News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Horizons Optical is not your typical eyewear company. The company doesn’t simply produce glasses, rather, it develops innovative technologies and services for ophthalmic laboratories, optical chains and the optical sector on the whole. One of its most cutting edge projects is the Made4U concept, which utilizes imaging and 3D printing technologies to create fully customized frames.
Well if this isn’t just the cutest thing I’ve seen all month: French car manufacturer Bugatti has re-invented a half-scale model of the Bugatti Type 35 race car that was originally created in 1926 as a birthday gift for Ettore Bugatti’s four-year-old son. A 3D printed design model of the appropriately named Bugatti Baby II was recently presented at the Geneva International Motor Show.
GE Additive has been selected by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), a manufacturer of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars and electro-optic mission systems, to provide its AddWorks consultancy services. The collaboration, born out of a recent competitive tender, will see the AddWorks team working closely with GA-ASI to drive the qualification and implementation of metal AM within the latter’s manufacturing and workflow.
Thales Alenia Space, a French-Italian aerospace manufacturer, has announced the next step in its additive manufacturing adoption: series production. The company, which first began its journey with AM in 2015 with 3D printed aluminum antenna brackets for the TürkmenÄlem/MonacoSAT satellite and polymer tube supports for the Iridium NEXT constellation, will begin turning out 3D printed components for telecom satellites built on its all-electric Spacebus Neo platform.
After establishing a more direct presence in the country last month, Dutch metal 3D printer maker Additive Industries reported their first order in China. Leveragin the recent appointment of Sinsun-Tech Corporation Ltd as its agent, they sold the first MetalFAB1 system to a Chinese customer. Additive Industries won the tender of the Maritime Equipment Technology Institute of Jiangsu University of Science & Technology and will help the institute to accelerate production of heat exchangers for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) applications.
Printing and cutting specialist Mimaki today introduces a new desktop 3D printer, the Mimaki 3DFF-222. The new FFF 3D printer, co-branded with South Korean AM company Sindoh, is designed for production applications, such as functional prototypes, end-use jigs, signage and more.
Minnesota-based digital manufacturing company Protolabs is partnering with additive manufacturing consultants from Wohlers Associates to bring the industry an immersive course focused on design for additive manufacturing (DfAM). The exclusive event is aimed at accelerating DfAM by helping engineers and designers develop practical methods and strategies for exploiting 3D printing to the fullest.
Solvay, a Belgian chemicals company with a growing AM materials portfolio, has announced a new research agreement with Belgian 3D printing company Aerosint, which has developed a fascinating new approach to SLS that enables multi-material printing. Through the partnership, the companies will combine their respective expertise to develop a cost-effective SLS 3D printing process for high-performance polymers.
3D printer manufacturer Markforged has raised $82 million through a Series D investment round led by Summit Partners. The funding round also saw participation from existing investors Matrix Partners, Microsoft’s Venture Fund M12 and Porsche SE. The multi-million dollar investment will enable Markforged to accelerate its product roadmap—including the release of mass production printers and a range of new materials,—to ramp up its global expansion and to reinforce the company’s position in the global manufacturing industry.
AstroPrint has announced a partnership with Stanley Black & Decker to connect, control and optimize their fleet of 3D printers across multiple facilities. With AstroPrint’s Enterprise Cloud, Stanley Black & Decker will effortlessly automate their additive manufacturing systems and workflows on a single platform, ensuring that resources are properly shared and optimized, while gaining actionable intelligence on productivity and growth opportunities.