News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Lithoz GmbH has recently successfully installed their first 3D printer, a CeraFab System S65 Medical, at the CADdent facilities in Germany. CADdent, the leading provider of additive manufacturing and CAD/CAM solutions in dental technology, is currently expanding its 3D printing operations and, with this new acquisition, will offer high-precision 3D-printed ceramic components and serve as a high-performance partner for applied research in the future.
Divergent Technologies Inc., the company that developed the world’s first end-to-end digital production system – revolutionizing industrial-scale manufacturing, has closed a new $60 million venture loan facility led by Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, and a new $20 million revolving line of credit provided by Bridge Bank, a division of Western Alliance Bank. The new facilities follow Divergent’s successful $160 million Series C funding earlier this year.
AddUp, a major player in the field of metal additive manufacturing, and the ECM Group, the creator of innovative thermal solutions, have signed a partnership to develop high value-added solutions for the heat treatment of 3D printed metal parts.
Pratt & Whitney, a Raytheon Technologies business, has acquired an end-to-end solution from Velo3D, a leading metal additive manufacturing technology company for mission-critical parts, to evaluate the Sapphire XC printer for manufacturing production jet engine components. This is the first Sapphire printer to be located at Pratt & Whitney, although the company previously utilized Velo3D’s contract manufacturer network to produce printed and finished parts.
IAAC, the Institute for Advanced Architecture, continues its research towards 3D printing architecture with local earthen materials by completing a housing prototype in the natural park of Collseolla, in the outskirts of Barcelona, this winter. The result is a small constructed prototype with 100% natural and locally sourced material recipes that will be inaugurated with a live event on February 28th [register here].
OECHSLER AG, a leading polymers technology group with headquarters in Ansbach/Middle Franconia, and a presence globally, is extending its partnership with the US additive manufacturing pioneer, Carbon, and their production capacity for one of the world’s largest polymer-based additive series production facilities in Taicang, China.
Markforged, the creator of the integrated metal and carbon fiber additive manufacturing platform, The Digital Forge, has entered into a definitive agreement with Höganäs AB to acquire Digital Metal, the creator of a leading binder jetting solution known for precision and reliability – extending Markforged’s capabilities into high-throughput production of metal additive parts. This acquisition is Markforged’s second this year – after buying Teton Simulation Software back in April.
Desktop Metal, a global leader in additive manufacturing technologies for mass production, has expanded its relationship with CNC software innovator, SolidCAM – creator of the iMachining toolpath technology and a leading distributor of solutions to precision metal manufacturers worldwide. SolidCAM has offered Desktop Metal’s printing products in Germany since 2021. Now, it will offer these Desktop Metal solutions to customers in the United States, where SolidCAM has technology centers, at its US headquarters in Newton, Pa., and Rancho Cucamonga, CA, as well as the United Kingdom, Israel, and India. SolidCAM has about 100 direct sales team members worldwide.
The importance of data in metal additive manufacturing cannot be overstated. It is data—derived from materials, hardware, process and more—that enables additive manufacturing companies and users to improve the technology and its output, to streamline workflows and achieve greater efficiency. But data can be notoriously difficult to navigate and visualize, which makes it challenging to transform it into actionable insights. AddUp, a global metal additive manufacturing company that was formed out of Fives and Michelin, aims to make 3D printing data more accessible for its metal AM systems through its new AddUp Dashboards software, released in February 2022.
3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) entered into an agreement to acquire Kumovis, a Munich, Germany-based additive manufacturing solutions provider for personalized healthcare applications. Kumovis’ solutions are built upon their unique extrusion technology specifically developed for precision printing of medical-grade, high-performance polymers such as PEEK (polyether ether ketone).