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Amplify Additive Adopts Arcam’s EBM for Orthopedic Production

Electron beam melting (EBM) has a unique place in the additive manufacturing (AM) industry in that there is only one EBM hardware manufacturer (GE Additive subsidiary Arcam) and the technology is targeted primarily toward two industry segments: aerospace and orthopedics.

By targeting the orthopedics space, Arcam has won over a number of companies that use its technology specifically for 3D printing orthopedic implants. One of the latest to showcase its use of EBM for 3D printing implants in Maine-based Amplify Additive, which is applying over 20 years-worth of AM experience toward the orthopedics industry.

The company was founded in 2018 as a means of delivering additive solutions to the medical customers, advising them on design, supply chain strategies and how to improve time to market. Amplify opened its first production facility in 2019, which now runs three Q10plus machines and will be obtaining an ISO 13485:2016 certification.

According to founder Brian McLaughlin, Amplify Additive often acts as a go-between for doctors and designers because the organizations they work with don’t have the infrastructure necessary to run additive systems and produce end-use parts.

Amplify Additive’s Q10plus systems. Image courtesy of GE Additive.

“We often to act as the bridge between two very different disciplines – orthopedic surgeons and design engineers,” McLaughlin said. “Teams often have a shared vision, but uncertainty about how best to implement additive can sometimes present hurdles to overcome. We’re able to use that combination to add value and offer organizations solutions to overcome those hurdles – because we implicitly understand both sides of the conversation.”

According to SmarTech Analysis, the orthopedic segment of the additive manufacturing market generated nearly $200 million in 2016 and is expected to grow by about 30 percent CAGR until at least 2025. While AM will lead to an increasing amount of patient-specific medical treatments more broadly, EBM in particular has specific benefits for 3D-printed orthotics.

Series production of 3D-printed implants. Image courtesy of GE Additive.

The technology results in a rougher final texture directly from the print bed than metal parts printed with laser powder bed fusion, which in turn generates greater bone growth and adhesion (“osseointegration”). Additionally, Arcam machines feature a scanning system that quickly switches the electron beam between surface locations and maintains a melt pool at the same time, allows for rapid fabrication. This, especially when combined with the stacking of parts within the build chamber, benefits serial production.

Amplify is aiming to position itself as an orthopedic center of excellence for AM in the U.S. and, later, around the globe. It doesn’t plan to limit itself to just one of Arcam’s two major verticals, however. After it establishes success in the orthopedic sector Amplify will target the aerospace market as well.

The post Amplify Additive Adopts Arcam’s EBM for Orthopedic Production appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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The 3D Printing Industry news bulletin

Kicking off the week, 3D Printing Industry is experimenting with a new format. Our new bulletin will get you up to speed with any additive manufacturing news you might have missed. Read on for a concise digest of new 3D printers, 3D printing events, and other updates you may have missed. Additive manufacturing events coming […]
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AMS 2020: Keynote Presentations on 3D Printing in Metal and Medical Industries

For the second year running, and its third year total, 3DPrint.com and SmarTech Analysis have brought the Additive Manufacturing Strategies summit to Boston. With a theme of “The Business of 3D Printing,” the event continues its established coverage of 3D printing in the medical and dental industries, but adds a new metals track this year.

Lawrence Gasman, the President of SmarTech, welcomed everyone to the event, and then we jumped right into the thick of things, as Dr. Banu Gemici-Ozkan, Senior Market Intelligence Leader for GE Additive, presented her keynote, entitled “Metal Additive Strategies Enabling Next Generation of Adopters.”

Dr. Banu Gemici-Ozkan

Dr. Gemici-Ozkan explained that she’s been working with additive manufacturing for about four years, and her role is to oversee global operations, as well as support business in the metal AM space with the right applications.

“I’m in marketing, so I have to start with numbers,” she said, pulling up a slide of the “world of opportunities” for metal AM.

She explained that conventional manufacturing happens in many stages – you have to extract the metal, process it in chemical plants, assemble it into the final products, and several others that I’m definitely leaving out. Additive manufacturing can accomplish all of this in less steps, which is why it’s so attractive.

