Next-level customer experience with our new additive manufacturing mobile app
In order to continuously add value and develop convenient options for customers, Vallourec has pushed the envelope with an innovative solution. Our unique digital value chain puts customers at the heart of the buying process, and brings our additive manufacturing capabilities to both clients and sales teams.
Vallourec’s digital value chain is designed to take the customer from initial idea to final product within a few clicks. The aim is to simplify orders for parts that can be created using additive manufacturing.
“As illustrated most recently with the pandemic and Suez Canal obstruction, sourcing parts from all over the world can pose serious and costly problems,” says Jonathan Moulin, Business Owner WAAM (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing).
The digital customer journey designed by Vallourec is built around a series of related digital solutions, including the Vallourec® Additive Manufacturing app.
The Vallourec® Additive Manufacturing app: a new way to design equipment
Once downloaded from the App Store or Play Store (Android), Vallourec® Additive Manufacturing app enables the customer to enter their specifications directly into the mobile interface. The app then creates a 3D image and digital file from customer data, both of which will eventually be used for 3D printing.
The app helps determine specific needs and whether the project is feasible using additive manufacturing. It also provides an estimated timeline for the project, depending on whether the part is known to Vallourec or if it needs to be built as a prototype, tested and qualified.
For their next step, the app development team plans to add even more functionalities. Once the part and timeline are finalized, the file will be delivered to a digital warehouse, where the customer can access it and get the product printed near their site.
All about value
By facilitating use of additive manufacturing to create parts, the Vallourec® Additive Manufacturing app provides enormous value.
“Local production also offers important environmental benefits”, adds Jonathan Moulin. “Waste and scraps are reduced with additive manufacturing.” This is because production does not start out with a large piece of metal that must be cut down to size. Instead, only the required amount of material is used at the outset. Working locally also reduces the energy required for shipping and transport of materials to a production site.
Our digital solutions are designed to deliver a consistent customer experience, one that they can learn easily and on which they can rely. “The Vallourec® Additive Manufacturing app provides very fast, accurate answers to customer queries in a centralized location,” says Cathy Marchetti.
Vallourec additive manufacturing also enhances the customer experience with accessibility. Olivier Tartar explains: “Today oil and gas users must go through a complex process to get parts; it can take months because of various hurdles and unforeseen interruptions. A distributed network combined with our digital offerings would transform project timelines: instead of a year to get materials onsite, customers would be looking at period of a few weeks. That’s a gamechanger!”
Developing the Vallourec® Additive Manufacturing app has been fueled by a sense of possibility: Vallourec’s digital parts offering will only grow from here. Our vision for our customers is for them to easily order and produce parts with a click of a button and benefit from local production with additive manufacturing.
