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HP’s Multi Jet Fusion and Metal Jet 3D Printing Technology Continue to Accelerate

As formnext kicks off in Frankfurt, Germany, several companies are already making big announcements. HP is no exception, blazing into formnext with a series of updates regarding its Jet Fusion 3D printing technology.

“HP is accelerating the shift to 3D mass production, enabling an exciting array of applications helping customers improve their businesses as we enter the 4thIndustrial Revolution. Many industries such as automotive, which is going through its biggest transformation in more than 100 years, are looking to new technologies and strategic partners like HP to help them better compete in this time of change,” said Christoph Schell, President of 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing, HP Inc. “We are working with innovators across the globe to change the way they design and manufacture with HP Multi Jet Fusion and our new Metal Jet platform, unlocking new applications, more manufacturing flexibility, and greater innovation, efficiency and sustainability across their product development lifecycle.”

Part of HP’s news involves the continuing worldwide expansion of its technology with the addition of some new customers. RecTech 3D is based in China and will be using Multi Jet Fusion technology as it expands into a full-fledged industrial Additive Manufacturing Center in Chongqing. Working with HP, the company plans to offer application and design expertise as well as training to customers and partners. In early 2019, RecTech 3D will begin installing 10 HP Jet Fusion 3D 4210 printers in its Additive Manufacturing Center, with plans to grow to 30 machines by the end of the year.

“As a premier partner of HP in China, RecTech 3D is looking to help lead industrial innovators and designers to take advantage of digital production and manufacturing, and we believe HP Multi Jet Fusion technology offers the capabilities required to deliver on that promise,” said Jay Luo, CEO, RecTech 3D. “In addition to offering the production of parts using HP Multi Jet Fusion technology, we will provide our customers with educational resources and end-to-end solutions based on HP’s industry-leading 3D printing products and expertise that enable the entire process from design to production. Using HP Multi Jet Fusion technology we plan to transform manufacturing.”

Meanwhile, US-based Forecast 3D is growing steadily with the installation of 24 HP Jet Fusion 3D 4210 in its digital factory. In addition, GE Transportation will use HP’s Jet Fusion solutions in its John F. Welch Technology Center in Bangalore, India to produce industrial parts for applications in mining vehicles and locomotives.

“Our business continues to reap the rewards of leaning in early and going big with HP Multi Jet Fusion technology,” said Corey Weber, CEO, Forecast 3D. “Our 3D Manufacturing Center is now powered by 24 HP Jet Fusion 3D 4210 printers. We are serving more customers than ever, running 24×7, and on pace to surpass millions of Multi Jet Fusion parts produced this year.”

In the automotive industry, BMW Group is using HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 printers to manufacture the window guide rail for the BMW i8 Roadster, while Volkswagen Group is using HP systems for both metal and plastic. By the end of the year, 100 percent of the tools used to manufacture the new T-Cross SUV will be 3D printed using Multi Jet Fusion technology. In addition, Volkswagen will begin to use HP’s Metal Jet 3D printing technology starting with mass-customizable parts such as key rings and name plates.

“Using our automotive standards and HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology our manufacturing team is able to produce durable, reliable final parts such as the window guide rail for our BMW i8 Roadster,” said Dr. Dominik Rietzel, Head of Non-Metal Additive Manufacturing at the BMW Group. “In the past decade, we are proud to have produced more than one million 3D printed parts, and it’s fitting that one of these window guide rails was identified as the one-millionth part printed. Complex parts that require reliable functionality and a small footprint are a perfect example of the power of additive manufacturing and together with partners such as HP we are excited about the possibilities ahead.”

HP recently introduced the new PA-11 material, which has seen a great deal of use already. Its properties include strength, ductility, impact resistance and enhanced elongation break. Bowman International used the material to produce a rollertrain cage, while orthotic company OT4 used it to create a sleep helmet. Other parts produced with PA-11 include shoe heels by New Rock and personalized phone cases by Freshfiber.