An example of an engine turbine came up, and at the bottom was a statement about how metal AM is competing with $570 billion worth of core conventional metal manufacturing processes. But, system redesign is what makes it competitive to this traditional methods – AM offers a simpler supply chain and leaner operations.

“It’s really exciting to see the potential of additive manufacturing,” Dr. Gemici-Ozkan said. “But where are we in this vision today?”

A timeline showed that the number of metal AM system installations in the first stage of the “diffusion of innovation,” in the 1990s, was less than 50…only the true innovators will put in the work of debugging these first systems and working out the kinks. The early adoption visionaries come in later, excited to invest in the technology.

“The customers are who drive the change,” she said. “So far, we’ve only seen innovators and visionaries.”

She explained that the next generation of the market will consist of the bigger players, or pragmatists, jumping on board. These adopters are cost-conscious, and will be looking for full solutions.

Then, she walked us through what she called the four “critical industries” in metal additive manufacturing. I’m sure you can guess them: medical, dental, aerospace, and automotive. When asked if they were there with the medical field, nearly half the hands in the room were raised, making Dr. Gemici-Ozkan’s point that this sector is a “great space to be in from a metal AM perspective.” The adoption drivers in this industry are cost and performance, with major applications in porous, biocompatible structures with fine features. Here, accuracy, repeatability, and traceability become really important.

Dental is the most mature industry for metal AM, a point that I heard multiple times throughout the day in different presentations. She explained that adoption drivers are lead time and customization; in this and the medical industry, the turnover time with metal 3D printed parts is roughly 24 hours, which you just can’t beat. Additionally, technology providers are focused on meeting customer needs.

In the aerospace industry, industrial production is the main focus. The materials are more versatile, and applications are in large parts and complex geometries with fine features.

“I could talk for hours about this industry,” she said.

“The potential is huge…this space offers a great potential from the industrial production perspective.”

She brought up the GE9X jet engine, which has 304 3D printed components and offers GE Aviation fuel savings of 10% when compared to its predecessor, the GE90, which only featured one 3D printed part.

The automotive industry is already automated, so its needs are focused on cost-conscious systems. Dr. Gemici-Ozkan said that AM technology providers “need to consider integrating their systems to the factory solutions.” The technology will have greater potential in this sector as material costs continue to come down, and she noted that binder jetting will be important in this space.

“Additive manufacturing is not a one-size-fits-all solution – it offers different solutions for different industries and applications,” Dr. Gemici-Ozkan said in summary. “It sounds like it’s all versatile, but these are the building blocks of mainstream technology.”

Then it was time for the next keynote presentation, “Medical 3D Printing: Building the Infrastructure for Innovation,” by Lauralyn McDaniel, Industry Manager, Analysis, for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Part of ASME’s mission is to improve people’s lives through engineering, which is definitely what 3D printing is working towards in the medical field.

McDaniel also started with numbers, with a slide stating that over one million patients had been directly impacted by AM, and that number increases to over two million when you take into account indirect impacts.

“Understanding the history of additive manufacturing in the medical industry can give us clues as to where we go from here,” McDaniel said, before launching into a brief timeline that began with the first 3D printed model from a medical image in 1988.

She explained that some of the factors leading to growth of the technology in the medical field include improved software, more material choices, precision medicine, faster and more precise processes, and the fact that more people share their resources and experience.

“You need published studies to generate the evidence that doctors need,” McDaniel explained.

Challenges include process bottlenecks, verification and validation processes, standards and regulations, and the workforce development.

Then, she cleared up something that many don’t always understand – most materials that people say are FDA-cleared are not, they have just been used in FDA-cleared devices. For example, titanium is often used in orthopedic implants, but the material itself is not cleared by the FDA, it’s just been cleared for use in the implant.

Continuing on to the regulatory process, McDaniel explained that there’s a “big difference” between a new product, and a new way to make the same product.

“The dental industry has a whole infrastructure set up to match patients with devices and implants, 3D printing just gives them a new, more efficient way to do it,” she said. “But anatomical models is a whole new product category.”

