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2019 Year in Review: Industrial 3D Printing

We continue to see industrial 3D printing increase in speed, size and capability, while dropping in cost as signs point to its integration into the larger manufacturing industry. This year, there were a number of announcements that reinforce this trend, including mergers, acquisitions, partnerships and product releases.

Service Bureaus

This was one of the more important stories of the year, in this author’s opinion, in that it solidified BASF as more than a periphery agent in the AM space. The largest chemical company in the world had slowly been spready its tendrils into the space, developing materials for companies like HP and then acquiring Innofil3D, Advanc3D Materials, Setup Performance, Forward AM. It also continues to develop materials to new 3D printing processes. In addition to Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), BASF has teamed with Paxis, Impossible Objects and Origin for material development.

With the acquisition of San Francisco- and Paris-based service bureau Sculpteo, BASF has established itself as a major player. The fact that it has also invested $25 million in 3D printing software and service company Materialise indicates that it is making significant bets on the service bureau space, with its materials fueling those efforts.

BASF may be the largest chemical company in the world but it’s not the only materials giant in the 3D printing industry. DuPont, Mitsubishi Chemicals, Covestro (Bayer spin-off), Arkema (spin-out of French oil giant Total), Henkel, DSM, Evonik and others were also very active in the space this year (though of course that is to be expected).

Meanwhile, another service bureau marketplace, Xometry, has continued to grow. After closing a $50 million Series D investment earlier in the year, the startup acquired Europe’s largest on-demand manufacturing marketplace, Shift. This will allow it to expand into 12 new countries and access a network of over 4,000 manufacturers.

GKN has also continued to grow its AM activities, acquiring more metal powder makers and California-based 3D printing bureau FORECAST3D, which complements the group’s existing HP Metal Jet technology with a large fleet of Multi Jet Fusion 3D printers. Additionally, GKN Powder Metallurgy opened a third customer center in Germany and one in Michigan, which also serves as its North American headquarters.

Siemens

After completing what it claims was a successful pilot program, Siemens officially launched its  Siemens Additive Manufacturing Network, which allows customers and suppliers to connect for their production needs. It will also integrate HP’s Digital Manufacturing Network and include large manufacturers, including the world’s biggest sporting goods retailer, Decathalon. The tech giant is also working on an end-to-end AM workflow that includes digital inventory, part and cost analysis, production tracking, RFQ processing and scheduling.

Atlas3D is capable of quickly orienting parts and adding support structures to minimize distortion in DMLS.

Siemens also acquired Atlas3D, which has developed a cloud-based software for automatically orienting parts for metal 3D printing and generating support structures through the use of thermal distortion analysis.

HP and GE Additive Continue to Grow

Having already released its flagship series, metal 3D printers and color 3D printers, HP launched its Jet Fusion 5200 Series, meant to be the company’s new production line. The 5200 series is marketed as more productive, accurate, consistent and efficient than the preceding 4200 line. This was followed up with the opening of a new 150,000-square-foot R&D center in Barcelona. HP also announced a partnership with Rösler AM Solutions to develop automated post-processing technology.

GE Additive opened a new 40,000-square-meter campus in Lichtenfels, Germany, which will serve as the new headquarters for Concept Laser. Investing in itself further, GE Aerospace purchased 27 new Arcam electron beam melting systems for GE9X blade production.

Mass Production Technologies

Upon receiving yet another round of massive funding in 2019, Carbon, which boasts its digital light synthesis as capable of mass production, secured new partnerships for the large batch manufacturing of bicycle parts for Specialized and fizik, eyeglasses for JINS, nightguards and splints for Keystone Industries, and car parts for Lamborghini.

A 3D-printed fuel cap for the Urus SUV.

Additive Industries also suggests that its modular MetalFAB1 3D printer is suited for mass production and, in addition to selling six of its expensive metal 3D printers to a US aerospace company (and later on a seventh!), it partnered with Airbus and Premium AEROTEC subsidiary APWORKS to further certify its technology for serial production of aerospace parts.

