partnership Archives - Page 3 of 8 - Perfect 3D Printing Filament

German Giant Würth Group Offers Markforged 3D Printing Services

Würth Industry of North America (WINA) has announced that it will distribute Markforged 3D printing products to its customers throughout the general manufacturing, oil & gas, heavy equipment and transportation markets. The agreement further secures the place of Markforged within the general manufacturing segment, as well as introduces a large German company to the additive manufacturing (AM) sector.

WINA is the North American subsidiary of the Würth Group, one of Germany’s largest private companies, with annual revenues of €14.27 billion in 2019, over 78,000 employees and over 400 companies in 86 countries. The group is a wholesaler of a variety of products ranging from fasteners, safety equipment and maintenance repair and operational items to chemicals, electronic and electromechanical components, inventory management, storage and retrieval systems. WINA itself is valued by the group at $1 billion.

From left to right, Dan Hill, Chief Executive Officer for Würth Industry North America and Greg Mark, CEO and founder of Markforged. Image courtesy of Würth Industry North America.

Through the partnership, Würth will provide metal and composite 3D printing services and parts, as well as digital Kanban solutions for inventory management. In the case of the former, WINA will use such Markforged technologies as its bound metal deposition and Continuous Filament Fabrication for 3D printing metal parts and polymer parts reinforced with materials such as carbon fiber, fiberglass and Kevlar.

As for the latter, Würth provides its CPS KANBAN service brand to manage warehouse and production operations using patented bins and RFID technology. Markforged 3D printing technology will be integrated such that customers can reduce their physical inventory.

Dan Hill, chief executive officer for Würth Industry North America, put it this way: “By integrating Markforged 3D Printing technology with our existing kanban programs, we are able to offer quicker time to market and lower inventory costs. We’re able to cut out the sourcing, purchasing, and transportation costs and deliver the value directly to the customer.”

The Würth Group’s CPS KANBAN system. Image courtesy of Würth Group.

The partnership is a significant one for understanding the growth and direction of AM in the general industry and tooling segment, as well as the other markets that Würth serves. SmarTech Analysis projects that AM for this sector will result in $5.48 billion in total revenue by 2029 due to the number of large companies like Würth understanding the opportunities the technology presents for general industry and tooling businesses.

The services sub-segment is a particularly interesting one to watch. As mentioned in our recent story on SmarTech’s general industry and tooling report, a number of unique companies are now involved in providing 3D printing services, beyond your household names (Materialise, Stratasys, 3D Systems, etc.). Sandvik, Parmatech, Kennametal, Phoenix Contact, GKN Additive and SMS Group all have specialty offerings. Whereas Sandvik and Kennametal are focused on 3D printing with their own metal powders, GKN and Parmatech are offering HP’s Metal Jet. GKN also provides copper 3D printing services, alongside other metal powder bed fusion printing technologies. Phoenix Contact and SMS Group have their own specialized services. Now, the Würth Group is providing bound metal deposition and composite 3D printing, two very different technologies.

Given its size and established role in this space, Würth may play an important role in broader adoption of AM within general industry and tooling, which will also bleed into other verticals in which the company operates. For instance, it has worked with a wide range of motorsports teams in a variety of series, including Formula One, Formula E, DTM, NASCAR and V8 Supercars. Motorsports is both an area where 3D printing thrives, due to its ability to produce small numbers of specialty, high-performance parts, and an area in which Markforged has a great deal of experience, given founder Greg Mark’s prior history in the industry.

While the group will continue its work in the still profitable oil and gas segment, current disruptions in oil prices indicate that Würth’s moves to invest in solar energy will become increasingly valuable. In 2006, it opened a plant dedicated to new types of solar cells that use copper, indium and selenium instead of silicon. It will be interesting to see how Markforged 3D printing technology, including pure copper 3D printing, will be utilized in these sectors, as well.

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Pellet 3D Printing to Be Advanced by DSM and Juggerbot 3D

Dutch chemical company Royal DSM has announced a partnership with Youngstown, Ohio’s Juggerbot 3D to develop 3D printers and materials for pellet-based manufacturing. This represents greater momentum toward the adoption of pellet-based additive manufacturing (AM), which is sometimes considered to be the future of material extrusion 3D printing technologies.

