BMW opens new €15 million additive manufacturing campus in Munich to “industrialize 3D printing”

The BMW Group has opened a new €15 million additive manufacturing facility which is designed to “industrialize 3D printing,” and shorten production times across the company.   Based in Munich, the campus will bring BMW’s prototype production, series parts manufacturing, research into new 3D printing technologies, and training, together under one roof. The centre will also […]

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, […]

Twikit Showcases Mass Customized Braces and Automotive Parts at Rapid 2019

Belgian mass customization software company Twikit showcased a number of mass customization cases and applications at RAPID + TCT 2019. The Twikit team was able to show BMW Group’s Mini customized products, customized motorcycle parts and unique braces.

Twikit is really the only firm that has specialized individualization software that can readily mass customize unique parts for 3D printing. Whereas you could go to other firms to build custom digital supply chains to tie into your 3D printing workflow or you could cobble together half a dozen software tools to do the same in an improvised way Twikit’s is a dedicated tool. It was built from the ground up to enable the rapid parametrization of new geometries that could then made with 3D printing. Mass customization is usually a wonderful subject for conferences but most corporates shy away from actually implementing the technology. Too complex, ruffling the feathers of the supply chain and manufacturing guys and a perception that it would be hard to implement scare companies off. Whereas I’m usually very skeptical of startups I’m very optimistic about Twikit’s prospects and their tooling. The company has spent a long time pioneering deep in the darkest woods and the world has finally caught up with it.

The BMW mass customization case is, of course, the one that caught all the headlines. Thanks to Twikit Mini owners can now use an online tool to mass customize decorative items on their cars. The software connects with BMW’s internal workflow and existing management software to give a traceable manufacturable solution to the German luxury auto giant.

Twikit also worked together with OEM Formlabs to create customized motorcycle handles for startup Tarform. The handlebar is a central element in your control, contact with and experience with the motorcycle. I’ve personally long believed that handles for tennis rackets, golf clubs, steering wheels and all manner of things are a huge applications so I love this implementation.

“In the Twikit software platform, the customer can make his desired adjustments until he’s satisfied with the final design. This customization experience can be experienced on both smartphone and desktop. The desired and final product is saved as a 3D file and will be exported within the cloud to an stl. file which will be sent afterward to Formlabs’ 3D printer. To become the final product, Formlabs makes use of flexible resin, which allows bendable/compressible parts to be printed. Now the actual production process can be set in motion.”

I love the idea that through 3D printing you could achieve better ergonomics, or perhaps have a more comfortable ride or better control over the bike. The user’s increased satisfaction with the bike because they designed part of it will also help. You can see a video here of the process.

The application with the most far-reaching implications, however, was one where Twikit’s software was used to make customized braces. Through Twikit 3D scan data could be turned into a unique orthotic or prosthetic. Here the software was used to obtain a precise comfortable fit to the human body. In applications such as postoperative braces, braces and across the spectrum in orthotics and prosthetics, the need for something like this is huge.  Twikit has created a key bit of technology that can really accelerate the adoption of mass customization and 3D printing. With the right partners this could be pushed out to millions of parts worldwide.

OsseoPrint 3D Wins AMS Startup Competition with Patient-Specific, 3D Printed Bone Scaffold Platform

Tyler Benster, Asimov Ventures

The second annual Additive Manufacturing Strategies summit, co-hosted by 3DPrint.com and SmarTech Markets Publishing, took place this week in Boston. In addition to more speakers, this year’s event branched out into separate tracks for medical and dental 3D printing, and also featured a workshop day, an exhibition hall, and a startup competition, which offered a $15,000 cash investment from early stage venture fund Asimov Ventures as the prize.

Tyler Benster from Asimov, whom I had the pleasure of sitting next to during lunch, informed the room that the first finalist, Les Kalman from Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, would unfortunately not be competing in the competition, as the weather in Toronto kept his plane from taking off, and then explained the rules of the Startup Showdown. Each finalist had seven minutes to give their pitch, and the panel of judges – Benster, GE Additive’s Stephan Zeidler, and Tuan TranPham from Desktop Metal – would then have about five minutes to ask questions.

The first finalist to present was OsseoPrint 3D, which is marketing a platform technology for implantable, patient-specific bone scaffolds that can be 3D printed on-site at the practitioner’s office.

According to CEO and founder Dr. Arthur Greyf, a dental implantologist who’s spent a lot of time and money grafting bones in his office, there is definitely a need for OsseoPrint 3D’s platform, as nearly two million bone implants were manufactured in the US over the last six years.

