CLOUD

MANUFACTURING

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 1

Cloud Manufacturing

Table of Contents

Executive Summary....................................................................................................... 3

Introduction...................................................................................................................... 4

What is Cloud Manufacturing?................................................................................. 5

¡ Cloud Manufacturing and cloud computing
¡ How Industry 4.0 technologies fuel Cloud Manufacturing

Cloud Manufacturing with Fast Radius................................................................... 6

¡ Vision
¡ The Fast Radius Cloud Manufacturing Platform
– Platform structure
– Current Fast Radius Cloud Manufacturing solutions
– The next phase of Cloud Manufacturing at Fast Radius

Tangible Benefits of Cloud Manufacturing........................................................... 10

¡ Faster time to market for new products
¡ More flexible and resilient supply chains
¡ Visibility and traceability
¡ Sustainability
¡ Cost savings

How to get started with Cloud Manufacturing.................................................... 11

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 2

Cloud Manufacturing

Executive Summary
The manufacturing industry is on the brink of a sweeping transformation. At Fast Radius, we
Advanced digital technology will reinvent the manufacturing industry
are advancing the
as dramatically as the steam engine or the assembly line did. Still,
industry with an
manufacturing has lagged behind nearly every other industry in adopting
digital technology to simplify operations and provide a frictionless integrated digital
customer experience. There’s no shortage of new digital tools meant to and physical platform
simplify portions of the manufacturing process, but these tools often make that simplifies the
things more difficult because they don’t integrate with existing systems. way we design, make,
Manufacturers yearn for efficient solutions to the complex challenges they and move parts
face — like streamlining complex global supply chains and minimizing the risk of
around the world.
investing in new technology.

At Fast Radius, we are advancing the industry with an integrated digital and
physical platform that simplifies the way we design, make, and move parts
around the world. We call it Cloud Manufacturing, and we believe it will transform
an industry that’s overdue for digital disruption.

This white paper:

01 02 03
Defines Cloud Manufacturing as Draws connections between Cloud Demonstrates how Cloud
a single, end-to-end solution that Manufacturing and cloud computing Manufacturing overcomes the
integrates design, production, and and explains the components of biggest obstacles to adopting new
fulfillment operations through a Cloud Computing — physical and technology by integrating disparate
common digital infrastructure to digital infrastructure; digital thread operations, providing open access to
manage a part’s entire lifecycle. and learning engine; operating cutting-edge factories, and sharing
system; and applications. data to create transparency in the
manufacturing process.

04 05 06
Introduces Fast Radius’s vision for Previews the Fast Radius Cloud Illustrates the benefits of Cloud
Cloud Manufacturing and our current Manufacturing roadmap for the next Manufacturing for businesses of
solutions, which include Additive 2-3 years, outlining the ways our all sizes.
Launch, the Virtual Warehouse™, software will advance application
and on-demand manufacturing. discovery, design, manufacturing,
and fulfillment.

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 3

Cloud Manufacturing

Introduction
Manufactured goods build the physical world around us and power our global economy. Innovations in
manufacturing can mean material improvements to the human condition, but making the products that shape
our lives is a massive global effort. Given the capital expenditures and resources required to mass produce,
move, assemble, inspect, and fulfill physical goods across the world, transformation in the industry doesn’t
happen overnight. It’s no surprise then that manufacturing has been slower to experience the kind of digital
disruption that has reshaped other industries in the past two decades.

Manufacturing is ripe for disruption because technology and market forces are aligned to unlock a digital
transformation. Here are three reasons why:

Innovation driving hypergrowth: User expectations: Supply chain challenges:

Technologies for design, B2B customers expect a modern, Manufacturers are hungry for more
manufacturing, and fulfillment frictionless user experience thanks agile, resilient, and sustainable
have driven hypergrowth in digital to the evolution of enterprise supply chains. Risk, cost, and speed
manufacturing and software. For software platforms like Salesforce, were already major pain points, and
example, global revenue from Oracle, and SAP. Organizations they became significantly worse
3D printing-related products and are ready for manufacturing in the pandemic. Most companies
services neared $12 billion in 2019 solutions that can provide a similarly are accelerating changes toward
and is expected to grow nearly streamlined online experience flexibility and speed that can be
3x to $35 billion by 2024.* achieved with digital technologies.

Manufacturing is hard, even though there is no shortage of technologies and services that aim to make
it easier. The very technologies that are supposed to simplify operations are often part of the problem
because they don’t easily integrate with existing systems and are difficult to implement. We can eliminate this
friction by solving three specific problems:

Offer manufacturing as an Make manufacturing innovation Create transparency and trust.

integrated, end-to-end solution. accessible. Many organizations Today’s contract manufacturers
The work required to create want to access modern work in isolation and rarely provide
new manufacturing supply chain manufacturing technologies but transparency into their operations.
can be impossibly complex, lack the resources required to In the best case, engineers hope to
requiring integration between implement them. Small companies get (but aren’t guaranteed) correctly
separate systems that lack the capital and expertise, and made parts on schedule. At worst,
support different steps in the large companies don’t want to take they receive parts that don’t meet
manufacturing product lifecycle. a risk on an unproven technology. specifications with little explanation
or recourse.