HP’s Jet Fusion 3D 300/500 series is a lower-cost version of its MJF technology, and early customers include A-Dec, a dental equipment manufacturer using the technology to produce fixtures, jigs and low-volume service parts; Rady Children’s Hospital, which is using it to create casts, corrective devices, and anatomical models; and the University of Louisville, which is using the technology in numerous applications across several departments.

HP is now offering new online resources for partners and customers who are looking to accelerate their adoption of 3D printing for mass production. These include the i-AMdigital Talent Platform, a digital career growth platform for additive manufacturing, and 3D ExchangeNet, a marketplace dedicated to helping 3D printing businesses identify growth capital, investment or buyout opportunities.

At formnext, HP will be showcasing its recently introduced Metal Jet technology, which, according to the company, can offer up to 50 times more productivity at lower cost than competitors. Companies using the technology already include Volkswagen, GKN Powder Metallurgy, Parmatech, Wilo, Primo Medical Group and OKAY Industries. In the first half of 2019, customers will be able to order Metal Jet parts through the new Metal Jet Production Service.

Formnext is taking place from today until November 16th. You can visit HP at Booth E40 in Hall 3.1.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

 

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3D Printing News Briefs: July 17, 2018

In Today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re covering a lot of business and a little medical news. AMFG is partnering with a top UK bearings manufacturer to help automate its digital manufacturing workflows, while Segula Technologies has begun an industrial 3D printing partnership with digital manufacturing company Multistation. Techniplas has completed a deployment of Sharebot 3D printers to its 14 manufacturing facilities around the world, and the winners of the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition have been announced. Finally, a pediatric cardiologist used the Sinterit Lisa to create a 3D printed model of a newborn boy’s heart to plan his risky surgery.

Bowman International Announces Partnership with AMFG

Bowman’s bearings

Automation software specialist AMFG, which recently launched a new AI software platform, has partnered with Bowman International, one of the top bearings manufacturers in the UK, as it works to grow its 3D printing capabilities through its Bowman Additive Production (AP) division. Bowman AP has several MJF and SLS 3D printers available for its use, and uses 3D printing to design and produce its end-part bearings, which has helped increase their load bearing capacity by up to 70%.

In the meantime, Bowman International’s goal is to use AMFG’s AI-powered production automation software to oversee production of said bearings, by automating production job scheduling, optimizing digital CAD files for production with printability analyses, and creating a custom digital part catalog.

“We’re very pleased to be partnering with AMFG and using their automation software to scale our already expanding AM facility,” said Jacob Turner, the Head of Additive Production at Bowman International. “Additive manufacturing is transforming the way bearings are manufactured, and we aim to continue to be at the forefront of innovating the production of bearings using AM. AMFG’s automation software will enable us to achieve this by significantly increasing the efficiency of our production processes.”

Multistation Partners with Segula Technologies

Another newly announced 3D printing partnership is the one between international engineering group Segula Technologies and Paris-based 3D printing company Multistation. The two are working together to further develop the potential of 3D printing in the industrial sector, which will allow both companies to increase their offerings and provide customers with excellent services along the AM value chain. Segula will bring its design, product-process qualification, and technology integration in industrial environments to the table, while Multistation will share and apply its expertise in AM design and simulation by determining any potential parts that could be 3D printed instead of fabricated with a more traditional method of manufacturing.

“Additive manufacturing is an integral part of a value chain within which Multistation provides a comprehensive offering; Segula Technologies was an obvious partner of choice to enable our Additive Consulting division to address manufacturers’ concerns more effectively,” said Yannick Loisance, the CEO of Multistation. “We will thus be able to supply them not just with software packages, machines and materials, but also with a more comprehensive range of high-quality engineering services that are suited to a host of different business sectors.”