The startup has a working 3D printer prototype with several good features, like a particle counter, optimize algorithm for 3D printing infill patterns, a HEPA filter, and a software-controlled door lock. Dr. Greyf said that OsseoPrint 3D had a positive pre-submission meeting with the FDA last August, and that the 3D printer should be designed and ready for final approval in the next 3-6 months.


The startup has a simple business model, which will require about $5 million to get to the market in the near future, and offers “significant time savings” in surgery, as scaffolds can be designed and 3D printed chair-side in dental offices in less than 15 minutes. According to Dr. Greyf, the startup’s 3D printer, which has never “seen the light of day outside of my office” until now, will cost about $25,000 and will pay for itself in about 10-20 uses.

Next to present in the competition was Belgium-based startup Twikit, which makes mass customization software and just launched its Twikbot platform for the orthotics and prosthetics market. CTO Olivier De Deken explained that the O&P industry has long supply chains, which can be fraught with errors, and that using both additive manufacturing and automation can result in a “scalable flow” and better end products.

Twikbot’s flexible, cloud-based platform allows the user to set their own preferences, such as patterns, before the global startup makes the production-ready file and the end brace is 3D printed. According to De Deken, the market potential for this platform in the global orthopaedic market is $52 billion.


Twikit has a fast-growing, global team of 33 employees, and is currently closing a Series A funding round. The startup generates revenue through an SaaS fee charged for use of the platform, along with revenue sharing, and future plans include looking at more complex medical products, such as scoliosis braces.

De Deken explained that its proprietary, scalable software platform is independent of external CAD software, and that because the solution is generic, it can be applied to any vertical, medical or otherwise, that’s ready for digitization.

The final startup to pitch in the competition was EXIOM, which provides 3D printed, upper extremity orthopedic casts. It was founded by husband and wife team Erik and Amy Paul, both of whom are US Air Force veterans. After he passed out examples of the startup’s casts to the judges, Erik explained that when one of their seven kids broke his arm, they wanted to find a better way to fix it without relying on a heavy, uncomfortable plaster cast that you have to wrap in plastic when you bathe.

“Our casts alleviate all those issues,” Erik stated.


EXIOM, which already has FDA certification and is beginning the commercialization process, uses the software of its European partner Xkelet and Ultimaker 3D printers to make its casts, and is working to introduce foot, ankle, and knee cast models in the future, along with a 3D printable emergency splint that should be ready next month.

The startup’s casts are very lightweight, and the quick, easy 3D scanning procedure equals more throughput. EXIOM provides support and onsite equipment training to its core customers, which include hospitals, clinics, and VA care networks.

In the middle of this year, EXIOM plans to integrate several new high speed, medical-grade 3D printers into its contract provider network for “on-site production at unprecedented speed,” which makes it stand out from the competition…which is namely ActivArmor.

Once EXIOM finished its presentation, the judges stepped into the hallway to confer, and returned very shortly after what Benster called a “lively, exciting, and brief discussion” to declare OsseoPrint 3D the winner of the AMS Startup Showdown.

In the presentation, Dr. Greyf stated that OsseoPrint 3D would need $2 million in order to completely finish its 3D printer prototype. The $15,000 cash investment it just received from Asimov for winning the competition will definitely help the startup reach its goal.

OsseoPrint 3D: Dr. Arthur Greyf, CEO, and Leonid Fayn, CTO

We’ll have more to share with you from AMS 2019, so stay tuned!

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

[Images: Sarah Saunders]

Twikit’s Twikbot Brings Mass Customization Using 3D Printing To Prosthetics and Orthotics

Twikit is a Belgium based startup that makes mass customization software. The firm created parametric software that can be used to, within well-defined parameters, make unique 3D printed products. For BMW, for example, the company created a tool that would let Mini owners customize polymer car parts to their liking. Mini owners can now get 3D printed customized outside panels with their own text or parts that let their LED lamps spell out their names. By letting a person customize something, ensuring that this can be visualized in the browser and then also actually be a file that can be manufactured Twikit ties unique inputs to makable things. Twikit’s software takes the potential of 3D printing to make unique things and turns it into something that many can use (within limits).

Twikit has just released its Twikbot software platform for Prosthetics and Orthotics. Now Twikit can not only be used for customized car parts or parts of consumer electronics but also for medical applications. With the Twikbot platform, companies can now create workflows where unique scan data gets turned into a 3D printable file. Defined limits of the 3D printing process, essential structural elements, and part constraints can be defined in advance. Once this has occurred, and if the 3D scan is good, the path from 3D scan to 3D file for printing is automatic. We’ve seen a lot of movement on implementing more and more prosthetics and orthotics in 3D printing. These are increasingly being made using FDM (FFF), SLS and MFJ technologies but so far there hasn’t been an automated customization package that could mass customize 3D prints for all platforms. We interviewed Twikit’s CTO Olivier den Deken about a new development that the firm has just released.

