The impossibility that is unattainable in the eyes of others seems to him to be a quasi-reality that can be achieved by hard work, Xue Lei has a strong reality distortion force, which drives him to dare to have a real collision with the future, making him highly focused and iterating quickly, like a fearless teenager, extremely keen forward, quickly filtering the noise all the way, through loneliness and challenges.
After knowing each other for ten years, I often feel that Xue Lei is a madman who is "a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers", and he does not have the experience of those old manufacturers for the difficulties and ups and downs of manufacturing, but his ability to be down-to-earth and open up a new manufacturing territory is there. Outsiders can see that the bitterness in this is unbearable and imaginable, but Xue Lei open-mindedly swallowed the bitterness, comparing himself to a blacksmith, perhaps he has become accustomed to treating bitterness as sweetness, thus exuding a vitality called "GRIT", and this resilience is not only Xue Lei's, but also Blit, but also the "GRIT" of Chinese who make China stand tall in the world.
From many angles, Xue Lei doesn't know what it means to be tactful, and in the past ten years, no matter what kind of "ill intentions" I have implied in his problems, trying to knock out his natural weakness of manufacturing as soon as he leaves school, but he always has his own understanding and innate right instinct, giving concise and thorough answers, which may be the innate certainty that the reality distortion in his bones has shaped for him.
Where the heart desires, the past, life is like a reverse journey, a reed to sail, bravely and the future of the real collision! Make manufacturing easier and make the world a better place. In the next ten years, I will still be a teenager!
Xiaoyan Wang l Founder of 3D Science Valley l 2024.6
BLT's GRIT
Come across a good opportunity and get things done seriously
Ten questions about BLT
▏ Cross-border questioning
1 Q: Tesla does not have a complex product line, so simple that people on the earth can basically understand it at a glance, but through the continuous upgrading of software can give the car new energy, how to view the development of 3D printing equipment, will one day upgrade the manufacturing level of the entire workshop with one click?
Xue Lei: The iteration of hardware and the iteration of software have a sequence and rhythm of the logic, when the hardware iteration is relatively slow, the iterative force of the software can be improved, but the hardware is relatively stable, unstable to develop software, at this time, if the software is not developed, the hardware is upgraded and will not be connected, and the rhythm needs to be matched.
2 Q: There is a surprising phenomenon in the traditional machine tool industry, some companies do not innovate, some companies innovate very frequently, but often not very innovative companies have cash flow, when the economy is declining, it can counterattack, the acquisition of innovative enterprises, the innovation of others for hundreds of years of innovation as their own, from this point of view, how to view the competition in the field of additive manufacturing?
Xue Lei: The cost of innovation is indeed very high, and a balance needs to be found between stability and innovation, innovation needs to be on a stable basis, and the stability of equipment quality and cash flow are very important.
3 Q: The photovoltaic industry has experienced a great development before, but then the early enterprises have disappeared, how do you see the high risk of entering the new technology field such as 3D printing?
Xue Lei: This is a pain that must be accepted, and it will inevitably go through a tragic reshuffle before the market can move towards a healthier development, and it can only be faced.
4 Q: Does that mean that you need to be ready for winter when the days are good?
Xue Lei: Preparation for winter is a matter of every day, not only when the days are good, but also every day to think about how to survive the winter, cash flow is very important.
5 Q: The development of foreign 3D printing equipment manufacturers has encountered a big bottleneck, such as SpaceX through their technology to achieve the production of complex parts, rockets soaring, the valuation is also very high, and 3D printing equipment manufacturers sell out of equipment there are no more orders, how to view this "unfair"?
Xue Lei: It is still necessary to apply the equipment more widely, and think about how to fight with the casting in terms of cost, so that the application is wide to have the survival and development space of the enterprise.
6 Q: Will there be many device models in order to meet different applications? How will this increasingly complex product line evolve in the future?
Xue Lei: There will be a process of divergence to convergence in the product line, along with the development of demand, different manufacturers in the market will launch more equipment models, and in the future, there will be convergence of equipment models, and fewer equipment models will meet the needs of different markets through modular configuration.
▏Strategy & Vision
7 Q: Will metal 3D printing be limited to the aerospace field?
Xue Lei: BLT has been delivering large quantities to the 3C field, and there are still many potential for additive manufacturing applications in the industrial field, all of which have mass production potential, and many of them have not yet been developed, and this part of the overseas market is already large enough.
8 Q: 3C is a field with very strict requirements for quality, efficiency and price, what is the idea of BLT to enter this field?
Xue Lei: From receiving the demand for 3C, to development and mass production, we have worked hard for 8 years to meet the most demanding requirements, and then we have the strength to expand to other civilian fields.
9 Q: The reputation of the equipment is difficult to establish, but it is easy to be destroyed if it is well established, with more and more equipment sold, but do not worry that some customers think that the equipment is not good?
Xue Lei: The reputation of the equipment is based on the common basis of the customer's rationality and sensibility, and it is necessary to pay attention to it but not panic when it hears a bad evaluation, and it is necessary to objectively analyze the reasons for the customer, so as to make improvements.
