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3D Printing News Briefs: March 10, 2020

The big story in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs is the postponing of the Materialise World Summit. Then we’ll finish with a little business news, as 3D PRINT UK is moving to expanded premises. Finally, starting this week, you can get QUANT-U’s 3D printed silicone midsoles at ECCO’s flagship Zürich store for a limited time.

Materialise World Summit Postponed

Every two years, Materialise holds its Materialise World Summit (MWS) in Brussels, Belgium, gathering together the industry’s thought leaders and decision makers so they can share ideas about the additive manufacturing industry. This event typically takes place in the spring, which was the original plan for this year’s MWS…but not anymore. MWS 2020, originally scheduled for May 14-15, has been postponed, due to, as the company’s Kristof Sehmke tells us, “the coronavirus and its impact on international traffic.”

MWS 2020 will now take place November 5-6, which makes it a busy month considering that will just one week before formnext in Germany. This isn’t the only major industry event that’s had to change its plans due to the COVID-19 outbreak – JEC World, originally scheduled for last  week, has been pushed back to May, and after several big companies originally planning to attend the upcoming SXSW dropped out, including Apple, Facebook, Amazon Studios, TikTok, Intel, and Warner Music, the Texas-based conference was called off. With California Governor Gavin Newsome declaring a state of emergency in California over the coronavirus, should we all cancel our plans for RAPID + TCT next month? Time will only tell.

3D PRINT UK Moves to Bigger Facility

Moving on to some better news, 3DPRINTUK has just finished the move to its new purpose-designed facility in North London’s Leyton Industrial Village. The service provider of polymer SLS 3D printing solutions for manufacturing applications was seeing increased demand for low volume production, and determined that a move was needed to accommodate the company’s current, and future, plans for expansion. 3DPRINTUK’s new home is larger, with nearly 10,000 square feet of space, and was custom-designed to hold the company’s EOS polymer SLS 3D printers, as well as offer a space for post-processing operations and a break down room that’s sealed to avoid powder contamination.

“At 3DPRINTUK we are able to work with our customers — and potential new customers — to illustrate when and why the SLS process will work for them. But we are not afraid to tell them when it won’t, either. This is really important to us, and something the industry at large is not very good at confronting,” stated Nick Allen, 3DPRINTUK’s Founder and Managing Director. “I think this approach has contributed to our growth, which has been organic year on year, and the new premises are testament to that. We are still settling in, but the printers have been working non-stop since we got here and we are looking to further expand our capacity in the near future.”

QUANT-U’s In-store Experience at ECCO

In 2018, the Innovation Lab at Danish heritage footwear brand and manufacturer ECCO introduced an experimental footwear customization project called QUANT-U, which uses real-time analysis, data-driven design, and in-store 3D printing to create custom, personalized midsoles out of a heat cured two-component silicone in just two hours. The QUANT-U experience is now coming to ECCO’s flagship Zürich store as an exclusive pop-up event from now until April 15, with a “unique limited collection” available to both men and women, along with the full customization service.

The process is simple – 3D scanners determine your orthotic fit in 30 seconds, so your midsoles have the correct shoe size and arch height. Then, during a walking analysis, wearable sensors will create an accurate representation of how you move around. The anatomical scan and the sensor data will help QUANT-U build a unique digital footprint just for you, which leads to customized, 3D printed midsoles within two hours. You can use the cloud-based service to print your own midsoles from any location and have them shipped to you, but at the upcoming ECCO pop-up event, you can just pick them up in the store. Book your fitting now!

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

The post 3D Printing News Briefs: March 10, 2020 appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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RAPID 2019: BASF, Origin and ECCO Partner to Produce Footwear

BASF has quietly hinted for a while that they are working on various flexible materials such as silicones to produce things such as insoles, medical equipment and perhaps even shoes. Now they’ve partnered with Origin and ECCO to do just this. Furthermore BASF has validated its photopolymer materials for the Origin platform.