What does Twikit do for orthotics & prosthetics?

3D printing is a cornerstone technology in the digital transformation of the orthotics and prosthetics market. It also enables to design better products with a perfect fit. In order to obtain a working flow, different dots need to be connected. In comes Twikit.

Twikbot engine takes care of product customization starting from a 3D scan, creating the perfect shape and fit. The cloud software automates your design process and delivers a unique production-ready file. Additionally, Twikit provides design engineering and integration services to implement the technology.

How does it work?

It is important to note that this solution has been developed for Certified Prosthetists Orthotists. CPO’s can create a custom 3D product by using the easy-to-use interface. After choosing the product type, they are able to upload a 3D scan. The CPO sets all required parameters (e.g. adaptations of the 3D scan, measurements) and corresponding points on the scan. Based on this information, the product template (e.g. a knee brace) is automatically reshaped to fit the patients scan.

Finally, the product (e.g. the knee brace) can be finetuned with aesthetical options such as patterns and color.

The CPO can review and order when she is ready. The application runs in the cloud for full scalability and is easily accessible on all devices (including tablets).The Twikbot platform will now create a production-ready-file in the cloud. The production files can be directly connected with the Order Services Module which is used to distribute the parts and parameters to the internal or external manufacturer.

How does it save money?

With the solution in place, either the manual production flow and/or the flow to manually design each unique digital model becomes obsolete. This saves many hours of manual labor and it eliminates errors. Through further automation of the order process, files can be processed quicker resulting in a scalable solution for the offerings of Orthotic and Prosthetic brands.

What will happen with the medical scan data of my patient?

The production file based on the medical scan is assigned with an encrypted code for further tracking and handling. No personal data is stored or spread unless consented to by the patient.

What is the output in terms of files?

Twikbot exports production ready files for additive manufacturing (.stl) or vector files (cutting) depending on the product.

What 3D scan data can I input? and how?

3D scan data can be obtained from 3rd parties or from handheld tablet compatible scanners like Occipital’s Structure Sensor. The 3D scan can be uploaded in the applications where further operations like scan checkup and manipulation can be done.

 

 

Twikit and BMW Offer Flashy Customization Options for Your Next Car

While many automotive manufacturers have been using 3D printing in their design and manufacturing processes, BMW has been a leader in the field, using the technology for over 25 years. The company has used 3D printing for everything from roof racks to more advanced concepts. There are plenty of reasons for BMW and other automotive manufacturers to turn to 3D printing, like time and cost savings and the ability to produce lightweight, efficient, complex parts, but there are also some benefits of 3D printing that are simply fun, like customization.

BMW’s new MINI can be customized for users in a multitude of different ways, such as 3D printed patterns, pictures, shapes, and letters on the dashboard and glove box. You can even request an LED light that projects your name on the street when you get out of the car, according to BMW. The company is the first to take automotive personalization to this level, and it’s doing so with the help of Twikit, a Belgian company whose software platform emphasizes 3D printed customization possibilities.

BMW MINI customers can design their own customized cars online, and the digital files are sent to the production facility, where they are manufactured using 3D printing, laser cutting and other advanced technologies.

“Twikit technology was a bull’s eye right from the start,” said Twikit Co-Founder Gijs Hoppenbrouwers. “Since its foundation, we have been working with major players in various industries. Innovative players in the medical industry can now use our technology to make prostheses and orthoses on a large scale quickly. Customization for a mass audience is also perfectly possible for jewellery, furniture, windows and doors, electronics, … Companies discover that they can personalize products with modern, high-tech production techniques such as 3D printing and laser cutting, tailored to each individual customer.”

Twikit was founded in 2012 by Hoppenbrouwers, Martijn Joris and George Lieben. The company now has 33 employees and is becoming active worldwide, particularly in Europe and the United States. Besides working with BMW, Twikit also offers its personalized production services for prosthetics and orthotics, jewelry, electronics, windows and doors, and more. The company prides itself on being able to help companies smoothly and seamlessly bring together multiple digital production techniques such as 3D printing, CNC machining and laser cutting.

Will automotive customization catch on? We’ll have to wait and see. Will people value their own personal touches so much that they’ll be willing to pay €119 to have LED lights announce their presence any time they leave their car? Most people will likely still be swayed more by things like advanced safety features and seat warmers, but some certainly will be attracted to such customization offerings, and Hoppenbrouwers believes that many people will – that the future will be personalized.

“More and more products resemble each other, and not only in the automotive sector,” he said. “Allowing customers to personalize products is a way to stand out from the competition. The possibilities are endless. We reconcile production on a large scale with the desire of people to still have a unique product.”

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