News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Quickparts, a global leader in on-demand industrial production services, has partnered with Materialise, a global leader in 3D printing solutions, to leverage its CO-AM platform to manage its distributed manufacturing flows. The platform will support Quickparts’ traditional and additive manufacturing (AM) capacities and connect to existing production systems.
3D Systems and Stewart-Haas Racing, the championship-winning NASCAR team that has relied on 3D Systems’ ProX 800 stereolithography and Figure 4 Standalone 3D printers to improve speed and performance in its racecars, have recently entered a technical partnership. With the help of 3D Systems and this three-year partnership, Stewart-Haas Racing is able to rapidly design, prototype, and create durable parts.
Mycorena, in Sweden, and Revo Foods, in Austria, are venturing into a collaborative project to reinvent 3D printed food using customized mycoprotein for the first time. The pair first announced their collaboration in early October 2022, and have now received noteworthy funding from the EU to further develop the project. The grant is allocated to the development of new technologies and processes to produce mycoprotein optimized for 3D printing. The project’s purpose is to drive the commercialization of the first-of-its-kind whole-cut seafood option in the alternative protein space.
EXBuild, a company that provides sales, services, training, hardware, and software for industrial resin, composite, and metal 3D printing applications, and Meltio, a disruptive laser metal deposition technology manufacturer, have entered a distribution partnership focussed on the Midwestern and Mountain West market in the US. As an official sales partner, EXBuild will play a key role in the distribution and support of Meltio’s wire laser metal 3D printing solutions.
As initially reported by the Belgian newspaper De Tijd, and subsequently picked up by the Brussels Times and various tech and 3D printing websites, Meta (yes, that Meta) has acquired the Belgian 3D printed smart lenses startup Luxexcel. According to the Brussels Times, the story was confirmed by Meta on Wednesday, December 28th, saying in a statement that “We are delighted that the Luxexcel team has joined Meta. This extends the partnership between the two companies.” Among other things, the deal officially makes Meta a stakeholder in the additive manufacturing industry.
Braskem, one of the largest polyolefins producers in the Americas, and a market leader and pioneer producer of biopolymers on an industrial scale, has acquired taulman3D, a leading 3D filament supplier of nylon, recycled PETG, and PET filaments to aerospace, automotive, healthcare, industrial, government, and higher education professionals worldwide. The acquisition complements Braskem’s existing portfolio of filaments (Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Carbon Fiber, Glass Fiber, and Recycled Polymers), pellets, and powders designed specifically for 3D printing applications.
GKN Aerospace has signed a contract with ArianeGroup to supply the next phase of Ariane 6 turbines and Vulcain nozzles. The contract includes the manufacturing and supply of units for the next 14 Ariane 6 launchers – to be produced from now until 2025, and covers the industrialization period of breakthrough laser-welded technology and additively manufactured structures.
Hexagon AB, a global leader in digital reality solutions combining sensor, software, and autonomous technologies, has acquired LocLab – a company whose proprietary technology, enabled by a high degree of automation using proven workflows and artificial intelligence, allows the cost- and time-efficient creation of digital twins. This is Hexagon’s second major investment in the past month, the first of which was the recent investment of $100 million in Divergent Technologies.
Meltio has introduced its new Meltio Engine Software Partners ecosystem – to ensure a set of guaranteed and reliable software solutions for the customer to identify the best software solutions for Meltio’s Engine CNC Integration and Engine Robot Integration.
L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) and Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AJRD) signed a definitive agreement for L3Harris to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $58 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at $4.7 billion, inclusive of net debt. Lockheed Martin has entered an agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne in 2020 but that was blocked by the FTC, in the agency’s first litigated defense merger challenge in decades.