10 Q: What else can be seen in the current market is being paved by BLT?
Xue Lei: There are opportunities in the fields of low-altitude economy, humanoid robots, and new energy vehicles, and BLT also makes special solutions like entering the 3C market.
Q: What are your company's technological breakthroughs in 2023? How do you see the value of these breakthroughs?
In 2023, BLT will have technological breakthroughs in equipment and automation, software, raw materials, and processes.
In terms of equipment, the batch production plan for aerospace, industrial machinery and other fields has been improved, and the platform scheme for large-size equipment such as BLT-S1500, BLT-S615, BLT-S815 and BLT-S1300 has been released, and the production line powder circulation scheme and powder self-circulation scheme have been released.
BLT Xi'an headquarters intelligent manufacturing plant
Above: large equipment plant; Below: Small equipment plant
In terms of software, BLT-BP V2.0 and BLT-MES 2.0 have been launched one after another, and BLT has basically built a software ecological chain for the production line of more than 100 metal additive manufacturing equipment.
In terms of formable materials, BLT has launched a variety of formable superalloys and titanium alloy materials suitable for the aerospace field according to the characteristics of metal additive manufacturing: BLT-In738 (domestic grade K438), which is suitable for hot-end components such as aero engines and gas turbines, BLT-Ti64 with good mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, BLT-Ti with moderate mechanical properties, high plasticity and ideal corrosion resistance. BLT-Ti2AlNb powder and BLT-Ti65 for high-performance parts in the aerospace field; BLT-TiAl4822 powder, which is suitable for powder metallurgy (PM) and electron beam selective melting (EBM) processes, is expected to partially replace nickel-based superalloys and achieve significant weight reduction in high-temperature structural parts of aero engines.
BLT metal powder
In terms of technology, the unsupported printing technology scheme launched in 2023 can realize unsupported printing of overhanging structures below 30°, which has been applied to multi-type industrial batch parts since its launch for half a year, reducing the human consumption and energy consumption of the post-processing process and ensuring efficient production cycle. In addition, BLT cemented carbide additive manufacturing forming process broadens the range of materials that can be formed by additive manufacturing technology, and provides a new development direction for metal additive manufacturing to produce industrial products. Technological innovation is an important traction force for the development of enterprises, technological breakthroughs are a footnote to the development of enterprises, but the stage of market demand to solve certain technical problems, want to continue to develop and progress, but also need to persistent technological innovation and engineering application.
BLT unsupported 3D printed parts
Q: Can you give us one or two examples to share the latest gains that your users have gained in their application fields? What do you think of the significance of these gains?
In 2023, BLT will have many new developments in the fields of aerospace and industrial machinery such as commercial aerospace, molds, shoe molds, 3C electronics, bicycles, etc., especially in the mass production program.
The interstellar glory injector made by BLT 3D printing technology
Typical commercial aerospace application scenarios in which BLT participates include: reusable liquid oxygen methane rockets, solid launch vehicles, liquid launch vehicles, CubeSat deployers, experimental satellites, commercial communication satellites, etc.; Several of these commercial space projects have entered the stage of mass production. One of the more interesting applications that BLT did last year were bicycles and minimally invasive brain surgery flexible robots.
New applications of BLT 3D printing
Above: 3D printed structural parts of a flexible robot for minimally invasive brain surgery
Below: A bicycle with 3D-printed parts such as titanium head fittings
Since its establishment, BLT has always believed that there are opportunities for metal 3D printing in all metal processing scenarios. The development of each new application scenario and application field, and the continuous technological innovation and engineering application efforts of BLT people are to make metal 3D printing enter tens of millions of processing plants and industries.
Q.Can you give us one or two recent examples of how your company is contributing to sustainability? How do you think your company's core competencies, including core technology, corporate culture, ecosystem influence, etc., can help achieve sustainable development?
Commercial aerospace is one of the application fields that BLT will pay more attention to in 2023, and BLT's metal 3D printing solutions support Blue Arrow Aerospace's reusable liquid oxygen methane rocket, Kyushu Yunjian recyclable liquid oxygen methane engine, Interstellar Glory liquid oxygen methane reusable verification rocket hyperbolic 2 verification rocket, etc. Reusable rocket technology can reduce launch costs and help create a healthy and sustainable space environment.
Metal 3D printing technology can realize the distribution of materials in space on demand, effectively use resources and reduce energy consumption, which is itself a low-energy and environmentally friendly technology. Adhering to the mission of "making manufacturing simpler and the world better", and under the goal of "bringing metal 3D printing into tens of millions of factories", BLT people continue to let the design side in various fields understand this process, and inspire the design side to innovate product design from a lighter weight and more "material and material to the best of its ability", so as to reduce the redundancy and waste of raw materials, so as to create a more sustainable industrial ecological chain.
If you know deeply, you can go far by doing. Based on a global network of manufacturing experts, 3D Science Valley provides the industry with an in-depth look at additive and intelligent manufacturing from a global perspective. For more analysis in the field of additive manufacturing, follow the white paper series published by 3D Science Valley.
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