Additive Manufacturing
WorldSkills Occupational Standards (WSOS)
Occupation description and WSOS
The name of the skill competition is
Additive Manufacturing
Description of the associated work role(s) or occupation(s)
Additive manufacturing is one of the newest and fastest developing branches of engineering. Traditional manufacturing methods, like milling and turning, are “subtractive” methods of manufacture: they start with a solid block of material, normally metal or an alloy, and cut away unwanted material until it forms the desired shape and size. Additive manufacturing adds, or “builds”, layer upon layer of material. It is more commonly known as 3D Printing.
Additive manufacturing has several advantages over milling and turning. For example:
- It can enable more complex shapes to be created
- although the materials may be more expensive, it is efficient and economical in their use, because items need be no more solid than is strictly necessary, and weight is minimized
- It can create stronger bonds between different materials
- It can produce complex units as single objects, removing the need for several parts to achieve the overall desired shape and function
- It can use a wider range of materials and composites
- It is especially quick and responsive for manufacturing design and development, including research, prototyping, and trials.
Despite its many strengths, additive manufacturing complements milling and turning; it is not a substitute for them. At least for the foreseeable future, 3D printers and new materials are relatively expensive. The printing process is also slow. Additive manufacturing therefore extends manufacturing’s capabilities and applications to a significant extent, especially where customization, lightness, complex shapes and functions, new materials, durability, and reliability are involved. As a result, additive manufacturing is being used very widely, with aerospace an early adopter, followed by medicine, transportation, energy, and consumer products.
Additive manufacturing allows us to redesign many objects around us, and rethink approaches to the design of new ones. In this way it is potentially transformative and disruptive across the manufacturing process. While the layer-on-layer process is relatively slow, additive manufacturing’s overall impact on design and manufacture will be to shorten the production cycle, improve quality, and improve customer benefits.
An additive manufacturing technician requires a wide range of knowledge, skill, and generic attributes. In relation to 3D, their role covers 3D scanning, metrology, scan-to-CAD redesigning, CAE, build process analysis, and post-processing. Beyond these, the role requires an appreciation of their properties and characteristics of materials, applied mathematics, and geometry in particular, and the ability to take advantage of the future possibilities of this new technology.
The WorldSkills Occupational Standards (WSOS)
General notes on the WSOS
The WSOS specifies the knowledge, understanding, skills, and capabilities that underpin international best practice in technical and vocational performance. These are both specific to an occupational role and also transversal. Together they should reflect a shared global understanding of what the associated work role(s) or occupation(s) represent for industry and business (www.worldskills.org/WSOS).
The skill competition is intended to reflect international best practice as described by the WSOS, to the extent that it can. The Standard is therefore a guide to the required training and preparation for the skill competition.
In the skill competition the assessment of knowledge and understanding will take place through the assessment of performance. There will only be separate tests of knowledge and understanding where there is an overwhelming reason for these.
The Standard is divided into distinct sections with headings and reference numbers added.
Each section is assigned a percentage of the total marks to indicate its relative importance within the Standards. This is often referred to as the “weighting”. The sum of all the percentage marks is 100. The weightings determine the distribution of marks within the Marking Scheme.
Through the Test Project, the Marking Scheme will assess only those skills and capabilities that are set out in the WorldSkills Occupational Standards. They will reflect the Standards as comprehensively as possible within the constraints of the skill competition.
The Marking Scheme will follow the allocation of marks within the Standards to the extent practically possible. A variation of up to five percent is allowed, if this does not distort the weightings assigned by the Standards.
WorldSkills Occupational Standards
Section |
Relative importance (%) |
|
---|---|---|
1 |
Work organization and management |
5 |
The individual needs to know and understand:
|
The individual shall be able to:
|
|
2 |
Communication and interpersonal skills |
5 |
The individual needs to know and understand:
|
The individual shall be able to:
|
|
3 |
3D digitizing |
15 |
The individual needs to know and understand:
|
The individual shall be able to:
|
|
4 |
Component optimization/structural optimization |
25 |
The individual needs to know and understand:
|
The individual shall be able to:
|
|
5 |
Transfer-to-CAD and optimization |
20 |
The individual needs to know and understand:
|
The individual shall be able to:
|
|
6 |
Preparation and forming |
25 |
The individual needs to know and understand:
|
The individual shall be able to:
|
|
7 |
Finalize and deliver work pieces |
5 |
The individual needs to know and understand:
|
The individual shall be able to:
|
|
Total | 100 |
References for industry consultation
General notes
WorldSkills is committed to ensuring that the WorldSkills Occupational Standards fully reflect the dynamism of internationally recognized best practice in industry and business. To do this WorldSkills approaches a number of organizations across the world that can offer feedback on the draft Description of the Associated Role and WorldSkills Occupational Standards on a two-yearly cycle.
In parallel to this, WSI consults three international occupational classifications and databases:
- ISCO-08: (http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco08/)
- ESCO: (https://ec.europa.eu/esco/portal/home )
- O*NET OnLine (www.onetonline.org/)
References
Adjacent occupations may also be explored through these links.
ILO 3115
The following table indicates which organizations were approached and provided valuable feedback for the Description of the Associated Role and WorldSkills Occupational Standards in place for WorldSkills Lyon 2024.
Organization |
Contact name |
---|---|
CESI |
Jean-Daniel Penot, Head of R&D Deparment |
Mavericks Holdings Pte Ltd |
Benjamin Moey, Managing Director |
Siemens |
Martin Koczmann, Academic Programme Manager |
Siemens Software France |
Jonathan Frechard, Presales |
Last updated: 19.02.2024 07:15 (GMT)
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