McDaniel said that ASME is supporting a series of discussions about the FDA’s concept framework for 3D printing at the point-of-care, and has worked with the agency to create validation and verification standards, including those for 3D printed medical devices. Just over half of the medical devices that have been cleared by the FDA are metal, so never fear, polymers are still significant in this space.

On the clinical side of things, standards aren’t quite as common, but she mentioned that the RSNA Special Interest Group is working to develop guidelines to help others with their own processes.

Some of the development highlights that McDaniel touched on include 3D printing-enabled tissue fabrication, clear dental aligners, which “exploded a bit because some of the patents expired,” tissue fabrication in outer space, and the fact that nearly 150 3D printed medical devices have been cleared by the FDA overall; at least three of these were patient-specific.

Moving forward with medical 3D printing, McDaniel said we need more collaboration and sharing of our experiences and resources, along with continuing materials development, improved software and AI, increased standards development, and more regulatory clarification, especially in hospitals.

Stay tuned to 3DPrint.com as we continue to bring you the news from our third annual AMS Summit.

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

[Photos: Sarah Saunders]

The post AMS 2020: Keynote Presentations on 3D Printing in Metal and Medical Industries appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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3D Printing Industry Review of the year: February 2019

The month of February 2019 saw conferences such as SOLIDWORKS 2019 and TCT ASIA in Shanghai, innovations from start-ups such as UrbanAlps and Hexo Helmets, as well as the presentation of what is said to be “the largest 3D metal printed part for a working vehicle in automotive history.” SOLIDWORKS 2019 3D Printing Industry was present […]
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Engineering fashion: GE Additive engineers on the haute-couture of 3D printing

In May this year, 3D printing made its red carpet debut. The vision of New York fashion designer Zac Posen, several unique fashion pieces caused a stir at the 2019 Met Gala. Worn by British supermodel Jourdan Dunn and Canadian actor Nina Dobrev, arguably the most iconic pieces in Posen’s collection were the so-called “rose gown,” […]
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3D Printing Industry News Sliced: Farsoon Technologies, Rize, Titomic, 3D Systems, Formlabs, Protolabs, Dassault Systèmes

This week’s edition of Sliced, the 3D Printing Industry news digest, features the latest developments of additive manufacturing in fashion, footwear, and art, as well as novel research in tissue engineering to combat cardiovascular disease.  The latest news from Farsoon Technologies, Rize, Titomic, 3D Systems, Formlabs, Protolabs, Dassault Systèmes, and others can be found prior to Formnext, […]
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GE Additive and ORNL to work together on industrialization of additive manufacturing

Award-winning 3D printer OEM GE Additive has entered into a five-year cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Both parties have agreed to focus their research on processes, materials and software in order to drive industrialization and support broader adoption of additive manufacturing technology. “We’re […]
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Third Munich Technology Conference: A reality check on additive manufacturing industrialization

The Third Munich Technology Conference (MTC3) returned to the Technical University of Munich (TUM) yesterday with a quest to evaluate the status of additive manufacturing industrialization.  Despite the gloomy weather, over 1500 attendees are present, including 3D Printing Industry, for the three-day event which seeks to give a “Reality Check” to those adopting additive manufacturing […]
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Additive Manufacturing Open Cluster in Bavaria: TUM, Oerlikon, GE Additive & Linde Collaborate

Several heavy hitters on the international additive manufacturing scene have come together to form a research cluster. With the goal of researching AM processes from one location, a ‘single hub,’ The Technical University of Munich (TUM), Oerlikon, GE Additive and Linde are collaborating on how to integrate AM into manufacturing processes and help companies transition to the use of newer technology.

Designated as an ‘open cluster,’ the collaboration will include numerous universities responsible not only for researching AM but also teaching. Regulatory authorities are also involved in the cluster, as they continue to perform oversight and regulation regarding industry technologies. The collaboration will be open to expansion with new participants as time goes on.

