Revolutionizing Manufacturing: SPREAD’s Engineering Intelligence Network and the Future of 3D Printing

The landscape of modern engineering and manufacturing is undergoing a profound transformation, continually reshaped by breakthroughs in advanced technologies such, as 3D printing. In this exclusive interview, we delve into the innovative world of SPREAD GmbH, speaking with co-founder Robert Göbel. SPREAD stands at the forefront of this evolution, pioneering an Engineering Intelligence Network designed to radically simplify and enhance access to critical product information. As industries worldwide intensify their efforts to innovate, streamline complex processes, and accelerate product development cycles, the strategic convergence of deep engineering insights and cutting-edge additive manufacturing technologies becomes not just beneficial, but absolutely indispensable. Join us as we uncover how SPREAD’s groundbreaking approach is not merely bridging the gap between these two vital realms but is fundamentally revolutionizing how industry giants such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volkswagen are actively shaping their future. This transformation encompasses accelerated development, significant quality enhancements, unprecedented efficiency gains, and a steadfast commitment to environmental sustainability across their entire product lifecycle.

3DN: Could you introduce yourself and tell us more about SPREAD GmbH?

Hello everyone, I’m Robert Göbel, and I’m privileged to be a co-founder of SPREAD GmbH. Our core mission at SPREAD is to fundamentally simplify the access, understanding, and practical application of complex product information for everyone involved in the product lifecycle. We achieve this through our groundbreaking Engineering Intelligence Network, a sophisticated platform that transforms vast quantities of raw product data into user-friendly, intuitively navigable, and crucially, actionable insights. Imagine a complex ecosystem of information – our platform seamlessly integrates diverse forms of product intelligence, from CAD models and manufacturing specifications to test results and maintenance logs. This holistic integration empowers engineering teams to rapidly comprehend the intricate systems that define modern products, whether they are high-performance automobiles, advanced aircraft, or sophisticated industrial machinery. SPREAD’s Engineering Intelligence Network serves a wide spectrum of applications, spanning from initial Research and Development phases all the way through to critical Aftersales support. This broad utility has been instrumental in propelling the continuous advancement of our esteemed clients, including global leaders like Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volkswagen. By dramatically expediting their development cycles, elevating product quality to new standards, minimizing costly inefficiencies, and actively fostering sustainable practices, our platform is not just optimizing processes but truly reshaping the operational landscape for these industry pioneers, enabling them to build better, faster, and more responsibly.

3DN: How does your software function to address these complex challenges?

To truly grasp the power of our software, consider the monumental complexity of developing a product like a modern car. Bringing such an intricate system from initial concept and development to full-scale production requires the collaborative effort of thousands of highly specialized engineers and the management of millions of lines of code, all interacting seamlessly. The sheer interplay and interconnectedness of all the mechanical, electronic, and software components is incredibly challenging to fully understand. This inherent complexity leads to a significant problem: engineers often spend an astounding 70% of their valuable time manually searching for relevant product information. This inefficiency stems directly from a fragmented tool landscape, where essential data is isolated in disparate systems, difficult to access, or lacking proper contextual links. Engineers critically need this comprehensive, holistic information to gain a complete and accurate understanding of how their product truly works, how components interact, and what potential issues might arise. When you consider the immense effort and time commitment involved in manually constructing this contextual understanding, it is truly remarkable that engineers can still manage to create such innovative and complex products. SPREAD’s Engineering Intelligence Network offers a revolutionary solution. It combines all these separate, siloed product information sources – from CAD files and simulation results to manufacturing data and maintenance histories – into a unified, intelligent knowledge graph of the product. This sophisticated graph acts as an intelligent middle layer, dynamically interconnecting various resources and data streams. It leverages open-source data and open APIs to pull in and contextualize all information relevant for different use cases across the product lifecycle, effectively transforming disparate data into an accessible, interconnected web of knowledge that empowers engineers to work smarter, faster, and with unprecedented clarity.

3DN: How can Engineering Intelligence Networks like SPREAD significantly heighten efficiency in the 3D printing industry?

Our software provides an invaluable advantage by empowering engineers working on intricate products to quickly and intuitively access the precise information they need, when they need it. When all product information is comprehensively connected and readily accessible, engineers are in a far better position to identify critical opportunities to make the product more efficient and optimized. In the rapidly evolving 3D printing industry, our capability is particularly transformative. It provides engineers with unparalleled access to a complete system view that spans across individual parts, complex components, and diverse engineering domains. This holistic understanding is extremely valuable, especially when addressing one of the paramount questions in industrial 3D printing: which specific individual part combinations present the most potential to be replaced or consolidated into unified, 3D printed components? By leveraging the rich, interconnected information of all individual parts within our Engineering Intelligence Network, SPREAD can intelligently suggest the part combinations that offer the highest potential for consolidation and optimization through additive manufacturing. For instance, instead of assembling multiple small parts, our network can identify scenarios where these can be redesigned and printed as a single, lighter, and stronger component, reducing assembly time, material waste, and potential failure points. The more granular and comprehensive the information we integrate into the network, the more valuable and impactful improvement potentials we can identify. This extends to possibilities such as lightweighting components for aerospace, optimizing cooling channels in industrial machinery, or integrating complex functionalities directly into a single part, all of which are primary drivers for adopting 3D printing.

