution
Precise Design, in collaboration with Tronos Aviation, is developing an advanced manufacturing framework and associated training program designed to accelerate procurement timelines, replace obsolete or hard-to-source parts, and address ongoing supply chain challenges.
By leveraging Tronos Aviation’s aerospace experience and additive manufacturing capabilities, the initiative brings proven high-precision processes and quality standards into the naval context. This approach enables faster, more reliable production and replacement or critical naval components – reducing dependency on traditional supply chains and long lead times.
The framework supports greater operational flexibility by allowing parts to be produced closer to the point of need. This enhances readiness and resilience, particularly for operations in remote, constrained, or time-sensitive environments where rapid turnaround and equipment availability are essential.
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