ECCO is a Danish footwear company that makes very comfortable shoes for everyday wear, think soft-soled shoes for work. Origin is a company that has previously already partnered with BASF on its programmable resin printing technology. We interviewed their CEO about their technology here. Origin has also recently signed up BASF competitor DSM to their materials platform. Meanwhile BASF has also partnered with materials and technology company Essentium. ECCO’s own internal design lab is using DOW silicone materials with German RepRap printers and Viscotec’s two component print heads to produce its silicone 3D printed shoe, the QUANT U. Over the past two years we’ve seen a lot of partnerships between a lot of firms. In this case, things seem to be coming to a head with multiple competitors partnering with multiple materials suppliers over the same end solution. Funnily enough for such an inspiring technology with such a broad spectrum of applications people are all hunting high volume use cases. This can lead to such “overpartnering” as everyone is chasing the next million part seller in 3D Printing.

The Viscotec solution seems to be high caliber and high-quality way to get silicone prints but I’ve always been skeptical if the German RepRap machines could be capable of producing millions of shoes. Now BASF and Origin present another way. Origin’s technology and the whole idea of polymerization that would can be programmed are very interesting. Origin’s open platform approach also seems like its the right way to engage the industry. BASF’s entry into the photopolymer market with its Ultracur3D photopolymer materials is also a bit of a shakeup vis a vis DSM, 3D Systems and Arkema’s Sartomer. That together with Henkel’s market entry will ensure that we get a lot of innovation at the photopolymer front. That the Origin BASF team is focused on mass production is also laudable. Meanwhile, BASF mentions that it is not only focused on Origin but will also make resins for LCD, DLP and SLA equipment. 

Arnaud Guedou, Business Director Photopolymer Solutions, BASF 3DPS says, 

“Origin’s newly developed printing system is optimally tuned for our innovative Ultracur3D photopolymer series. This enables end-users to achieve high processing speeds and a superb surface finish that reliably reproduces even the finest textures and ensures outstanding mechanical stability. We have worked shoulder to shoulder with our customers and know that we need to provide market-beating customized solutions in terms of surface finish, mechanical properties, price-per-part produced, and productivity. The combination of Origin’s technology with BASF’s materials is extremely promising, as the initial results and first functional prototypes of the collaboration clearly illustrate.”

The company says that,  

“the suite of Ultracur3D products features excellent strength and impact resistance, high elasticity and impressive long-term UV stability. It is suitable for the production of prototypes as well as for mass production in practically all major industries.”

Oleksandra Korotchuk, Business Development Manager, BASF 3DPS states  “With their (Origin’s) printing processes they are able to achieve consistent Class A surface finishes and exceptional resolution, while our materials contribute to ensuring long-term functional usage.”

Charlie Vestner, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing, Origin

“Not only did we work closely with BASF to develop new materials, but also the 3D printing processes for each of them. In close consultation together we determined how we can achieve specific high-quality resolutions and process control that suit our customers and their applications perfectly. We offer customers unrivalled control over the printing process – not just in designing their product, but also in the sheer scope of design options it offers, meaning it can be tailored precisely to each specific application.”

These are some very bold claims by the team. So 3DSystems has been working on resins for a few decades as has DSM and only now can we get end-use parts through BASF’s materials? All of the problems with limited heat deflection, wear, brittleness have been solved? I’d love to be optimistic but I’ll have to see long term testing results of this in order to believe that long bugbears of 3D printing with resins have been solved so suddenly. At the same time, I’m also skeptical of using a material with limited recyclability in an end-use consumer application. 

I really believe that this kind of partnership is key to getting settings, procedures, and automation right so that we can make millions of consumer items. Any combination of a large polymer company, OEM and end-user to make end-use products is bound to get me very excited. Firms the size of BASF can grind away at a problem with a lot of candle power and a lot of resources until it is solved as well. In this case, I do feel like the claims made feel very ambitious indeed, however. You can ask the BASF and Origin guys yourself at Booth 2153. 

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Origin introduces Origin One 3D printer for high volume production

Origin, a California-based startup focused on bringing mass manufacturing to the additive industry, has introduced its Origin One 3D printer. The Origin One is an SLA/DLP machine which uses a combination of materials, hardware, and software to make high volume 3D printing possible. With the introduction of its new system, Origin has also partnered with […]
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Interview with Patrizio Carlucci of Innovation Lab ECCO on 3D Printing Shoes

Patrizio Carlucci

Patrizio Carlucci is the Head of Innovation Lab ECCO a subsidiary of Danish shoemaker ECCO. The Innovation Lab is ECCO’s independent cross-disciplinary design studio. They explore, create, and deliver projects embracing alternative production methods, various materials, new technologies and experiential solutions. This lab has a big project called QUANT-U. It is a footwear customisation project by Innovation Lab ECCO. Built on half a century of industry experience and footwear research in dynamics and fit: QUANT-U combines future technologies to create 3D printed customised comfort, quantified by you. So for more info on innovation and 3D printing within the footwear industry pay attention to this interview!

