Preliminary Techno-Economic Evaluation of Agility Forge for Metamorphic Manufacturing

Autonomous incremental forging systems, such as the Agility Forge, have the potential to increase manufacturing flexibility by eliminating part-specific tooling and enabling programmable deformation. However, the economic implications of these systems compared to the traditional closed-die forging remain unexplored. This study presents preliminary work toward developing a techno-economic analysis (TEA) model to estimate the per-part manufacturing cost of components using the Agility Forge platform and compares it with conventional closed-die forging. Two representative industrial components were evaluated: a Ti-6Al-4V aerospace bracket and a carbon steel valve body. Preliminary results show that Agility Forge reduces costs for low-volume production, decreasing bracket manufacturing costs by up to 60% and valve costs by 70% at N = 100 parts by eliminating dedicated tooling and improving material utilization. The cost advantage decreases as tooling costs in conventional forging are amortized at high production volumes. Sensitivity analysis shows that material consumption and buy-to-fly ratio are the main cost drivers. The analysis also provides an initial framework for developing more rigorous TEA models for the Agility Forge manufacturing process.