While DSM is already well-known within AM for its production of various materials for 3D printing, Juggerbot 3D is not yet quite a household name. The startup emerged from the Youngstown Business Incubator, with support from America Makes, as a manufacturer of large-scale, industrial-quality material extrusion 3D printers. While its initial filament-based systems are capable of high-temperature printing with high-performance plastics, Juggerbot more recently developed a form of fused granulate fabrication (FGF) for its P3-44 3D printer.

The machine has a build volume of 915 mm x 1,220 mm x 1,220 mm (36 in x 48 in x 48 in) and can manufacture parts at a rate of 4.5-9.1 kg/hr (10-20 lbs/hr). It features two interchangeable extruders, small and large for precise or fast printing, as well as mobile drying units for removing moisture from pellets prior to printing and an environmentally controlled build chamber.

The Tradesman Series P3-44 pellet extrusion 3D printer from Juggerbot. Image courtesy of Juggerbot 3D.

The ability to 3D print using granules opens up a number of benefits. Not only can they be fed via hopper into the extruder more quickly than filament, but, because the materials typically used are readily available injection molding pellets, machine operators have a much wider portfolio of plastics to choose from. Combined with a high-speed deposition head and a large build chamber, pellet-based systems have the ability to 3D print large objects very quickly. Moreover, they are much, much cheaper than filaments.

After working together on filaments for Juggerbot systems, DSM and Juggerbot will now collaborate on the development of pellet-based industrial systems and materials. The Ohio startup’s existing FGF printer has been designed to print with DSM’s glass-reinforced PET polymer, Arnite AM8527, and DSM will be adding more pellet products to its 3D printing materials portfolio.

DSM’s glass-reinforced Arnite AM8527 PET 3D printing material. Image courtesy of Royal DSM.

Support from the massive Dutch multinational, which rakes in about €10 billion in net sales annually, is obviously an important boost for the startup. For DSM, it’s not just a way to expand its sales, but to secure a position in the large-format and pellet extrusion markets.

After all, BASF invested heavily in Essentium, which has developed its own form of large-format printing with technology meant to address the issue of Z-axis weakness. The chemical giant also recently partnered with Cincinnati Inc., which is known for its massive pellet extrusion machines (though the partnership is limited to its desktop filament printer for now). DuPont, too, sees pellet 3D printing as the future of the market, with Marketing Manager for Industrial & Consumer Christophe Paulo saying that “the bulk of the Material Extrusion market will be in pellet to parts.”

Pellet-based 3D printing technology is still early in its development as a market, with a comparatively small number of hardware manufacturers offering pellet machines. These companies typically come from industrial manufacturing backgrounds. Cincinnati, Ingersoll and Thermwood are all machine tool makers and Arburg is an injection molding company. It would make sense that these are the types of firms already sensing the way that the wind is blowing and one wonders if filament extrusion system manufacturers will catch on sooner rather than later.

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Sirrus & Sartomer Partner to Advance Fast-Curing Methacrylate 3D Printing Resins

Specialty chemical and advanced materials developer Arkema announced an increased focus on 3D printing materials research back in 2015, and two years later began a major investment plan for its biosourced polyamide 11 chain in an effort to increase production capacities in Asia. Arkema was joined in this investment plan by its subsidiary Sartomer, which itself is an important provider of advanced photocurable resin solutions. In business for over 60 years, Sartomer specializes in chemicals for ultraviolet and electron beam (UV/EB), peroxide, and two-part epoxy/amine systems. The Arkema business line works with innovators in the additive manufacturing industry to help them develop solutions and custom formulations that support their performance demands and new applications.

Now, Sartomer has announced a new partnership with Sirrus, an Ohio-based chemistry startup that develops novel methylene malonate monomers and oligomers. Its materials feature multiple reactive sites, and, according to its website, are “being incorporated into the next generation of high-performance coatings, adhesives, sealants and binders.” Together, the two companies will work to develop advanced new fast-curing methacrylate 3D printing resins.

