Triditive and Foxconn to develop a metal binder jetting AM system 3D Printer Hardware

Triditive and Foxconn to Develop a Metal Binder Jetting AM System

The Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn has joined forces with the Asturian company Triditive, a global benchmark company in additive manufacturing, to develop a 3D printer leveraging binder jetting technology. For several years, Triditive has been developing and commercializing bound metal extrusion systems tailored for parts production, under the brand AMCELL. Triditive and Foxconn will now work together on further scaling the AM platform’s automated manufacturing capabilities, marking a very important milestone and significant achievement for the Asturian startup led by CEO Mariel Diaz.

Sauber Technologies and Additive Industries extend partnership AM Industry

Sauber Technologies and Additive Industries Extend Partnership

Sauber Technologies has extended its technology partnership with metal additive manufacturing leader, Additive Industries for a further three years. Sauber Technologies has been using Additive Industries’ MetalFAB platform for metal additive manufacturing (AM) since 2017, with a current count of four systems in-house as the company embarks on new, ambitious projects for third-party customers. Sauber Technologies is also part of the same group as Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN.

Ingersoll and MELD are developing a metal 3D printer for vehicle-size parts 3D Printer Hardware

Ingersoll and MELD are Developing a Metal 3D Printer for Vehicle-size Parts

Norbert J. Kott, US Army DEVCOM-GVSC Materials, Additive Manufacturing (Detroit Arsenal, Warren, MI) reports in an article that appeared on the SME’s website that they US Army is working with LFAM 3D printer manufacturers Ingersoll (part of the Camozzi Group) and Virginia-based MELD Manufacturing on the Jointless Hull project. Goal of the project is the development of a metal 3D printer that is capable of producing parts as large as an entire vehicle.

New Sapphire XC 1MZ enables metal 3D printing up to 1m in height 3D Printing Processes

New Sapphire XC 1MZ Enables Metal 3D Printing up to 1m in Height

Velo3D, a leading metal additive manufacturing technology company for mission-critical parts, has added the new Sapphire XC 1MZ large-format printer to its Sapphire family of printers. The Sapphire XC 1MZ printer allows customers to print parts up to one meter in height – with a total build volume twice the size of the Sapphire XC and nine times larger than the original Sapphire – increasing the addressable use-cases of Velo3D’s end-to-end metal additive manufacturing solution.

WCAC (water charge air cooler) launched by Conflux Technology Decision Makers

WCAC (Water Charge Air Cooler) Launched by Conflux Technology

Conflux Technology has used its extensive knowledge in additively manufactured heat exchangers to deliver its first product: a premium, scalable, configurable, ultra-high performing water charge air cooler (WCAC) that outperforms other leading WCACs, applicable to motorsport and high-end automotive markets. The Conflux WCAC is configured to specific customer requirements and has been launched with a focus on performance, competitive pricing, and rapid delivery.

Bertram Dental Lab acquires fifth SLM280 Production Series printer Medical

Bertram Dental Lab Acquires Fifth SLM280 Production Series Printer

Bertram Dental Lab (BDL), is an early pioneer in utilizing metal AM to produce Cobalt Chrome Removable Partial Dentures (RPDs) at scale. Since 2016, Bertram Dental Lab has had a long-standing partnership with SLM Solutions, after acquiring its first SLM280 Production Series. Since then, to enable the launch of its LazerTEK Print Service, BDL has installed four more printers. BDL’s mission is to provide its partners with the most consistently fitting, highest-quality wholesale parts. To achieve the level of quality BDL aims to provide to its customers, it relies on the repeatability and productivity of SLM Solutions technology to meet its marketplace’s demands and stringent industry standards.

Oqton and Eplus3D enter dental 3D printing partnership Medical

Oqton and Eplus3D Enter Dental 3D Printing Partnership

Oqton, a software provider, acquired by 3D Systems last year, that helps manufacturers increase innovation and efficiency by intelligently automating production, and Eplus3D, a leading global supplier of metal 3D printing solutions, have entered a strategic dental 3D printing partnership. Through this collaboration, both companies intend to enable dental laboratory professionals to increase productivity and provide a better service to their customers. This will be made possible by making Oqton’s AI-powered Manufacturing OS platform available to users of Eplus3D’s metal 3D printers. The combination of Oqton’s Manufacturing OS, and Eplus3D’s printing technology, as well as both organizations’ deep dental expertise, is intended to result in dental solutions that include full traceability and automation.

