3D Printing News Briefs May 31, 2020: M. Holland, Nexa3D, Formlabs

We’re sharing materials and business news with you in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs. First up, M. Holland is distributing Braskem polypropylene filament, and Nexa3D has launched a new high-performance polymer material, in addition to partnering with 3DZ. Finally, Formlabs is expanding its APAC management teams.

M. Holland Distributing Braskem’s Polypropylene

Thermoplastic resins distributor M. Holland Company is partnering with Braskem to exclusively distribute the petrochemical company’s new high-performance 3D printing polypropylene (PP) filament, enhancing its own material offerings in order to better support clients with applications development and prototype creation. Polypropylene typically has high failure rates with 3D printing, so M. Holland’s AM engineers tested out Braskem’s PP material first, and found that it generates clean surfaces, great layer adhesion, and better surface performance in support material. It features a proprietary formula, which allows users to achieve low warpage, consistent extrusion, and high stability, in addition to less stringing and more repeatable outcomes.

“The 3D printing market has seen increased adoption of additive manufacturing technologies and applications due to machinery commoditization and expanded material offerings. Our partnership to distribute Braskem’s 3D printing polypropylene products will enable injection molders to finally use genuinely 3D printable and easy-to-use polypropylene, opening up a world of applications,” said Haleyanne Freedman, Market Manager, 3D Printing at M. Holland.

Nexa3D Launches High-Performance xCE-Black Polymer

Belt pulleys 3D printed on NXE400 with xCE-Black

This week, stereolithography 3D printer manufacturer Nexa3D launched its new high-performance polymer material, xCE-Black, which is meant for high-speed printing of injection molding tools, heavy duty parts, and end-use plastic components, such as belt pulleys. Extensive testing by the company found that the single cure polymer exhibits long-term environmental stability and great isotropic properties, which makes it perfect for electronics, industrial, and automotive applications. xCE-BLack also has excellent thermal stability and higher flexural strength.

Brent Zollinger, Customer Success Lead at Nexa3D, stated, “When I needed to produce thousands of belt pulleys in our flexible factory overnight, I selected our new xCE-Black material for the job because of its high flexural strength and long-term stability. Within the first 2.5 hours into the project, I was able to print 2,000 pulleys in a single build or 13 parts every minute. That’s really fast and extremely practical for serial production of industrial parts.”

Nexa3D Announces Reseller Partnership with 3DZ

More news today from Nexa3D, as the company is entering the southern European 3D printing market thanks to a new reseller partnership with 3DZ Group, the largest AM value-added reseller in that region and an authorized dealer of 3D printers and scanners for some of the industry’s biggest names, including Artec 3D, Formlabs, HP, Markforged, Materialise, and 3D Systems. 3DZ has offered AM services and consultancy to the industry for several years, and will be able to help grow Nexa3D’s global reseller network so the company can increase the distribution of its flagship NXE400 3D printer.

“It is full speed ahead for us at Nexa3D as we continue to expand our global reseller network, and we’re honored to partner with a company with the vision, reach and proven performance of 3DZ. Manufacturers are adapting processes to become much more agile in their design and resilient in their supply chain in the face of changing circumstances. We believe that our products are at the heart of enabling customers to make that adjustment by converting current 3D printing speeds from dialup internet to broadband-like productivity,” said Avi Reichental, the Executive Chairman and CEO of Nexa3D. “We’re very excited to build together with 3DZ the future of design agility and supply chain resiliency for the benefit of our mutual customers.”

Formlabs Expanding APAC Management Teams

L-R: Jiadong Sun, Yoshinori Hasebe

This week, Formlabs announced that it is expanding its management team for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region by appointing two new hires, in order to continue growing its global operations and scale its growth in these markets. Jiadong Sun, with broad experience leading global sales and marketing at top tech companies across several industries, will be joining the team as the China General Manager, while Yoshinori Hasebe, who brings over 20 years of management experience at multinational companies to the table, will serve as the Japan General Manager. Together, they will help guide the company’s business strategy in these new markets, so that Formlabs users in the APAC region can continue to localize manufacturing and reduce costs and lead times with 3D printing and rapid iteration.

“As Formlabs continues to expand our global operations, Jiadong and Yoshinori will provide strategic guidance as we expand and scale in the important APAC region. These appointments will enable Formlabs to remain at the forefront of 3D printing as needs for additive manufacturing in major industries, including healthcare, continue to grow,” said Luke Winston, Chief Business Officer of Formlabs.

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3D Printing News Briefs: June 8, 2019

In this week’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re talking about partnerships, new software and buildings, and a neat 3D printed miniature. Together, Evolve Additive Solutions and Evonik are developing materials for the STEP process, while Awexim has partnered with Farsoon in an exclusive sales agreement, and SHINING 3D and 3D Systems released Geomagic Essentials. Oerlikon inaugurated its new R&D and production facility, and a Reddit user posted video of a miniature 3D printed steering wheel that fits on a video game controller.