Jeff Klang, the Global R&D Director of 3D Printing for Sartomer, said in a press release sent to 3DPrint.com, “The collaboration between Sirrus and Sartomer is yielding discoveries that are leading to development of new resins for 3D printing that will open up new regimes of printing and physical properties performance.”

Sirrus works with development partners in multiple industries, such as automotive, consumer goods, electronics, and packaging, and its patented technology is centered around methylene malonate monomers and oligomeric crosslinkers that are able to polymerize anionically (regarding negatively charged ions) at ambient temperatures. According to the chemistry company, methylene malonate monomers feature UV, heat, and oxidation stability, have a broad range of functionality, and possess great potential in many applications, such as composite binders, adhesives for industrial use, and encapsulated pigments.

The new advanced 3D printing resins Sirrus and Sartomer are working together to create are based on the co-polymerization of methacrylates and methylene malonates.

Methylene malonate monomers (Image: Sirrus)

Mark Holzer, the Vice President of Application Development at Sirrus, said, “Research has demonstrated that methylene malonate comonomers can significantly enhance the UV-cure rate of some methacrylates.”

At RadTech Orlando 2020, a biennial conference and exhibition dedicated to UV/EB technology that began this weekend in Florida, experts from both companies will be on hand to explain more about their work together, and the role of methylene malonates in the next generation of AM resins. At the event, Sirrus will be discussing its research regarding the UV curing of methylene malonates at its booth #422.

(Image: Arkema)

At booth #501 at RadTech, Sartomer will be presenting its research on multiple topics related to the additive manufacturing industry, including binder development for ceramics 3D printing, methods to achieve high heat resistance in 3D printing applications, new high-performance AM materials, and its own N3xtDimension photocurable resins for 3D printing, which are part of the 3D Printing Solutions by Arkema Platform.

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BASF Supplies Materials for Cincinnati Inc’s SAAM HT 3D Printer

German chemical giant BASF has steadily been saturating the 3D printing industry with its presence. The latest partnership established by the world’s largest chemical company is with machine tool manufacturer Cincinnati Incorporated (CI). The two inked a distribution deal in which CI will supply ABS, carbon fiber PET and recycled PET materials from BASF 3D Printing Solutions (B3DPS) for use with its Small Area Additive Manufacturing (SAAM HT) 3D printer.

The SAAM HT 3D printer from CI. Image courtesy of Cincinnati Incorporated.

The SAAM HT is the high temperature version of CI’s desktop-sized 3D printer, originally developed by Boston startup NVBots in 2016 before CI bought the smaller firm outright in 2017. The machine complements CI’s range of massive pellet-based extrusion 3D printers with a comparably petite prototyping device which is capable of automatically ejecting parts upon completion. The HT version of the SAAM is capable of 3D printing at temperatures of up to 500°C, including ULTEM, PEEK and polycarbonate. Material profiles for each filament the system uses can be downloaded, allowing the printer to process them more quickly and easily.

BASF’s Ultrafuse PET CF15 material. Image courtesy of BASF.

Now, with the BASF partnership, the SAAM HT will be sold alongside Ultrafuse ABS, PET CF15, and rPET. While ABS is nearly ubiquitous in the world of filament extrusion for its strength, flexibility and heat-resistant properties, PET CF15 offers additional strength and thermal resistance. BASF describes the material as being easy to process with low moisture uptake.

rPET is BASF’s gesture towards sustainability. Made up of 100 percent recycled PET, rPET “looks and prints just like virgin material,” according to the company. While BASF maintains a veneer of sustainability through the numerous admirable projects is has established related to renewable energy and biomaterials, it is one of the world’s leading petrochemical manufacturers, explores for and produces oil and gas, has been responsible for dangerous environmental disasters, and develops pesticides and other agricultural chemicals that have potentially toxic effects.

A surfboard from YUYO 3D printed from rPET. Image courtesy of BASF.

While any attempt to introduce sustainability to the world is worthy, it might be difficult to overlook the conglomerate’s larger role in the climate and biodiversity crises we’re currently facing. Of course, any large chemical company in the 3D printing industry will be involved in many of these same ecologically harmful practices, which is why a larger discussion about the role of plastics and 3D printing in a sustainable society needs to be had.