HP’s MJF is also designed for mass manufacturing, which was further demonstrated when Smile Direct Club announced the use of the technology to 3D print over 50,000 dental aligner molds per day.

Niche Sectors

Sectors ripe for additive disruption are starting to gain more attention. In particular, the railway sector has seen more activity related to 3D printing. Stratasys, for instance, partnered with Angel Trains in the U.K. in a pilot program that has 3D printed four passenger armrests and seven grab handles for Chiltern Railways. Europe’s “Mobility goes Additive” network made the first 3D-printed safety-relevant component for rail: a metro brake unit that is already being used in Hamburg, Germany.

mu Space CEO & Founder James Yenbamroong and Relativity Space CEO & Founder Tim Ellis stand in front of Relativity’s Stargate, the world’s largest metal 3D printer.

In addition to rail, the marine and space industries have been impacted by AM. Companies like Relativity Space, Launcher and Rocket Lab (if you count news from last year) are all working on 3D-printed rockets for use in the launch of small payloads. And this is beyond the existing work with mainstream launch companies like United Launch Alliance and Space X. German steel giant thyssenkrupp has also made continuous headway into the maritime field, certifying a facility for 3D printing marine parts and partnering with a large shipping firm for the 3D printing of spare parts.

All of this paints a picture in which 3D printing for end part production is no longer experimental, nor is the entry of large and unique businesses into the space. AM is still far from saturating the much, much, much larger manufacturing industry, but it now has a significant foothold.

The post 2019 Year in Review: Industrial 3D Printing appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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Interview with Ken Burns of Forecast3D on Manufacturing as a Service

I was very impressed with Ken Burns’ presentation at Additive Manufacturing Strategies in Boston. Ken is the technical sales director of the 3D printing services and manufacturing company Forecast3D. Originally set up to do urethane casting, the company now deploys HP MJF, FDM, DMLS, SLA, and Polyjet 3D printing technologies as well as casting. Focusing on bridge manufacturing and short-run production the company recently has bet big on MJF as a manufacturing technology. Many bureaus are continually under threat and expanding because of renewed interest in 3D printing. On the one hand, 3D printing news brings in new customers but some of these then switch to desktop and in house 3D printing. Can service bureaus cross the chasm and play a role in manufacturing millions of products with 3D printing? Or will they succumb to pressures from much larger firms? In different verticals we see that companies are taking very different approaches to adopt 3D Printing while in some industries there is a sharp division between the outsourcers and companies that do in house 3D printing. In medical device, for example, some companies are making huge investments in doing in house production while others immediately outsource. Millions of hearing aids are made in house while only car companies have significantly invested in taking prototyping in house. It is a very exciting time to be a pioneering 3D printing service so we asked Ken to tell us more.

How did Forecast3D get started?

Forecast 3D started with two brothers: Corey & Donovan Weber when they were in their early 20’s. They started in their garage and eventually purchased a single SLA machine (with the help of a loan from their grandfather). Corey developed an innovative method for urethane casting, which helped establish them and differentiate them from other service providers.

How did you go from a regional player to a national one?

Having a strong, reliable, and passionate team that gave our early customer base a unique customer experience and dedicated customer service – this helped us to grow our technology offerings and be able to afford to adopt the latest equipment. It sounds cliché but we listened to what customers needed and answered by creating a national team. Whether it is a phone call or a face-to-face meeting we were committed to the resources to engage with our customers however the needed us. We have also never been complacent with our technology, processes and business systems.

You seem to have always been at the forefront of adopting new technologies. In hindsight, it all looks beautiful but surely you’ve also gotten bitten by adopting new technologies?

We wouldn’t say any of the technologies “bit us” but we have certainly had more success with some over others. The technologies all promise something “ground-breaking”; which is true to an extent, but it doesn’t mean they are the right fit for our business model. We have target customers and industries so we focus on technologies that can help us be successful with that lens. So if we miss the mark, it is usually a small miss.