Optomec delivers its 600th industrial AM system 3D Printer Hardware

Optomec Delivers its 600th Industrial AM System

Optomec has reached another important milestone in its continued growth, with the delivery of its 600th industrial 3D printer. The company has now installed more than 250 of its proprietary LENS Systems, for 3D printed metal, and over 350 of its patented Aerosol Jet Systems, with the majority of its recent machines being used for high ROI production applications.

Equispheres inks deals with Taiyo Nippon Sanso, Aconity 3D Printer Hardware

Equispheres Inks Deals with Taiyo Nippon Sanso, Aconity

Equispheres, one of the metal AM materials companies that our sister company, 3dpbm Research, has been closely following for some time, just inked two important deals to advance the adoption and distribution of its innovative aluminum AM powders with Taiyo Nippon Sanso and Aconity. Regular readers will remember that we were the first media to offer a deep dive into Equispheres aluminum AM powders in our AM Focus 2020 eBook on Metal AM (article on page 43), as these materials first entered the market. Since then, Equisheres has been steadily growing, by offering specialized powder with unique attributes for additive manufacturing that can achieve 3x faster build rates than legacy aluminum powders.

JINGYE Additive Manufacturing acquires multiple Eplus3D systems 3D Printer Hardware

JINGYE Additive Manufacturing Acquires Multiple Eplus3D Systems

Chinese AM service provider JINGYE Additive Manufacturing, has acquired a batch of large Eplus3D EP-M650 metal 3D printers from Chinese 3D printer manufacturer Eplus3D to be used in production of aerospace applications. JINGYE Additive Manufacturing is the AM division of the giant JINGYE group, the largest Chinese steelmaker and the only additive manufacturing company in the world that integrates professional R&D, production and sales of high-end aerosol metal powder, laser remanufacturing and 3D printing services.

Legor and HP collaborate on precious metal binder jetting Consumer Products

Legor and HP Collaborate on Precious Metal Binder Jetting

HP Inc. and Legor Group SPA have entered a strategic collaboration for the development of precious metal materials for HP’s Metal Jet system. Legor, a leader in metals science and production of best-in-class alloys, powders, and plating solutions, is the first to produce specialty precious metal materials for the jewelry and fashion accessories markets designed to work with HP’s 3D metal binder jet platform. Legor emerged as a leading provider of precious metal powders for metal PBF processes, however, the use of direct precious metal AM in PBF is catching on very slowly. Because it offers more geometric freedom and requires no supports, binder jetting could finally open up new opportunities for direct 3D printing of precious metal jewelry.

Epson Launches Industrial 3D Printer for Commonly Available Materials Decision Makers

Epson Launches Industrial 3D Printer for Commonly Available Materials Decision Makers

Seiko Epson Corporation has developed an industrial 3D printer that can use commonly available third-party materials to produce strong, accurate industrial parts of various sizes and functions. 3D printers with these features will have uses in a far wider range of applications, including in the production of parts for final products, and will enable users to mass-customize their goods in support of small-batch production.

BattleBots’ New Ghost Raptor Has Some (3D Printed) Bite

BattleBots’ New Ghost Raptor Has Some (3D Printed) Bite

A robotic, dinosaur ghost, that shoots fire out of her 3D printed jaw. That’s Ghost Raptor for the 2022 season of BattleBots but it could be pretty much any maker’s dream bot. Team Raptor (Chuck Pitzer, Eric Diehr, Sabri Sansoy) teamed up with Designer Anouk Wipprecht and Xo Wang for the 2021 BattleBots competition. Team Raptor has been participating in robotic fighting tournaments since 1999 and this year, to add even more style and badassery to the terrordactyl (cit.) bot, the team worked with Wipprecht and metal DED 3D printing company Formalloy to create a metal 3D printed jaw that opens to spit fire at its enemies. Thanks to Anouk’s participation in this season, we had the opportunity to sit down with her and Team Raptor’s Team Captain Chuck Pitzer to learn more about if and how 3D printing is making a difference.

Desktop Metal Receives .9 Million Order from German Carmaker. BMW?

Desktop Metal Receives $7.9 Million Order from German Carmaker. BMW?

Desktop Metal (NYSE: DM) received a $7.9 million order for binder jet additive manufacturing systems from a major German carmaker for the mass production of metal automotive powertrain components at scale. Considering the BMW was (and is) among Desktop Metal’s first investors via its BMW i Ventures, that Volkswagen is actively working with HP, and that Daimler Benz (Mercedes) has done a lot of work with EOS, we guess (and we stress the word “guess”) that the major German carmaker is BMW.

