Product assembly is a big factor in production time, labor cost, and complexity. 3D printing can be used to consolidate multiple parts into a single part that couldn’t be produced conventionally, but most products still need at least some assembly. Fasteners are fiddly and snap-fits are fragile. An emerging solution: advanced adhesives, applied with automated machinery—a step toward fully digital assembly.

In episode 7 of the Digital Factory Podcast, we sit down with Michael Todd, vice president for innovation and new business development in the Henkel Adhesives group, to discuss how adhesives can be used to create entire assemblies out of 3D printed parts, and how different adhesives can address different applications.

(The Digital Factory Conference is coming to Munich on May 14. Join executives from companies like Henkel, GE, BMW, and SAP to learn strategies for digital transformation in manufacturing. Visit https://digitalfactory.xyz/ to see the program, and register before April 5 for a €50 discount.)

Listen to hear about:

- The limitations of off-the-shelf adhesive solutions for advanced problems
- Some of the strangest chemistries and conditions Henkel has had to solve for
- What an adhesives expert would choose from the adhesives shelf at the hardware store in a pinch

Read more on the Formlabs blog:
http://bit.ly/2FY5MMk

Videos from The Digital Factory conference:
http://bit.ly/2q3lFdd