Evonik and Evolve Partnering to Develop 3D Printing Materials

A little over a year ago, Stratasys spinoff company Evolve Additive Solutions emerged from stealth with its production-scale additive manufacturing STEP (selective thermoplastic electrophotographic process) solution. Now, the company is partnering up with the Evonik Corporation, a leading specialty chemicals company, in a joint development agreement to formulate the thermoplastic 3D printing materials for STEP solutions. Initial efforts will be focused on polyamide 12, PEBA, transparent polyamide, and polymer for the polyamide 6 series, and the two companies also plan to create a wider range of production materials for STEP users in the future.

“Evolve’s entirely new technology approach will allow us to expand the range of applications of our high-performance powder materials, which are produced through a unique production process,” said Thomas Grosse-Puppendahl, the Head of the Additive Manufacturing Innovation Growth Field at Evonik. “With more than 20 years of experience in 3D printing, we will also develop a wider range of customized powder formulations to unlock the full potential of the STEP technology.”

Farsoon and Awexim Sign Exclusive Sales Agreement

Another 3D printing partnership has Farsoon Europe GmbH, which is located in Stuttgart, signing an Exclusive Sales Agreement with Warsaw-based Awexim, which was founded in 1991 as a technical consulting and cutting tools supplier. Awexim’s 3D printing adoption as an official Farsoon Europe sales agent will support Poland’s industrialization of 3D printing with Farsoon’s Open Laser Sintering Systems.

“Farsoon’s strength in industrial Laser Sintering Systems, ideally supports our strategy to enter into the 3D Printing market. We support industrial customers in Poland for almost 30 years with top quality tools, machine tools and especially top quality technical and customer service. We are glad to start cooperation with such solid partner as Farsoon, whose approach and vision is similar to ours,” said Andrzej Wodziński, the Managing Director of Awexim. “This cooperation opens huge possibilities to bring even more solutions for our customers on solving their needs. 3D printing is a future of industry, and we are sure, that connection of Farsoon and our team will have big influence on this industry in Poland.”

SHINING 3D and 3D Systems to Deliver Geomagic Essentials

Chinese company SHINING 3D recently announced that it has partnered up with 3D Systems to launch a new cost-effective scan-to-CAD solution. The two released Geomagic Essentials on the market as a bundled offering along with SHINING 3D’s most recent handheld, multi-functional 3D scanner: the Einscan Pro 2X series.

The Einscan Pro 2X and 2X Plus are lightweight and compact, with faster scanning speeds and higher accuracy. The new Geomagic Essentials bundled offer only increases these capabilities, as the solution is perfect for downstream reverse engineering and scan-to-print applications. While many CAD software programs are limited in terms of what they can do in processing, Geomagic Essentials makes the scan data compatible with native CAD workflows, so designers wanting to integrate part design and 3D scan data can do so with ease.

Oerlikon Inaugurates New R&D and Production Facility

Technology company Oerlikon is based in Switzerland, but it has 170 locations in nearly 40 different countries, including the US. The company provides surface solutions, equipment, and materials processing, and as part of its continuing growth strategy here, recently celebrated the opening of its new $55 million, state-of-the-art Innovation Hub & Advanced Component Production facility in Huntersville, North Carolina. This is Oerlikon’s second location in the state, and the 125,000 sq ft, fully functional facility employs about 60 people and will continue to gradually add jobs as the business continues to expand.

“We are already working with customers in the aerospace, automotive, energy and medical industries in the US, and we anticipate continued growth in those sectors, as well as in others. We believe that additive manufacturing can transform production in many industries, and we are excited that our presence here in North Carolina allows us to better demonstrate those possibilities to our customers,” said Dr. Sven Hicken, Head of Oerlikon’s Additive Manufacturing business.

State and federal officials spoke at the inauguration event, which was attended by employees and their families, in addition to business leaders and customers. Oerlikon presented a local robotics club with a check at the event in order to begin growing collaborations with academic institutions and show support for STEM learning.

Oerlikon Huntersville Event

We had a lot of fun last week opening our new Innovation & Proctuction Hub in Huntersville, NC. Check out what happened on the big day! #OerlikonUSA #OerlikonAM

Gepostet von Oerlikon Group am Freitag, 7. Juni 2019

3D Printed Steering Wheel

Reddit user Malespams recently posted a video of a 3D printed steering wheel in action, but not one for a regular-sized car…or even a car at all, actually. No, this miniature green wheel is made to attach to the controller for a video game system, like XBox, to make it easier and more natural to play racing games. However, not everyone who commented on the video thought that the 3D printed mod would make these games easier. One person said that it would offer “zero control” during play, and another noted that it covered the controller’s right stick and would make it hard to press any buttons,

“I have one, but while it’s a fun concept it covers the dpad so if you’re playing horizon you can’t access Anna m. Sometimes it hits the clutch and messes me up,” user 3202 people wrote. “It’s sometimes fun and I could see people having fun if they got used to it.”

If you’re interested in making your own game controller racing mod, check out this Thingiverse link.

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