News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
GKN Aerospace has announced its plans to open a new Global Technology Centre (GTC) in the UK in 2020. The new centre will reportedly span 10,000 square meters and will focus largely on additive manufacturing, advanced composites, assembly and industry 4.0 processes with the goal of enhancing high rate production of aircraft parts.
David Michael Tait, general manager of voxeljet America, passed away this week, after an extended illness, at the age of 63 years. He was surrounded by his loving wife and children. Mr. Tait was a pioneer of the global and in particular the American, additive manufacturing industry. He started three separate companies and guided each one to improved sales and profits in every year of operation. He also received numerous customer citations for excellence award including Textron Marine & Land Systems, L-3 Communications and Formtech Industries.
Over one hundred years ago, the Ford Motor Company reinvented manufacturing with the introduction of the assembly line. Today, the company has continued to show its propensity for innovation, exploring and utilizing new technologies to reinvigorate vehicle production.
Swedish bioprinting company CELLINK has entered into a partnership with organ and tissue engineering company Prellis Biologics, Inc. with the goal of commercializing high-resolution holographic bioprinting technology for micro-scale printing. By combining their IP and respective expertise, the companies will introduce what they call the “first system enabling ultra-high resolution bioprinting of microstructures” for producing vascular networks.
Israeli metal and ceramic 3D printing company XJet has announced that Russian company AB Universal has signed on as its latest distribution partner. The distribution agreement, penned at Formnext 2018, will see AB Universal market and sell XJet’s Carmel AM systems in Russia.
PostProcess Technologies (PPT) has announced a new partnership with CUBRC, a not-for-profit scientific corporation specializing in machine learning research, development, testing and systems integration. PPT will utilize its new partner’s Heartwood Analytics suite to advance its own software platforms. The goal of the partnership is to improve PPT’s software offering for the automation and digitization of AM post-processing.
Nanoscribe, a German company specializing in micrometer 3D printing, has introduced the successor model Photonic Professional GT2, a microfabrication 3D printer capable of larger print volumes.
CECIMO, the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries, has announced the establishment of a new additive manufacturing committee. The newly formed committee, which will be chaired by Stewart Lane, the corporate manager at Renishaw, will become the primary platform for discussing the challenges and opportunities for AM in relation to EU policy.
AMFG, a UK-based specialist in automation software for additive manufacturing, has announced a partnership with LEO Lane, a provider of security and IP protection solutions for the AM industry. Through their agreement, the companies will integrate their respective software solutions to offer a more secure, end-to-end workflow management platform for additive manufacturing.
Rapid Application Group (RAG), an Oklahoma-based additive manufacturing company, has significantly increased its production capacity with the installation of a 3D Systems’ Figure 4 Standalone 3D printer. The recently added polymer AM platform will enable RAG to improve its services and turnaround times for clients in the aerospace, defense, healthcare, motor sports and oil and gas sectors.