GKN Aerospace – Centre of Excellence in Trollhättan, Sweden has integrated Interspectral’s AM Explorer software into its additive manufacturing (AM) workflow, strengthening its commitment to advanced digital manufacturing and sustainability. The adoption of AM Explorer enhances quality assurance, process monitoring, and operational efficiency, ensuring high-reliability production of aerospace components.
AM Explorer is a specialized software platform developed by Interspectral, a Sweden-based company, designed to provide 3D visualization and AI-driven analysis for metal AM. With increasing demand for sustainable aviation solutions, GKN Aerospace has prioritized AM technology to drive efficiency, reduce emissions, and maintain competitive lead times. The integration of AM Explorer aligns with these goals by improving quality control and optimizing resource use.
Martin Thordén, GKN Aerospace, “Currently, aircraft engine components rely on large castings and forgings, with up to 80% of the material machined away before reaching the final form. By employing additive technology, which involves layer-by-layer construction using metal wire or powder fused together with lasers, GKN Aerospace can minimize raw material waste, energy within production. This significantly cuts emissions, costs and lead time.”
GKN Aerospace is finding alternatives to the traditional manufacturing processes to improve performance of the engines and address industry wide challenges with high costs, long lead times, and supply chain vulnerabilities that have driven a shift towards more sustainable manufacturing options- additive manufacturing (AM). By leveraging AM Explorer, GKN Aerospace not only addresses these challenges but also reduces waste, lowers carbon emissions, and optimizes resource usage, all while maintaining consistent quality and regulatory compliance.
Thomas Rydell, Product Development at Interspectral, stated, “We’re proud to support GKN Aerospace on their journey to industrialize additive manufacturing and contribute to a more sustainable aviation industry. Through close collaboration with the team in Trollhättan, we’re tackling real-world industry challenges—driving greater efficiency, automation, and cost savings.”
Martin Thordén GKN Aerospace, added, “AM Explorer enhances our manufacturing process by automating complex workflows and ensuring robust quality assurance. It supports our goal of scaling AM production while maintaining stringent aerospace industry standards.”
GKN Aerospace Sweden, Trollhättan
Optimizing AM with AM Explorer GKN Aerospace began working with AM Explorer early 2024 and are now ramping up the use to enhance its production capabilities. GKN Aerospace and Interspectral are working closely together to develop new AI-powered anomaly detection functionality optimized for the specific materials, applications and large-scale printers used.
Synergies with the NIKON SLM NXG XII 600 A key part of GKN Aerospace’s investment in AM is the acquisition of multiple Nikon SLM NXG XII 600 metal machines. Thanks to the Nikon SLM’s open data architecture AM Explorer can easily interface with the machine making over 400 data points accessible for the GKN engineers, reducing the need to develop internal tools and methods.
Through a deep integration with Nikon SLM machines, AM Explorer provides comprehensive monitoring and analysis, ensuring defect-free builds and optimized manufacturing workflows.
The deep technical integration of AM Explorer with the NXG XII 600 enables:
Faster Production Cycles: High throughput AM supported by real-time data insights.
Improved Process Stability: AI-powered defect localization ensures consistent quality.
Resource Optimization: Reduced material waste aligns with GKN Aerospace’s sustainability goals
The data is also automatically processed using an AI model specifically trained on high-resolution NXG images, enabling defect detection and process insights. AM Explorer then makes it possible for users to explore and analyze the data using AM Explorer’s visualization tools and generate a build report—all in a seamless workflow.
Nikon SLM NXG XII machine
About Interspectral: Interspectral is a Swedish tech company specializing in 3D digitization, visualization, data fusion, and AI-driven analysis. With customers in over 20 countries, Interspectral’s flagship product, AM Explorer, enables users in metal additive manufacturing to fuse, explore, and analyze data from simulations, monitoring, and post-build analyses, optimizing quality assurance and operational efficiency.
About GKN Aerospace Sweden:
GKN Aerospace serves a global customer base across North America and Europe, specializing in aerostructures, engine products, and transparencies. A key supplier in major civil and military programs, GKN Aerospace leads in integrated composite structures, high-performance metallic processing, and cockpit transparencies. Its Engine Systems division develops and manufactures components for aircraft, gas turbines, and rocket engines, partnering with top industry players. It also provides maintenance for LM1600 and DR990 industrial gas turbines and RM12 engine overhauls for the Gripen aircraft.
