German 3D printing experts EOS have announced a new partnership with British manufacturers GKN. Following this, GKN announced plans for a new digital area for metal additive manufacturing at one of their German plants.
The partnership concerns the GKN Powder Metallurgy arm of the multinational group and primarily has the automotive industry in mind. Similarly automotive company Audi, recently entered into an agreement with EOS for “equipment and prototype building”.
GKN Aerospace are already active in the 3D printing industry through an existing partnership with Arcam. .
The GKN group and their Powder Metallurgy branch consists of GKN Sinter Metals and Hoeganaes. Hoeganaes are a large manufacturer of metal powders for additive manufacturing, while GKN Sinter Metals are a “leading manufacturer of precision automotive components.”
The more recent announcement of the digital area for additive manufacturing will likely be coupled with this partnership. The British company hope, through EOS, they can move towards their Industry 4.0 goals. The two companies similarly see metal additive manufacturing as being the future of the automotive industry. Referring to the partnership as “the next big step towards the future of series Metal AM production for automotive applications.”
CEO of EOS, Dr. Hans J. Langer, said the collaboration “is another important step towards integrating industrial 3D printing into existing and future production lines and to leverage the benefits of AM technology for series production.”
While Dr. Peter Oberparleiter, CEO GKN Powder Metallurgy had this to say about the partnership,
Metal AM has huge potential to shape the future of industrial manufacturing and its products, and elevating this to a new level. EOS and GKN will take on this challenge together. We want to ensure that more and more companies recognize and use the potential of this innovative technology. At the same time, we want to considerably expand the areas of application with new materials by testing and ultimately using them in series production,
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Featured image of GKN Powder Metallurgy. Image via GKN.
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