These problems are far from intractable. After all, the history of manufacturing is marked by Industrial Revolutions —
sweeping transformations in how we make and move things around the world. Harnessing the power of digital technology
to reimagine manufacturing is the challenge of our generation, and we have the solution. Our team at Fast Radius is building
an accessible platform that simplifies the manufacturing process using advanced production equipment and digital
intelligence.
The solution is Cloud Manufacturing, and it represents a paradigm shift akin to previous industrial revolutions.
Just as mechanization, mass production, and automation triggered new eras in manufacturing, Cloud Manufacturing
allows us to realize the potential of the digital age by democratizing, integrating, and connecting manufacturing
activities across the world.
*Wohlers Report 2019, 2020.

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 4

Cloud Manufacturing

What is Cloud Manufacturing?

Cloud Manufacturing is a single, end-to-end solution that integrates design, production, and
fulfillment operations through a common digital infrastructure.

Cloud Manufacturing and Cloud Computing

The term Cloud Manufacturing draws its name from cloud computing, and there are many similarities between the two.
Both employ internet-connected facilities where users access shared physical resources; both use software to orchestrate
operations between systems and information; and both allow users to build applications without having to invest in
complex infrastructure. The chart below draws a direct comparison to the components of each concept.

CLOUD COMPUTING CLOUD MANUFACTURING

Applications and services: Customer-facing
Applications and services: User-facing
interfaces for order management, design,
applications accessed via internet that run
production monitoring, fulfillment, and
on data center resources
warehousing

Network infrastructure: Software and Operating system: Software that manages

communication protocols that manage data and consolidates data between different
center resources and transport traffic parts of the platform

Data-driven learning and AI: Data Digital thread and learning engine:
collected and analyzed at every step in the Data collected and analyzed at every step
computing workflow to improve operations of the production process to improve
and outcomes operations and outcomes

Data centers: Physical locations that Physical and digital infrastructure:

house shared computational, network, Hybrid factory/fulfillment sites that
and storage systems produce physical parts and collect data

How Industry 4.0 technologies fuel Cloud Manufacturing

Industry 4.0 refers to digital tools that orchestrate and streamline the operations of industry. In manufacturing,
this includes software for digital design and simulation, digital metrology, factory monitoring and control, logistics
software, and more. These are the key Industry 4.0 concepts fuelling Cloud Manufacturing:

Digital manufacturing: Manufacturing methods like additive The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): The lifecycle
manufacturing and computer numerical control (CNC) of every part is fully traceable with data collected from
machining create physical parts directly from digital designs. digital manufacturing equipment and external sensors.

Cloud computing: Cloud Manufacturing applications are Artificial intelligence (AI): Systems analyze data and
built on cloud services so that users can access them outcomes to discover patterns and implement changes
anywhere, allowing manufacturing work outside the that continuously make processes smarter and more
factory floor. effective.

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 5

Cloud Manufacturing

Vision

Cloud Manufacturing
with Fast Radius
In the next decade, Cloud Manufacturing will have
as profound an impact on the way we make and
transport physical goods as cloud computing has
had on the way we access and analyze information.

We’re building a first-of-its-kind Cloud Manufacturing

platform that will democratize access to new
technology, coordinate and unify disparate
operational systems, and create transparency
for users.

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 6

Cloud Manufacturing

The Fast Radius Cloud

Manufacturing Platform
Platform structure
The Fast Radius Cloud Manufacturing Platform is built on four components that collect, organize, and analyze data
from every step of the product lifecycle. The graphic below illustrates how our platform is structured.

Applications and Services: Our platform

provides specific solutions for external users
and internal operations.

Operating System: Our software links all the

components of the production process and
presents a transparent view across the life of a part.

Digital Thread and Learning Engine: Our learning

engine analyzes the data we collect about every
part we make, allowing us to continuously improve
operations and make better parts.

Physical and Digital Infrastructure: Our production

centers around the world make parts and collect
data throughout the manufacturing process.

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 7

Cloud Manufacturing

Current Fast Radius Cloud Manufacturing solutions

We are continuously improving and expanding our platform, and today our customers can access
three solutions powered by Cloud Manufacturing.

SOLUTION DEFINITION EXAMPLE

Additive Launch Use the most advanced We make serial parts that
additive manufacturing meet strict industry
platform in the world to regulations for Aptiv and
discover, design, and make Ford in our world-renowned
production parts. additive factory. Our tool-free
approach saved 20 weeks of
product development time
over injection molding.