Meanwhile, BASF continues to expand its footprint in the additive space. It has partnered with countless firms in the industry while growing its portfolio of additive materials, including an interesting metal filament for desktop metal 3D printing. Its backing of Materialise and Essentium and acquisition of Sculpteo means that it is only becoming more and more important in additive manufacturing.

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New Partnership: BEGO’s Dental Materials Allow Formlabs Customers to 3D Print Crowns & Bridges

BEGO, headquartered in Germany, has been a leader in the dental field for 130 years—and as pioneers in 3D printing for the last two decades, they now specialize in all types of dental fabrication techniques for prosthodontics and implant dentistry. Today, they have announced a partnership with Formlabs, the US-based designer and manufacturer of 3D printing systems—along with a wide-ranging product line and other strong partnerships around the world.

This alliance, just announced, means that Formlabs dental customers will be able to make on-demand dental products for their patients–using BEGO’s dental materials to 3D print both temporary and permanent crowns and bridges.

Formlabs customers who are already using the Form 3B and Form 2 3D printers will have access to fabricating permanent single crowns, inlays, onlays and veneers, and temporary crowns and bridges. Appreciating many of the benefits of 3D printing, they will be able to save on the bottom line, while making customized products, faster—and better.

“Directly printing temporary crowns and bridges are one of the most sought-after applications from Formlabs customers. By partnering with BEGO and leveraging their 130 years of dental experience, we will be able to not only address this need but take it a step further by offering materials for permanent crowns. We are excited to see how this partnership can continue to advance the dental industry and overcome the major challenges labs and dentists face as digital dentistry becomes a standard for patient care,” said Dávid Lakatos, Chief Product Officer at Formlabs.

Patients will enjoy:

Excellent aesthetics
Less tendency for dental work to age and discolor
Low-plaque accumulation
More comfort, thanks to less cold and heat sensitivity

“The ability to use completely digital dental workflows with 3D printed temporary restorations will enable a rapid, low cost, iterative process that improves patient care and case acceptance rates,” states the BEGO team in a press release sent to 3DPrint.com.

Dávid Lakatos, Chief Product Officer at Formlabs with Axel Klarmeyer, Chief Executive Officer of BEGO Dental

The two companies will be in attendance at LMT Lab Day in Chicago from February 21-22, presenting materials for attendees to see and feel, as well as showcasing their new partnership, which is also part of the ‘natural evolution’ of the also recently announced Dental Business Unit and Form 3B, meant to ensure that dentists are able to offer their patients the best in care.

“We could not be happier to partner with Formlabs, especially at this time, where digital dentistry is reaching a breakthrough. It took some time and a lot of effort and commitment of all involved people to be able to offer to the market a fully validated workflow for final restorations. This partnership underlines BEGO’s leading position in the dental 3D printing materials market,” said Axel Klarmeyer, Chief Executive Officer of BEGO Dental.

Find out more about these products here, and please visit BEGO and Formlabs at LMT Lab Day at Formlabs booth (#P-1) and BEGO booth (#H-13).

Both BEGO and Formlabs stay in the news with continue product development and successes from BEGO’s recent launch of the Varseo XL to new resins and other recent acquisitions by Formlabs.

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: BEGO]

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Structo & pro3dure Partnering: Dental Customers Benefit from Expansion of Materials for Velox Ecosystem

Innovative materials once again merge with 3D printing hardware in an international collaboration as Structo announces a partnership with pro3dure to jointly offer products for the dental industry.

Structo is a leading dental 3D printing solutions provider, headquartered in Singapore, that we caught up with late last year after they completed a funding round that would not only allow them to continue with additive manufacturing innovations but also to expand their presence worldwide. Over the past couple of years they have also offered innovation in creating orthodontic aligners, automated post-processing, and more.

Germany’s pro3dure, founded in 2013, offers a focus on generative and subtractive manufacturing, while integrating them into digital fabrication. Their team specializes in matching customized materials to the workflow of each customer, emphasizing 3D printing. Pro3dure also offers the greatest selection of 3D printing resins for dental applications.