GE prepares to Launch Industrial Binder Jet Solution by the End of 2021

GE prepares to Launch Industrial Binder Jet Solution by the End of 2021

GE Additive has been working to offer an industrial Binder Jet production solution to delivers quality parts at cost, at scale. The company is reporting that product development is on track and that it will launch its solution in the second half of 2021. As Desktop Metal and ExOne have joined forces, that ball is now in GE Additive’s (and HP 3D Printing’s) court to show what they can do. In spite of COVID-19 travel restrictions, the upcoming Formnext may be the ideal venue for a showdown.

Divergent Technologies Increases AM Capacity with 3 SLM NXG XII 600s

Divergent Technologies Increases AM Capacity with 3 SLM NXG XII 600s

Divergent Technologies harnesses the power of additive manufacturing to unleash innovation in the automotive industry, making them a global innovator in the advancement of economical serial production. They have developed a state-of-the-art Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS), which will now be strengthened with the addition of three production SLM NXG XII 600 systems, following a years-long development partnership with SLM Solutions. Deliveries of the machines will start in Q1 2022.

PrinterPrezz Acquires Vertex Manufacturing

PrinterPrezz Acquires Vertex Manufacturing

PrinterPrezz, Inc. and Vertex Manufacturing have completed the merger between the companies, both active in the advanced manufacturing sector and specifically in advancing and evolving the AM workflow. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is significant as it marks one of the first times that a new entry AM software company (PrinterPrezz) has acquired a physical AM service provider (Vertex). Both companies are innovative in their approach to AM: PrinterPrezz in terms of its holistic approach to the AM workflow and Vertex, a new company founded by industry veterans, in terms of their adoption of new AM technologies such as those provided by Velo3D along with PrinterPrezz software.

Repeatability in AM is Within Reach

Repeatability in AM is Within Reach

Although the company’s headquarters are near Munich, EOS plays at home at the AMTC’s 2021 location in Aachen. The market leader for metal and polymer PBF systems is working hard on constantly improving repeatability in AM and the reproducibility of additive production. That’s the topic that EOS Senior Vice President EMEA Markus Glasser discussed during a panel titled “Reproducibility: Success Factors in Scaling Up”, when, together with Trumpf’s René Kreissl, Head of Business Unit Additive Manufacturing, and representatives from ASTM, TÜV SÜD and Linde, he addressed the current state, progress, and what needs to be accelerated in the future to further improve the goal of process stability.

Nippon Seiki acquires two M2 systems from GE Additive

Nippon Seiki acquires two M2 systems from GE Additive

Nippon Seiki, a die-casting mold maker, will start making molds using metal 3D printers. The company introduced two M2 metal 3D printers from GE Additive in July and did so specifically to leverage the new SKD61 steel equivalent material recently developed for 3D printing by Mitsubishi. This material expanded the possible areas of application for mold-making, which is Nippon Seiki’s core business. The Japanese company now intends to become a source of information on metal 3D printer technology and change the mold-making industry.

KAM adds third SLM 280 3D printer, brings PBF systems total to 21

KAM adds third SLM 280 3D printer, brings PBF systems total to 21

Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing (KAM for short), the metal AM service founded by former Team Penske NASCAR race driver Brad Keselowski, is rapidly becoming one of the most productive AM factories in the world. After starting out just a few years ago with only two systems, the service provider has built up a fleet of 21 metal PBF systems, with the newest SLM 280 just introduced bringing the total to three.

INDEX Group Acquires a Majority Stake in One Click

INDEX Group Acquires a Majority Stake in One Click

The INDEX Group in Esslingen, Germany, a specialist in industrial CNC systems, is extending its business by introducing new additive manufacturing solutions. INDEX acquired a majority interest in TRUMPF’s One Click Metal GmbH. This participation provides One Click Metal with additional know-how and capital to continue its growth trajectory in the very promising entry-level segment for 3D printers. TRUMPF remains involved as an active and strategic partner and will support the company’s future development in collaboration with INDEX.

PWR and E-plus 3D Collaborate to Provide Additive Cooling Solutions

PWR and E-plus 3D Collaborate to Provide Additive Cooling Solutions

PWR Performance Solutions, based in Australia, decided to look into adding metal 3D printing technology to its current workflow, to stay at the forefront of manufacturing capacity. The heat exchanger pictured above was designed by PWR to test the capabilities of different aspects of 3D printing. PWR engineers designed the fin structure and tube array as a benchmark for testing minimum wall thickness, surface finish, and heat transfer efficiency. To produce the parts, PWR chose E-plus 3D as a supplier and ordered an EP-M250Pro MPBF system.