Tell me a little bit about your background and how you are at this point of your life and your career.

I am an industrial designer by trade with a keen passion towards computer aided design and 3D printing. Fortunate enough in my career to be involved in innovative projects, not only from a designer’s perspective, I have been driven to challenge my own skills and knowledge base on a regular basis. Having been an early adopter of innovative digital tools has helped me in roles were transformation and change management was paramount for businesses, especially from a product strategy perspective.

What are some of the most important aspects of your career that have followed you through various roles?

A common thread for me has been the application of digital agile processes between concepts and products. Being agile in product design and development means more opportunities to identify at an early stage a breakthrough design direction or to refine to perfection existing ones. Furthermore, I have never understood how design and styling, in terms of creative moments, could be isolated from the physical creation of a product, particularly when ultimate product performance is paramount. Designers often delegate 3D work to a modeler, and this is often cause for delays and misinterpretation. For this, from 3D modeling passing by FEA simulation to 3D renders used for marketing purposes, I have personally experienced almost any phase of advanced product development. This helped me further down the line with a decent understanding of advantages and shortcomings of innovative technologies during innovation tasks for the entire product life cycle management.

Quant-U

What skills are the most useful to have at the intersection of 3D Printing and footwear in particular?

It might be trivial but 3D modeling and developing a shoe is a challenging feat compared to other types of products. To mention just a few reasons for this: the lack of lines’ symmetry between the medial and lateral sides of the shoe, the criticality of observing the right fit requisites for a wide range of wearers and the relatively low-tech manufacturing processes that causes inconsistencies between the 3D models and the final shape of the shoe. This is mainly due to components that can’t be molded, cemented or stitched in their final shape if not developed in a flattened form. Additionally, a shoe is a soft and hard good at the same time, requiring distinct processes for uppers and soles. 3D printing an outsole creates a decent representation of the final product but 3D printing a soft upper that feels like the final product is close to impossible.

The team at Ecco has had some interesting projects coming recently. Can you go into more depth about what Ecco is doing in particular when it comes to 3D Printing and footwear? 

Dassault Systemes

We are focusing heavily on the wearable data capturing process, both in terms of next generation hardware development and for the advanced interpretation of motion data related to FEA processes with our project partners Dassault Systemes. With DOW Chemical, another project partner, we continuously explore further properties of 3D printed silicone we use for our Quant-U project. There is a lot of hyped and misunderstood activity around 3D printed footwear without a solid solution for true mass production and customization. AM offers the chance to create bespoke parts in series, but this is rarely translated in a consumer product; most likely due to the complexity of the 3D models and a lack of measuring data to begin with. To solve this, we invested heavily on the digital capture and interpretation of motion and orthotic data and the related AI and automated processes for the creation of 3D models without human intervention. With our Quant-U project we are showcasing these abilities on the market already and we look forward to extending its reach to more customers soon.

Which countries around the world are the most innovative in terms of integrating fashion and technology? Where should we be paying attention to in terms of 3D Printing and fashion?

Well, if you consider how thin the separation line between fashion and sportswear is today, and if you consider that technology in wearable goods is usually seen in sportswear, I would put the USA and Germany on the top list. France is seeing a lot of activity related to technology in the luxury brands arena, although still at an experimental level. In Italy, the motherland of luxury goods manufacturing, there is some use of AM processes in the product development phase that might find their way in final products. In the Netherlands, a country often ahead of the curve, there is a vibrant movement dedicated to 3D printed shoes that has been inspiring for a lot of young designers, although not commercially exploited yet. For us at ECCO, a Danish company, we believe to express digital maturity in fashion with our latest project and we hope to engage more and more with consumers from this point of view.

I believe that the next technological innovations in fashion will be represented by new bio/growth materials with a strong focus on sustainability and smart materials that have augmented functionality. The commercial application of 3D printing processes for fashion in general is, and will still be, for few players that have the necessary resources to sustain processes that are still slow in terms of output and expensive in terms of investments. Until a 3D printed product is either fully circular and sustainable or performs substantially better than a standard one, I doubt it will ever surpass the scope of a hyped experiment.