“We strive to make our range of dental materials as widely available as possible,” said Dr. Martin Klare, CEO of pro3dure. “The Structo Velox is a revolutionary ecosystem that will change how 3D printing is adopted in the dental office and we are proud to introduce our range of 3D printing resins with the world’s largest spectrum of dental applications available on that platform.”

Now, dental labs using the Velox ecosystem will be able to use pro3dure materials too as many new applications open to customers, allowing 3D printing of the following also:

Splints
Surgical guides
Indirect bonding trays
Temporaries

Indirect bonding trays

Huub van Esbroeck emphasizes how critical partnerships are, especially with closely related companies like pro3dure, allowing them to ‘push the envelope of chairside 3D printing’ within the dental industry.

“We are committed to continue developing the Velox ecosystem of hardware, software and materials to empower the delivery of same day dentistry” said Huub van Esbroeck, Founder at Structo. “Today’s announcement will see Velox users gain access to pro3dure’s range of industry-leading dental 3D printing materials which gives them a range of options for their in-office 3D printing needs.

“This is another step for us to provide more options to all Velox users worldwide and we will continue working with industry leaders to add more value and streamline the chairside 3D printing workflow for our industry,” continued van Esbroeck. “We started off with just the hardware that does the print, wash and cure cycle of a 3D printing workflow. With more partnerships like these, we are confident that the Velox ecosystem will be able to empower dentists to deliver better patient care with revolutionary new solutions,” Huub added.

Many innovations continue within 3D printing, and specifically for the dental industry with progress in creating dental implants, targeting mass production of digital fabrication in dentistry, and more. 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: Structo/pro3dure]

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3D Printing News Briefs: January 16, 2020

In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’ve got a little business news, followed by stories about materials, and finally ending with some 3D printed fashion. PostProcess Technologies is expanding in Japan with a new partnership. Smart International has launched a material partnership program, and CRP Technology is introducing a new Windform material. Finally, a Spanish fashion brand is using BCN3D’s technology to make some of its clothing.

PostProcess Technologies Enters Asian Market with New Partnership

Executives from PostProcess and K.K. IRISU (C. ILLIES & CO., LTD.)

Automated post-printing solutions provider PostProcess Technologies Inc. announced that it’s entering the Asian additive manufacturing market, and expanding the reach of its solutions, by naming K.K. IRISU (C. ILLIES & CO., LTD.) as its first distribution partner in Japan. PostProcess chose the high-quality industrial machinery and technologies specialist, to help serve its growing base of customers in Japan and represent its data-driven technologies because of its expertise and experience. The partnership is mutually beneficial, as ILLIES can now offer its customers access to technology that will automate common post-printing processes and enable “additive manufacturing at scale.”

“K.K.IRISU’s main objective is to educate the Japanese market in additive manufacturing and to continue to be the solution provider for the Japanese 3D manufacturing world. We feel that by adding PostProcess Technologies to our lineup, will help assist the Japanese market to compete with other countries in Additive Manufacturing as well as globally maintain the high standards of the tag ‘Made in Japan’,” said Dr. Frank Oberndorff, President of K. K. IRISU.

Next month, both companies will exhibit at the Design Engineering & Manufacturing Solutions (DMS) 2020 Expo.

Smart International Introduces Material Partnership Program

This week, Smart International, the global brand licensee in 3D printing for KODAK, announced the launch of a new Materials Partnership Program in order to help its customers achieve a repeatable 3D printing experience, while also meeting the demand for high-quality, yet easy-to-print, engineering materials. The company has already developed, and tested, material profiles for filaments from its partners BASF, Clariant, and DSM, which will help provide optimal conditions for these third party materials on the Portrait 3D printer. Print profiles were created from this data, and can either be accessed from the KODAK 3D Cloud or downloaded from the Smart3D website.

“We feel it is of vital importance to continually adapt to the ever-evolving 3D printing market. Partnering with top filament companies like BASF, Clariant and DSM gives the customer the opportunity to choose the material that best fits their project, and gives them confidence to use these high-quality 3rd party materials with the KODAK Portrait 3D Printer,” said Roberto Gawianski, the CEO of Smart International. “We are pleased to be able to assist in the development and evolution of 3D printing filaments, and will continue to support progress in this area.”