Techniplas Adds Sharebot 3D Printers to Its Manufacturing Facilities

This fall, Italian professional-grade 3D printer manufacturer Sharebot joined the open innovation program at Techniplas, a top automotive design and manufacturing provider. Now, as part of its own continuing digital transformation, Techniplas has deployed Sharebot 3D printers to all of its 14 manufacturing facilities across five continents. This move will allow the company to 3D print the majority of the manufacturing products it uses every day on-site, which will equal major cost and time savings as Techniplas previously used only third-party providers for this task.

“With Sharebot 3D printers installed in all of our manufacturing facilities worldwide, we are taking decisive steps toward fabricating the majority of our manufacturing line assembly tools, jigs, fixtures, gauges and even robotic arm attachments in-house. Based on our experience with Sharebot printers thus far, we expect to significantly reduce our development time and annual assembly line tooling costs in each manufacturing facility over time,” said Techniplas COO Manfred Kwade.

Winners of the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition Announced

For the fourth year running, advanced manufacturing technology industry organization SME and Stratasys have co-sponsored the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Contest, held during the annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville. The winners of this year’s student contest, which asks contestants to solve real world problems with 3D printing, were just announced. This year, entrants had to design an adaptive device for a veteran, who had endured a traumatic thumb amputation, so he could keep playing his PlayStation 3. Prizes include RAPID + TCT conference passes, SOLIDWORKS’ 3D-CAD design software, SME Education Foundation scholarships (for high school participants), a one-year Tooling U-SME subscription, and a MakerBot Mini 3D printer.

“The SkillsUSA contest is designed to help students and educators realize the power of additive manufacturing to drive innovation. This year’s competition was particularly meaningful as it directly resulted in enhancing a veteran’s life with a custom solution not possible without additive manufacturing,” said Gina Scala, the Director of Marketing, Global Education at Stratasys.

The high school winners include:

  • Gold medal: Getty George and Sam Green, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside, California
  • Silver medal: Noah Logan and Johnathan Urbani, Stafford Tech Center, Rutland, Vermont
  • Bronze medal: Andrew Daddone and Layke Martin, Frederick County Career & Tech Center, Frederick, Maryland

The college winners include:

  • Gold medal: Adolfo Vargas and Alexander Kemnitz, Central Community College-Hastings, Hastings, Nebraska
  • Silver medal: Deema Al Namee and Aric Donerkiel, Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center, Vermont
  • Bronze medal: William Swaner and Ashton DeZwarte, Tenneseee College of Applied Tech-Nashville, Nashville, Tennessee

Watch a video about the 2018 competition here, and check out the winning designs here; you can also view SME’s Flickr album for more competition photos.

Surgeon 3D Prints Pediatric Heart Model with Sinterit Lisa

Desktop SLS 3D printer manufacturing Sinterit has seen its flagship Lisa 3D printer, which went through a recent upgrade, used to save lives in multiple ways, from fighting wildfires and protecting the faces of children to providing assistance in a tough pediatric cardiac surgery.

“Delivering desktop SLS 3D printer for more than three years caused that our clients send us tonnes of useful and exciting cases. Writing about all of them is hard, if not impossible, but when 3D printing helps saving lives, especially those most fragile, we feel proud, and also a duty to share it with you,” Michał Krzak, Sinterit’s Marketing Communication Manager, told 3DPrint.com.

A newborn’s heart can weigh barely 20 grams, and fits in the palm of an adult’s hand, so you can imagine that surgeries on such a delicate organ are exceedingly difficult. Jarosław Meyer-Szary, MD, from the Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Defects at the University Clinical Center in Poland recently turned to Sinterit’s Lisa 3D printer to save the life of Kordian, an infant less than one month old suffering from a potentially fatal heart disease called interrupted aortic arch.

Meyer-Szary created 3D printed, life-size model of Kordian’s tiny heart, and SLS technology was able to recreate each intricate artery and vein. The model not only helped him plan the surgery ahead of time, but also helped Kordian’s mother gain a more thorough understanding of her son’s condition. Kordian is now a thriving and happy 18 month-old, thanks to Sinterit’s SLS technology.

Discuss these stories and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the comments below.