Virtual Warehouse™ Store design and production Satair worked with us to

specifications digitally and redesign existing tools for
produce parts only as needed additive manufacturing.
for true just-in-time fulfillment. The resulting parts are
lighter, stronger, and can be
manufactured and fulfilled
in only 48 hours instead of
months.

On-demand Upload designs, evaluate We worked with Cobalt

manufacturing options, and Robotics to improve the way
manufacturing order parts from our secure they made multiple parts,
interface. saving them 60% in production
costs for cast urethane, 33%
on additive parts, and 90%
on painting and finishing. By
managing logistics, we also cut
two weeks of project time from
each part produced.

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 8

Cloud Manufacturing

The next phase of Cloud Manufacturing at Fast Radius

We have an ambitious roadmap for the Fast Radius Cloud Manufacturing Platform over the next
several years. Here are some key elements we are developing now:

Factory Software Design

Footprint Development
We currently have two production We’re developing customer-facing Our design software uses machine
centers that produce and fulfill applications that allow engineers learning to improve with every
additive and CNC-machined parts, to compare manufacturing part we make (10+ million parts
and we work with a global network methods, build a business case for to date). We are capturing and
of vetted suppliers to produce additive manufacturing, and share codifying centuries of engineering
injection-molded, cast urethane, their designs with the broader expertise and making it available
and additional CNC parts. In the community. to engineers everywhere. We’re
next 2-3 years, we will expand our also building tools to make design
factory footprint, starting with collaboration easier within our
the announcement of our third platform.
production center in early 2021.

Manufacturing Fulfillment Open Ecosystem

We’re building a virtual factory In the next few years, customers We have an extensive roadmap
experience where customers will be able to integrate their of applications we’re bringing to
can monitor their parts in our procurement and ERP systems market in the coming years, and
production center as if it’s their with ours for a seamless we will soon open our ecosystem
own on-premise infrastructure. experience. so that others can contribute to it.
Expect real-time monitoring in
addition to applications for order
management and production
scheduling.

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 9

Cloud Manufacturing

Tangible Benefits of
Cloud Manufacturing
Cloud Manufacturing will benefit manufacturers of all sizes by making their processes more
efficient, cost-effective, and flexible. These are the key benefits we will see across industries.

01 Faster time to 02 More flexible 03 Visibility and

market for new and resilient traceability
products supply chains
¡ Cloud Manufacturing gives ¡ Cloud Manufacturing allows users ¡ Cloud Manufacturing allows us
engineers access to world-class to scale solutions to meet shifts to trace every part individually
design tools and the technology in demand without being limited through the entire production
to produce their ideas whenever by their onsite capabilities or process, giving us the ability
they can access the internet.  existing supply chains.  to catch mistakes before they
happen. 
¡ Digital manufacturing methods ¡ Design files and production
allow for faster design cycles specifications can travel across ¡ If parts fail, we can isolate every
since functional prototypes can the world to be produced reliably datapoint in the production cycle
be produced in days instead of wherever there is capacity.  to identify exactly what went
weeks or months. wrong and take corrective action
¡ Cloud Manufacturing mitigates
immediately.
disruptions in the supply chain
that come from trade restrictions,
natural disasters, and even
outages in specific factories.

04 Sustainability 05 Cost savings

Cloud Manufacturing will help the industry move Cloud Manufacturing can reduce costs in
toward sustainability: several ways:

¡ We can reduce carbon emissions by producing parts ¡ Shorter design cycles and simpler supply chain
close to the point of consumption rather than shipping operations reduce labor costs.
them across the globe. ¡ Reducing risk in supply chains means fewer
¡ Digital design tools allow us to make stronger, lighter unanticipated expenses.
parts, so we can use less material and fewer resources ¡ Advanced design tools can make parts more
to transport parts. cost-effective by using less material and reducing
¡ Virtual warehousing prevents manufacturers from assemblies.
over-producing parts that they may end up discarding. ¡ The Virtual Warehouse™ reduces warehousing and
¡ More efficient factories consume less energy, waste carrying costs by allowing users to store parts digitally
less material, and produce less carbon. and produce them only when they’re needed.

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 10

Cloud Manufacturing

How to get started with

Cloud Manufacturing

Cloud Manufacturing is the future, and those organizations

that embrace it early will lead the next era of manufacturing.
Want to join us?
Fast Radius is committed to making Cloud Manufacturing a We are always looking for early
adopters to test our solutions
reality. We’re building a first-of-its-kind Cloud Manufacturing
before they come to market.
platform that transforms the way our customers make and Contact us to find out more and
visit os.fastradius.com to see
move parts around the world. Our software allows users to our software in action.
manage design, manufacturing, and fulfillment in a single
accessible digital platform. We make manufacturing so
smart and easy that anything is possible.

©Fast Radius, Inc., 2021. All rights reserved. 11

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