BASF material profiles include Ultrafuse ABS Fusion+, Ultrafuse PAHT CF15, Ultrafuse PA, and Ultrafuse Z PCTG, while Clariant now has a profile for its popular 20% carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide 6/66 PA6/66-CF20 filament. Smart International also created material profiles for DSM’s Novamid ID1030, Novamid ID1030 CF10, a carbon fiber filled PA6/66 copolymer filament and Arnitel ID2060 HT.

CRP Technology’s New Windform P2 Material

Italian company CRP Technology is introducing the latest material from its Windform P-LINE range – the glass fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polyamide Windform P2, which the company states has “excellent mechanical properties” for its High Speed Sintering (HSS) technology. The new material has high tensile strength (39.24 MPa), combined with increased stiffness (2925.20 MPa), and is great for insulating, as it is glass fiber-filled. Windform P2 is good for producing end-use parts that need high stiffness, as well as manufacturing components with detailed resolution.

“Windform® P2 is the second polymer from P-LINE, the new Windform® range of materials for high speed production-grade 3D printing, introduced on the market less than a year ago,” said Engineer Franco Cevolini, CRP Technology CTO and VP.

“This is a very important property. Windform® P2 is stiffer than Windform® P1 because Windform® P2 is reinforced (Windform® P1 is not reinforced). Most of the reinforced materials for similar technologies currently on the market, show a decrease in the tensile strength property. My staff and I have been able to preserve the high tensile strength in Windform® P2. Therefore, Windform® P2 overall’s performance is superior than the performance of similar materials currently on the market for similar technologies.”

ZER Collection 3D Printing Clothes with BCN3D

The 3D printed parts are made in TPU due to the flexibility of this material.

Spanish fashion brand ZER Collection introduced its first collection at the most recent Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Madrid. The label, which was founded in 2017 by Núria Costa and Ane Castro and designs ‘futuristic, functional and urban clothing with sporty aesthetics,’ incorporated 3D printed parts, made with BCN3D’s Sigma printer, into 12 of the outfits; this system allows for the printing of two different materials, including flexible TPU. ZER Collection is using 3D printing in order to accelerate its production manufacturing processes and reduce waste, while also contributing to the use of sustainable new technologies in the apparel industry.

“We work much faster, because we can print two fabrics at the same time,” Costa said when explaining some of the benefits of using 3D printing to make their clothing, including their ability to “digitize all patterns in order to produce only the necessary fabric.”

“We believe that the use of 3D printing represents a revolution in fashion, in environmental care and in society.”

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3D Printing News Briefs: December 15, 2019

In this edition of 3D Printing News Briefs, it’s business, business, business, and then an upcoming event, 3D Alliances signed a collaboration agreement with Xact Metal. Sigma Labs has appointed a new Executive Chairman to its board of directors. Finally, mark your calendars – NAMIC Summit 2020 is coming to Singapore in May.

3D Alliances Teams Up with Xact Metal, Welcomes Team Member

Israeli consulting company 3D Alliances has announced a new collaboration agreement with Pennsylvania startup Xact Metal, which develops metal powder bed fusion systems. 3D Alliances will be supporting Xact Metal as it works to deploy channels and find new sales partners in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

“No doubt, metal 3D printing solutions are on the rise as professional and industrial users are looking for new solutions that will help them integrate metal technologies in their research and development, prototyping and short run manufacturing processes. Xact Metal answers these exact needs offering professional systems in a very attractive entry point,” stated Gil Lavi, the Founder and CEO of 3D Alliances. “Once the price barrier is no longer a big issue, the acceleration in the adoption of metal systems is inevitable. We look forward working with Xact Metal team bringing it’s great products to the Asia Pacific market.”

But that’s not the only news 3D Alliances is sharing – Scott Hill, a veteran in the 3D printing industry, is joining the company as a senior consultant for North America. This completes its global coverage, as 3D Alliances also has teams in APAC and the DACH region of Europe.