Aurora Labs to Develop Instructional Guide for 3D Printed Medical Devices

Aurora Labs to Develop Instructional Guide for 3D Printed Medical Devices

Australian metal 3D printer manufacturer Aurora Labs has agreed to develop designs, specifications and parameters for the 3D printing of titanium medical implants. Developed under partnership with the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Royal Perth Hospital (RPH), the parameters will come in the form of an instructional guide for using an Aurora Labs 3D printer to manufacture medical implants.

EOS and Audi Expand Range of Applications for Metal 3D Printing

EOS and Audi Expand Range of Applications for Metal 3D Printing

AUDI AG, a leading manufacturer of premium vehicles, is relying entirely on industrial 3D printing at its Metal 3D Printing Centre in Ingolstadt for the production of selected tool segments. Additive manufacturing (AM) with EOS technology is used for 12 segments of four tools for hot forming. Plans call for significantly more segments to be printed this way. Audi uses the tool segments produced using the EOS M 400 system in its press shop to make body panels for models including the Audi A4. The company plans to do the same for future electric vehicles.

ExOne and Ford Strike Back with Automotive-specific Aluminum Binder Jetting and High-density Sintering

ExOne and Ford Strike Back with Automotive-specific Aluminum Binder Jetting and High-density Sintering

The hottest competition is in metal binder jetting and so it happens that, on the same day, two leaders in this field make a comparable breakthrough announcement: the ability to 3D print aluminum 6061 alloy by binder jetting and, more importantly, to proficiently sinter it. ExOne achieved this aluminum binder jetting breakthrough by working with Ford Motors Company on a new patent-pending process.

Xerox’s Liquid Metal 3D Printer Now Has a Name: ElemX 3D Printer

Xerox’s Liquid Metal 3D Printer Now Has a Name: ElemX 3D Printer

Xerox appears to be closer to commercially releasing the liquid metal 3D printer it has been working on since it acquired the startup Vader systems. The company released a new video where it also, for the first time, revealed the name of the upcoming system: ElemX. The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) will be the first institution to receive a Xerox ElemX Liquid Metal Printer as part of a collaboration focused on advancing additive manufacturing research

Ultrafuse 316L Stainless Steel Now Qualified for MakerBot LABS

Ultrafuse 316L Stainless Steel Now Qualified for MakerBot LABS

MakerBot qualified the BASF Ultrafuse 316L Stainless Steel material by Forward AM for the MakerBot LABS Experimental Extruder for its METHOD 3D printers. With an open materials platform and a growing portfolio of advanced engineering-grade materials, METHOD is now the only industrial desktop 3D printer in its price-class with a heated chamber that can print polymer, composite, and metal materials.

Medical Devices: Building the Manufacturing Future at 3D MedLab

Medical Devices: Building the Manufacturing Future at 3D MedLab

Once thought destined mainly for prototyping, additive manufacturing is now increasingly employed in the development of spare parts, small series production and tooling in forward-thinking manufacturing industries such as aerospace, electronics, automotive and medical devices. Among industries at the forefront of innovative manufacturing, the medical sector has emerged as a major segment driving the growth of additive manufacturing: France’s 3D MedLab operates at the forefront of this segment

Automotive AM Kicking into Gear as Desktop Metal Ships First P-1 Systems to Ford and Cetim

Automotive AM Kicking into Gear as Desktop Metal Ships First P-1 Systems to Ford and Cetim

Desktop Metal​ has begun shipping a new, intermediate version of its P-50 Production System, the new P-1 printer, globally to its early customer base. Key clients who have already received the machine include Ford Motors, an early investor in Desktop Metal, and Cetim, the Centre Technique des Industries Mécaniques, in France, which is the first European institution to receive it. The P-50 remains on schedule to begin volume commercial shipments in 2021: achieving this milestone will be a key passage in DM’s strategy for growth, especially now that the company is publicly listed.

Sturdy Cycles works with RAM3D on custom titanium bicycles Consumer Products

Sturdy Cycles Works with RAM3D on Custom Titanium Bicycles

Bicycles were one of the first consumer products to embrace 3D printing, with dozens of examples of both concept models, one-offs and actual production already underway. One reason is that personalization and weight-optimization play a big role in bicycling; another (related) is that two key materials for bicycles are carbon fiber composites and titanium, which are also key materials in 3D printing. For Tom Sturdy of Sturdy Cycles in Somerset, UK, titanium is it and he turned to AM service RAM3D to 3D print it.