In this edition of Sliced, the 3D Printing Industry news digest, we cover the latest business developments, investments, and partnerships in the 3D printing sector.
Today’s edition includes several new 3D printing partnerships, a new metal 3D printing facility in Germany, the qualification of 316L stainless steel for binder jetting, and a €15M convertible bond offering.
Read on for the most recent updates from Desktop Metal, Materialise, Wilhelmsen, thyssenkrupp, Arburg, Würth Additive Group and more.
New partnerships and investments in additive manufacturing
Pyrogenesis, a developer of plasma atomized 3D printing powders, recently signed an agreement with an unnamed, leading aerospace company for the production of metal powders. As part of the partnership, the aerospace client is set to perform a standard qualification process on Pyrogenesis’ 3D printing powders, at which point Pyrogenesis will become an approved supplier. The qualification process will include an evaluation of the production methods, the batch-to-batch consistency, and the mechanical and chemical properties.
Photis Peter Pascali, CEO and Chair of PyroGenesis, stated, “This Agreement with one of the world’s largest aerospace companies is a very significant achievement in further validating PyroGenesis’ additive manufacturing powder offering utilizing our NexGen production, which provides significant cost and production advantages.”
Elsewhere, manufacturing system provider Arburg recently signed a redistribution agreement with 3D printing service provider Würth Additive Group. The deal will see Würth become a sales partner for Arburg’s Freeformer 3D printing system in the US and Canada, extending Arburg’s reach into the general manufacturing sector as well as the oil and gas industries.
Friedrich Kanz, Managing Director of the Arburg subsidiary in the US, adds, “Thanks to its extensive expertise and high-quality portfolio, Würth Additive Group is a major player in the AM industry, making it an ideal partner to offer Arburg’s Freeformer technology.”
3D printer manufacturer RIZE recently shipped its large-format RIZE 7XC additive manufacturing system, and a large electronics manufacturer has already made an investment. The customer used RIZE’s latest 3D printer to create a set of jigs called nests for their automotive electronics assembly line. By opting for additive manufacturing, the company was able to build its nests in just three hours, as opposed to a week with conventional processes.
Roberto Jacobus, General Director of 3D printer supplier Industrias VIWA, said, “The nests have already outlasted the previous jigs that were made in an ABS material on another 3D printer. Our customer really appreciated how easy and fast materials can be swapped, pointing out the printer’s step by step voice guidance.”
Over in Singapore, maritime firms Wilhelmsen and thyssenkrupp demonstrated the capabilities of their 3D printing service by fabricating a cooling water pipe connector for manufacturing conglomerate Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Drone startup F-drones helped deliver the part to an offshore vessel during the launch of the Maritime Drone Estate, marking the start of a new partnership between Kawasaki and the Wilhelmsen thyssenkrupp venture.
Atsushi Ogura, Project Leader at Kawasaki, said, “Additive manufacturing offers clear benefits in performance, lead time and enables a more resilient and greener supply chain. We are proud to be working with the Wilhelmsen thyssenkrupp venture, the AM market leader for the marine industry. The successful production and delivery has established a solid foundation for a future collaboration between Kawasaki Heavy Industries and the Wilhelmsen thyssenkrupp venture.”
Materialise launches new Metal Competence Center
3D printing software developer Materialise launched a new 3,500 square meter metal 3D printing facility in the city of Bremen, Germany. The Metal Competence Center is designed to unite software development, manufacturing, and sustainability research under one roof, and cost the company a total €7.5 million. It has a capacity of over 120 employees and 30 industrial 3D printing systems.
“As an industry, we need to step up our efforts to make the 3D printing process itself more sustainable,” said Jurgen Laudus, VP of Materialise Manufacturing. “Our work in Bremen will explore opportunities to optimize printing processes, improve energy efficiency and more consistently recover and reuse metal powder to create more sustainable technologies.”
SLM Solutions issues €15M Convertible Bond offering
Industrial 3D printer OEM SLM Solutions has successfully issued its Convertible Bond 2021/2026 offering in the amount of €15 million. The subscription offer is being made exclusively to holders of the Convertible Bond 2020/2026, which SLM Solutions issued last year. The bonds are initially convertible into up to 1,935,483 ordinary bearer shares at a price of €7.75 per share.
Sam O’Leary, CEO of SLM Solutions, comments, “With the launch of the industry-leading NXG XII 600 machine last November, SLM Solutions has paved the way for significant growth in the coming years. Besides funding our ongoing business operations, the raised capital will help us to ramp-up production of the NXG XII 600 and expand the sales and service network.”
Desktop Metal qualifies 316L for the Production System
Binder jet 3D printer manufacturer Desktop Metal has qualified the use of 316L stainless steel on its large-format Production System 3D printer. Offering a combination of corrosion resistance and excellent mechanical properties, 316L is well-suited to high-performance applications in maritime, pharmaceutical and food processing, and end-use medical devices.
Jonah Myerberg, co-founder and CTO of Desktop Metal, added, “The qualification of 316L stainless steel with leading mechanical properties on the Production System platform is part of our aggressive roadmap to support an array of materials for binder jetting and a testament to the advantages of SPJ technology, which enables mass production throughput without sacrificing part performance and repeatability.”
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Featured image shows the Sliced logo on a photo of a Pyrogenesis plasma atomizer. Photo via Pyrogenesis.
