On the cover of the latest issue of TCT Magazine Europe Edition, we talk you through the company’s history and vision for the future, including a different approach to additive manufacturing, explaining why productivity is key for our modular MetalFAB1 platform. We also highlighted our TCT Award winning collaboration with our customer K3D.
At the start of FormNext, the world’s largest international trade fair for additive manufacturing technologies in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Additive Industries launched a new and unique initiative to pool the volume of generic consumables and services. The Additive Manufacturing Quality Co-operative (working title) is a not-for-profit entity that unites the customers of Additive Industries and allows them to pool the volume of metal powders, gases and generic services like testing of witness coupons, hipping of parts and other services where the volume normally is low, prices are high and lead-time is long. By joining forces with its customers, Additive Industries can standardize and control the quality of its consumable supply, especially the metal powders without increasing the cost. Whereas for other system manufacturers consumables are a revenue stream, Additive Industries has regarded this mainly as a cost reduction opportunity because of its focus to continuously reduce the total cost per part. The not-for-profit co-operative allows Additive Industries and its customers to offset the increased quality requirements of demanding markets like aerospace and medical.
At the start of FormNext, Additive Industries has presented the results of an independent benchmark study and launched a new partnership with Fraunhofer Project Center at the University of Twente and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen, Germany. Ampower, the leading additive manufacturing consultancy, concluded in their independent benchmark study ‘Productivity Evaluation for Metal Additive Manufacturing Systems’ that Additive Industries’ MetalFAB1 systems combine the lowest system investment with the lowest total cost per part and highest annual capacity. They tested 4 typical parts from various industries like medical hip implants, impellors from oil and gas industries, and parts from the automotive and aerospace industry. In all cases the MetalFAB1 won over the 15 other 3D metal systems using laser or electron beam melting technology included in the benchmark. In order to continue to be the leader in productivity, Additive Industries sold a MetalFAB1 system to the Fraunhofer Project Center at the University of Twente and has entered into a strategic collaboration with them and their colleagues in the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT. The main aim of this partnership is to qualify new materials, improve design guidelines, increase post-processing expertise, and enable the integration of metal additive manufacturing into industrial process chains for broad industry acceptance.
Additive Industries has officially handed over its first MetalFAB1 system in China to the Marine Equipment Technology Institute (METI) of Jiangsu University of Science and Technology in Zhenjiang, China. At the ceremony in the additive manufacturing center of METI, many local VIPs were present from the university, regional and local governmental as well as the Mayor from Eindhoven, John Jorritsma.
During the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, the largest design event in Northern Europe, Additive Industries has launched its sixth edition of the Additive World Design for Additive Manufacturing Challenge.