For this, at ECCO with Quant-U, we invested into an approach were a fundamental component of a shoe could be customized and 3D printed using a material and a process that truly augments the product’s performance while keeping the manufacturing aspect intact.

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Dow, Dassault Systèmes, and ECCO Introduce New 3D Printed QUANT-U Shoe Midsoles

Dow, known for their historical innovations in chemicals, is lending their expertise to the ECCO Shoes’ QUANT-U line as they partner in creating a new system of shoe-making. Also collaborating with Dassault Systèmes, this power punch of leading companies presented the latest trend in materials, technology, and footwear in Japan recently at the ECCO Shoes’ Spring-Summer preview.

The QUANT-U customized footwear was introduced to other industry peers and experts, writers, stores, and fashion enthusiasts in the Asia-Pacific realm. ECCO’s independent cross-disciplinary design studio, Innovation Lab (ILE), heads up this new experimental line, offering customer-specific fit and consequent comfort—along with performance. 3D printing is the technology behind the project, and Dow’s liquid silicone rubber is the material making it possible.

Known as SILASTIC 3D 3335 Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR), Dow’s new 3D printing material is used to create shoes formed from the wearer’s ‘individual biomechanical data,’ featuring silicone midsoles that adapt to the customer’s shape and typical movements. This form of LSR was created by Dow specifically for 3D printing. Featuring a low viscosity, the versatile silicone results in smooth fabrication processes, accompanied by the requisite high resolution and accuracy.

The footwear team also expects its future customers to benefit from:

  • Elasticity and recovery
  • Optimized energy return
  • Cushioning
  • Added foot stability

Photo courtesy of QUANT-U

What also sets this new 3D printing venture in fashion/accessories/shoes apart from the others is the timeframe: less than one hour to create, in-store. Overall, the project between all entities culminating in the retail QUANT-U product took two years of development—with a recent press release stating that this brings together 50 years of footwear knowledge on ECCO’s part, and over 70 years in silicone elastomer experience from Dow. While SILASTIC brand silicone rubber was created by Dow over 45 years ago, this type of modern elastomer is helpful in rapid prototyping, the fabrication of complex geometries, and suitable in industrial applications like consumer goods, automotive, electrical, and more.

Photo courtesy of QUANT-U

“The QUANT-U collaboration showcases one of the infinite opportunities SILASTIC™ 3D-printable liquid silicone rubbers are opening up for designers seeking part design flexibility and the processing advantages of additive manufacturing along with the performance advantages of silicone rubber,” said Charlie Zimmer, global marketing director for silicone elastomers with Dow Performance Silicones.

Fashion and clothing designers around the world are enjoying countless new opportunities today thanks to 3D printing, and the same goes for a variety of different footwear—whether in ballet shoes, high heels, running shoes, or other unique products and projects like QUANT-U–which seem poised to change the face of shoe shopping for consumers open to progressive technology.

The QUANT-U shoes will be available for the first time from the general public on the 20th of April.

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

[Source: QUANT-U]

Photo courtesy of QUANT-U

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3D Printing News Sliced Volvo, ANSYS, COBOD, Prodways

In this edition of our 3D printing news digest – Sliced, we have news about 3D printed constructions, 2D printed electronic circuits, large-format metal 3D printer and more. Read on to learn more about DOW, Volvo, COBOD, and ANSYS. Bridging the gaps U.S Marines from the 1st Marine Logistics Group has 3D printed a concrete bridge at […]
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3D Printing Industry News Sliced Volvo, ANSYS, COBOD, Prodways

In this edition of our 3D Printing Industry News digest – Sliced, we have news about 3D printed constructions, 2D printed electronic circuits, large-format metal 3D printer and more. Read on to learn more about DOW, Volvo, COBOD, and ANSYS. Bridging the gaps U.S Marines from the 1st Marine Logistics Group have 3D printed a concrete bridge […]
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3D Printing Industry Review of the Year March 2018

In the month we opened voting for the 3D Printing Industry Awards research prevailed, especially in the medical and biomedical sphere. A few companies donned some new 3D printed shoes and, of course, there was a flurry of 3D printer releases to top it all off. Medical innovation straight from the lab At the University of Texas […]