Do you still do a lot of casting?

Absolutely. Like most traditional processes, they are not going away. In fact, 3D printing has helped improve some of these services like casting. We can do hybrid processes with casting and 3D printing. Casting is and remains a long term focus for us.

What do your customers use Polyjet for?

Fast prototypes – attractive show models. When they want full color parts, or parts with multiple materials and durometers in a single piece. Often used in the entertainment industry.

And FDM?

Robust parts – used in aerospace and automotive mostly, often when demanding environments (high heat resistance, chemical resistance, UV stability) are present. When part strength (and not so much aesthetics) is a priority.

What do you use DMLS for?

Prototype and end-use parts. Often times when a smaller quantity of metal parts is needed, and the geometry would be impossible or too difficult to machine.

SLA Chrome plated award part.

What was it like buying an SLA machine in 1996?

Exciting. It is still exciting to buy new 3D printing equipment in 2019. To be on the forefront of the 3D printing industry in the 90s was an incredible opportunity.

A ProCast Part.

What is ProCast?

Our proprietary urethane casting process, used for producing a short-run (4 to 400) quantity of parts. Often times the next step after a single prototype, and used when only low volume production is needed (product lines that don’t require thousands of parts). We typically start by 3D printing a master model using SLA, FDM, or PolyJet. Then the master model is sanded and finished to the customer’s desired surface finish/texture, and then that part is encapsulated into a silicone mold (which is the soft tool). And from that mold, we produce 20-30 parts at a time. We can cast in any color or texture.

What new technologies are you excited about?

There is a lot to be excited about these days. On the metals side you have a lot of movement with HP’s Metal Jet, DesktopMetal’s Production System, GE Additive and a few others. In the plastics space we are watching a lot of the OEMs looking at solving new problems…HP MJF’s color printer, Carbon, Evolve and Titan Robotics are a few that seem to be doing something different. We are also looking at a lot of technologies surrounding the printer ecosystem from software to automation equipment.

What advice would you give me if I were a company new to 3D printing?

Be realistic with what you are going to do with 3D printing. It’s not the silver bullet that solves all problems. It can be an amazing tool for prototyping or production if you have a good approach. Working with a service provider to test and qualify which technology is always a great start as you can assess lots of technologies.

What about if my firm wanted to use 3D printing for manufacturing?

Yes, there are several technologies now capable of manufacturing. We primarily use the HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), Stratasys Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and SLM (metals) technologies for manufacturing. Our 3D Manufacturing center has 24 of the HP MJF systems so we have the capacity to print tens of thousands of production parts a day. Industries like Aerospace and Healthcare have been taken advantage of FDM and SLM processes in production.

Is lack of automation in post processing holding 3D printing back?

Yes. Until recently there wasn’t a big demand for this type of equipment because there wasn’t a lot of production in high volumes happening in 3D printing; outside of a few niche applications. We have surveyed the market and while some equipment works we have spent a lot of our time developing these tools.

You seem to have taken a big bet on MJF?

Oh yes. We believe in the technology, and its ability to take 3D printing to the next level (beyond being used primarily for prototyping).

Why?

One word. Production. We want to go after high volume production opportunities in manufacturing. We firmly believe this technology is solving new problems and creating new opportunities for our customers. We have already seen it utilized in many great applications and expect that it grows exponentially over the next several years.

What do you use the MJF machines for?

Production. We also do a lot of prototyping with them. There are certainly applications and industries it is better suited for as we are limited by materials, part size, surface finish and a few other constraints.

What is the market like now for a service bureau?

The service bureau market has certainly changed over the last few years. There are several companies focusing on the software component and it some ways attempting to commoditize the space while others have differentiated with specific technologies. We have been position Forecast 3D as a Digital Manufacturing company. Going beyond typical service bureau capabilities to meet the requirements for production. With so many service bureaus we think it is important to focus on what you do best and execute that with laser focus.