Sigma Labs Names Mark K. Ruport New Executive Chairman

Speaking of new additions, 3D printing quality assurance software developer Sigma Labs has appointed Mark K. Ruport as its executive chairman, and a member of its board of directors. Ruport is an accomplished software executive, with over three decades of experience in both public and private companies, and will work with fellow board member, and the company’s CEO, John Rice to help drive the formation of strategic relationships and sales strategies, increase shareholder value, and speed up growth.

Ruport said, “The ability to have an immediate, tangible impact on Sigma Labs with the apparent adoption of its incredible technology in the marketplace is a unique and exciting opportunity. My focus will be on accelerating our commercial adoption with strategic partners and amplifying the recent success John and his team have achieved. This blueprint is something I am very familiar with given my experience with disruptive companies in the software sector and I look forward to working with the entire team at Sigma Labs to drive forward its strategic initiatives.”

As an inducement award outside of its 2013 Equity Incentive Plan, Sigma Labs granted Ruport non-qualified stock options, in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

Save the Date for NAMIC Summit 2020

NAMIC (National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster) is hosting its AM Summit 2020 at the Marina Bay Sands EXPO and Convention Centre in Singapore, May 11-15. In addition to a full conference, featuring more than 1,000 local and international delegates and industry leaders, the summit will also include workshops and certification courses, an industry showcase, behind-the-scenes tours at several industry facilities, and the NAMIC Start-up Innovation Forum, held at SGInnovate on the last day of the summit.

“Presenting a variety of activities and programmes with the NAMIC Conference anchoring the summit, this will be a unique experience for global 3D printing experts, adopters, innovators and professionals to interact for knowledge sharing and discussions on the latest 3D printing innovations, designs and process development as well as wide-spread industrial adoption,” the NAMIC AM Summit 2020 states on its website.

You can register your interest in attending the latest summit by NAMIC here.

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Sintratec Providing 3D Printing Support to Daimler Buses for Service Bases

The commercial vehicles segment of Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler AG has fully integrated 3D printing into the development process and series production workflow for several of its divisions, such as Daimler Trucks North America and Daimler Trucks & Buses; in fact, the latter already features 3D printed parts built into the interior of its buses.

According to its website, Daimler Buses is the “leader in its most important traditional core markets,” and is now expanding its use of 3D printing for bus parts, collaborating with SLS leader Sintratec for the initiative.

“With 3D printing the Daimler bus division can respond quickly, flexibly, economically and environmentally friendly to urgent customer needs,” Ralf Anderhofstadt, the Head of the Center of Competence Additive Manufacturing, Daimler Buses, stated in a Sintratec press release. “The advantages of additive technologies, especially with regards to spare parts, are evident.”

Rather than utilizing external service providers, this coming year Daimler Buses will be setting up its own personal service bases, with the 3D production support of Sintratec. These 3D printing centers, to be used for the fabrication of both individualized components and spare parts, are a smart idea in terms of economics and logistics – it will only take a few days, rather than several months, to manufacture and deliver a 3D printed part, which produces much less waste and costs far less money.

Swiss high-tech company Sintratec develops and manufactures precise SLS 3D printers for professional purposes. The company’s materials are temperature-resistant and resilient, and its technology allows customers plenty of design freedom in creating complex objects for 3D printing.

Sintratec’s first desktop SLS system was successfully crowdfunded on the Indiegogo platform back in 2014, and the company has since moved on to bigger printers, introducing its modular, industrial Sintratec S2 system at last year’s formnext. This affordable, end-to-end SLS solution is perfect for education and training, in addition to fabricating prototype parts and small and medium-sized series.

The smart S2 has a modular construction, with the build chamber inside the Material Core Unit, but easily removable from the Laser Sintering Station. The system also includes an integrated powder mixing function, a Blasting Station and Polishing Station, and an additional Material Core Unit for convenient powder handling.

Now, Sintratec is excited to help contribute to the bus industry’s continuing digitalization. Recently, the S2 system was delivered to the Neu-Ulm, Germany production site of EvoBus GmbH, Daimler AG’s largest European subsidiary. The 3D printer will be used at this location to, as the release states,” convey technological know-how” at Daimler Buses’ new 3D printing centers, and to help advance the development, and optimization, of 3D printing materials.