“By having all of the players located in a single hub, we are accelerating the development and application of the technology for the various industries,” commented Professor Dr. Michael Suess, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oerlikon Group, in a recent press release sent to 3DPrint.com. “Bavaria is the perfect place for us to house this initiative as it promotes energy and production efficiency, which supports Germany’s sustainability goals and the country’s desire to incorporate new technologies.”

From left to right: Dr. Sven Hicken (Business Unit Head, Oerlikon AM), Prof. Dr. Thomas Hofmann (President, TUM), Jason Oliver (President and CEO, GE Additive), Dr. Wolfgang Dierker (CEO, GE Germany), Dr. Christoph Laumen (Executive Director R&D, Linde AG), Prof. Dr. Michael Suess (Chairman of the Board of Directors, Oerlikon Group), Dr. Christian Haecker (Head of Industrialization, Oerlikon AM), Dr. Andreas Lessmann (Managing Director, GE Additive Germany GmbH, Senior Leader, Legal Operations), Dr. Christian Bruch (Executive Vice President & CEO, Linde Engineering), Andreas Rohregger (Head of Global Properties, GE Additive), Dr. Alice Beck (Deputy Director, TUM ForTe). Signing Letter of Intent in Dec. 2018.

Organizations such as TUM, Oerlikon, GE Additive and Linde are highly invested in the transformative powers of AM, as well as helping companies adjust to the accompanying changes to the following:

  • Supply chain
  • Production
  • Employee training
  • Quality inspection
  • Product validation
  • Regulation

 “The project is an excellent example of close collaboration between industry, academia and politics to innovate and industrialize a technology like additive manufacturing,” commented Dr. Roland Fischer, CEO of the Oerlikon Group. “AM is a technology that supports our aim of providing sustainable solutions for all industries.”

The group has chosen a progressive locale for their work in AM:

“Bavaria already enjoys a stellar reputation as a global hotspot for additive technology – with a thriving ecosystem and a rich seam of talent,” said Jason Oliver, President and CEO of GE Additive. “We’re excited to be part of this initiative from the very beginning and look forward to building on that solid foundation and driving tangible impact both for the region itself and further afield.”

One of the initial steps taken on by the research cluster will be the opening of The Additive Manufacturing Institute, a site dedicated to:

  • Interdisciplinary research in raw material powders
  • Optimized AM production
  • End-to-end process integration (plus automation and AM digitalization)

As they continue to offer a comprehensive program regarding AM research and operating procedures, Oerlikon will be sending both engineers and scientists to TUM faculties—also assisting in verification and qualification of product development.

“We see this opportunity to collaborate as a win for the companies and TUM, as well as for the region,” said Dr. Christian Bruch, Member of the Executive Board, CEO of Linde Engineering. “We expect the new hub will bring jobs to the area, while also delivering new technologies and capabilities to the companies located here.

The institute will be open to other companies and universities also, but not until after the initial foundation is set, with frameworks established. Projects such as this are an extension for companies like GE Additive, already heavily involved in offering innovation such as development of new combat vehicles, new materials like metal powders, magnetic components, and much more.

“An integrated collaboration between powerful partners from industry and science is necessary for the industrialization of additive manufacturing processes,” said Professor Dr. Thomas Hofmann, President of TUM. “This is the only way we will be able to overcome technological obstacles and find answers to unresolved issues in the field of standardization.”

The new additive manufacturing cluster and research institute are being highlighted at the Munich Technology Conference (MTC3), which is currently taking place at the Technical University of Munich in Germany (October 8-10, 2019). The conference this year addresses the industrialization of additive manufacturing and features top speakers from the industry, academia and political sectors.

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 / Images: Oerlikon press release]

The post Additive Manufacturing Open Cluster in Bavaria: TUM, Oerlikon, GE Additive & Linde Collaborate appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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Register for the Third Annual Munich Technology Conference

The third annual Munich Technology Conference (MTC3) is returning to Germany from October 8-10th, with the theme “Additive Manufacturing – Accelerating the Industrialization: A Reality Check.” Initiated by the Swiss international technology Group, Oerlikon and co-hosted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), MTC3 is partnered with GE Additive, Linde, McKinsey & Company, Siemens and […]