3DN: How does SPREAD contribute to reducing companies’ environmental footprint and fostering sustainability?

Our technology plays a pivotal role in advancing corporate sustainability goals by creating a comprehensive knowledge graph for each product that meticulously incorporates its associated carbon footprint data. This critical environmental information is then made readily accessible and transparent via an intuitive web application. This provides our customers with unparalleled traceability and transparency throughout the entire product lifecycle, from raw material sourcing to end-of-life considerations. They can then apply various rule sets, including stringent sustainability regulations and internal environmental policies, to rigorously verify if all involved parts, sourced from diverse suppliers and manufactured through different processes, fully meet the specified environmental requirements. Beyond mere compliance, SPREAD’s platform excels in proactive optimization. It intelligently analyzes product designs and identifies potential material redundancies, unnecessary weight, and significant optimization potential based on predefined environmental and performance requirements. This capability directly translates into the reduction of excess material usage and weight without ever compromising safety, functionality, or structural integrity. For example, our system can analyze complex existing wiring harness designs within vehicles. By providing engineers with deep insights into material usage and routing inefficiencies, SPREAD helps them eliminate excess materials in their wiring design process, thereby significantly reducing the overall carbon footprint of each vehicle. Through this precise, data-driven approach, we enabled one prominent automaker to achieve an impressive saving of 1 kg of material per vehicle. While 1 kg might seem modest on its own, every kilogram saved makes a substantial contribution to helping this car manufacturer reduce their Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions across their operations and supply chain. When we scale this 1 kg saving to the global output of the automotive industry, which produced approximately 80 million vehicles in 2021, the environmental impact is staggering. This seemingly small saving per vehicle, when applied globally, would prevent an astonishing 2,730,000 tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere annually. This demonstrates the immense power of engineering intelligence in driving large-scale, tangible sustainability improvements, making products greener and manufacturing processes more environmentally responsible.

 

3DN: Who are your current partners, and what are SPREAD’s future developments in terms of customer acquisition and research?

Today, we are proud to collaborate extensively with all the major German Automotive OEMs, a testament to the value and impact of our Engineering Intelligence Network within one of the world’s most demanding industries. Building on these foundational successes, we are also actively expanding our footprint and achieving significant initial traction within other complex sectors, notably heavy machinery, and the critical aerospace & defense industries. Looking ahead, our strategic vision is ambitious and clear: we aim to scale our proven successes to new geographical and industrial markets. To achieve this, we are committed to continuously developing and enhancing the capabilities of our platform, pushing the boundaries of what Engineering Intelligence can achieve. This includes exploring deeper integrations with emerging technologies like advanced AI and machine learning for predictive analytics, and expanding our ability to incorporate an even wider array of data types, such as real-time sensor data from operational products. Concurrently, we are focused on significantly increasing our user base, bringing the benefits of streamlined product information to more engineering teams globally. Furthermore, to support this growth and innovation, we are dedicated to expanding our talented team, bringing in more experts in software development, data science, and customer success. Our research initiatives are also deeply tied to understanding future manufacturing trends, the evolving demands of additive manufacturing, and how SPREAD can continue to be a proactive force in helping companies design, build, and maintain products more intelligently and sustainably.

3DN: Do you have any final words or a message for our readers?

Absolutely! For anyone passionate about revolutionizing engineering, driving efficiency, and contributing to a more sustainable future in manufacturing, we encourage you to connect with us. Great news – we’re hiring! We are constantly looking for talented individuals to join our growing team. Please check out our website HERE to learn more about our company, our mission, and the exciting career opportunities available. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to explore how you can be part of the SPREAD journey. Your innovation could be the next component in our Engineering Intelligence Network!

What are your thoughts on SPREAD’s groundbreaking initiative to streamline engineering processes and integrate sustainability? We’d love to hear your perspectives! Let us know in a comment below, or engage with us on our social media channels: find us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter here to get the latest 3D printing news delivered straight to your inbox! You can also find all our insightful videos and interviews on our YouTube channel for more in-depth content.

*All photo credits: SPREAD GmbH