“Special thanks to the entire EvoBus GmbH team for letting Sintratec participate in this outstanding event and present our vision of the digital factory as well as our Sintratec S2 system,” said Gabor Koppanyi, Sintratec’s Head of Marketing & Sales. “We are very proud of this partnership and are looking forward to more fantastic projects where we can shape the future together.”

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[Images provided by Sintratec]

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Plumen & Batch.Works: 3D Printed Lampshade Collection Made from Recycled Plastic

3D printing has obviously done a lot of good in many of the major sectors of the world, like aerospace and medical. But, every once in a while, Plumen sneaks in to remind me that the technology is just as useful in the consumer goods market…and can also be just as sustainable.

The designer low energy lighting company, founded nearly a decade ago by Nicolas Roope and Michael-George Hemus, believes that the way to get people on board with energy efficient lighting is by providing them with attractive low energy light bulbs, and all the sustainable accessories that go with them, like lampshades.

Now, Plumen is collaborating with London-based design company Batch.works on a new range of lampshades, 3D printed out of recycled plastic from waste items like water bottles.

“When we first met Batch.works, it seemed like the perfect match. We’re both small businesses with a similar ethos and approach to things. The fact that you can use recycled plastics and they can then be industrially biodegraded or reused again is really fascinating to me, and plays into the circular economy – which we are trying to put into practice everywhere we can,” said Plumen co-founder Hemus.

“To Plumen, 3D-printing is a very exciting opportunity for lighting. 3D-printing allows shapes and forms that are not possible otherwise. More importantly, there is very little waste compared to traditional methods – products are made to order, from recycled plastic bottles and at the end of their lives they can be recycled once again. It’s a sustainable vision for the future.”

The collection’s first two 3D printed shades, Neo by Matthias Lauche and Ribbon by BOLD, were recently released, and are available to purchase from the online stores of both Plumen and Batch.works; more lampshades will be released in 2020.

Neo, based on geometric Art Deco forms, is for Plumen’s Milky Willow bulb, and features two shades stacked one on top of the other in order to frame the Plumen E27 pendant light. Because there are two parts to the Neo shade, it can be created in multiple color combinations.

The Ribbon shade has a more fluid surface, thanks to the capabilities of 3D printing, and bends over itself to, as Plumen explained in a press release, “surround and protect” its Milky Wilma bulb.

“The space created by the shade is filled with light, revealing and emphasising the different volumes created by the enveloping surface,” the release continues. “The vertical lines that run through the shade, combined with the horizontal layers that are characteristic of this manufacturing technique, amplify the appearance of a piece of textile that’s solidified around the light – directing it and enhancing it. Light peeks through the shade’s open space, allowing the iconic bulb to be seen from another angle.”

As part of the companies’ continuing commitment to reduce and reuse plastic, each of the 3D printed lampshades is fully recyclable. The shades are all made at Batch.works’ east London headquarters, as the company is also committed to local manufacturing, and are printed on-demand using filament from Amsterdam-based social enterprise Reflow, which also re-purposes plastics that would otherwise be wasted. Additionally, the shades can also be returned to Batch.works for recycling once they’ve reached the end of their lifespan.

“We believe that thinking more carefully about what materials are used, and how things are produced, is key to combating short-termism. That’s why this kind of collaboration is so promising. We believe 3D printing can be scaled to a wider variety of products, and become a practical manufacturing method for the future – and that’s what we want to achieve,” stated former architect Julien Vaissieres, who founded Batch.works in 2016 with a goal of making eco-friendly, affordable 3D printed products.

Batch.works created the Plumen lampshade collection with the help of five different design studios. Black and white are the currently the only available colors, though you can request custom ones, dependent on volume. The 3D printed Neo shade is £149, while the Ribbon is £199…a lot more than I’d typically spend on a lampshade, really, but I love that they are completely sustainable.

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[Images provided by Urban Alps]

The post Plumen & Batch.Works: 3D Printed Lampshade Collection Made from Recycled Plastic appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.