In at least 300 words, answer the following questions:

 How could additive manufacturing be used to improve the efficiency of the

process by which the pasta dies are fabricated and assembled?
 Which parts of the process could be augmented by AM, and which, if any,
could be produced directly using AM?
 Why would these options be attractive?
 Reflect on the production value propositions discussed in this week's course
material. Recommend specific uses of AM along the workflow shown in the
video, and describe which AM processes you would choose to implement
those improvements.

As we saw in the video, the manufacturing of the pasta die was very slow and difficult to fabricate due
to the many steps required to complete the base die along with the individual inserts that go into each
of the holes where the pasta is extruded.

The main complication with the pasta tool is the requirement of the non-stick plastic component that is
a different material than the brass-aluminum alloy used on the tool. AM could aid simplifying the
number of components needed to make the individual inserts, or by removing part of the individual tool
components, making a single tool that includes the extrusion shape from the beginning would save time
and be a more direct approach.

The nature of handcrafting each insert by using subtractive manufacturing suggests a much better and
efficient way con be accomplished by using 3D printing in the process, for example, the non stick inserts
could be made with Selective Laser Sintering to accomplish the final shape without the need to machine
each individual part and waste most of the material. The insert metal parts could also be made with
Selective Laser Melting. Using these methods, the total process time could be optimized and less hand
work would be required.

If we want to go a step further and provide an alternative to the whole past requirement, why not
directly 3D print the pasta? An extrusion where the filament would be the softener pasta could be
devised and we could create any shape without the need of expensive tooling. This would be a good
solution if we are looking into prototyping of future pasta shapes to see how the market reacts; it is very
clear that making molds to extrude pasta are very expensive, so for the prototype stage it could be a
very good alternate solution.

Using the same video, answer the following question in at least 150 words:
Assume that the manufacturer can use 3D printing to rapidly produce specific die inserts
that determine the shape of the produced noodle. How could this influence the business
model of the pasta producer, and how the producer engages with the customer? To
support your answer, feel free to draw from examples shown throughout the week.

If the pasta producer could make die inserts easier and cheaper, we would see much more
shapes of pasta available for the consumers, at the current speed and cost of
manufacturing the extrusion tools it is not cost effective to try different shapes in hopes of
customer acceptance; if the cost were not a constrain pasta producers would feel much
more encouraged to try different shapes. This in turn would open the door to pasta
producers to make trial runs of new shapes before committing to expensive production
tooling. We could have a market of fun experimental pasta shapes, something to spark the
interest of young children that get tired of easting the same boring shapes, or we could
even make pasta that includes educational shapes or puzzles to make and eat afterwards,
the possibilities could be endless.

If we move past the extrusion of pasta process, it would also be interesting to see pasta
shapes that are 3D printed by FFF process, we could see some interesting shapes that
could not be extruded, it will certainly make for a fun dinner.