The main obstacle to scaling up the use of AM is the complexity and cost of qualifying safety-critical components. In February Total field deployed the oil & gas industry’s first safety critical component – a key milestone worth celebrating. This opens up the door for other such parts to follow but in order to justify the upfront investment end-users must build solid business cases and co-operate with one another to share the costs.
One day, industry will store its spare parts in a “digital warehouse” and print them on demand, close to site. Total is currently engaging with the supply chain in order to craft the innovative business models that will allow our industry to make the most of this promising new technology.
