TCT Euro 29.1

3D PRINTING & ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING INTELLIGENCE
MAG
EUROPE EDITION
VOLUME 29 ISSUE 1
www.tctmagazine.com
THE YEAR
OF BINDER JET
WITH AN INFLUX OF NEW SYSTEMS EXPECTED,
EXONE SAYS 2021 IS BINDER JET’S YEAR.
SUPPLY CHAIN SOFTWARE CREATIVE

The opportunities & challenges A look at the industry’s latest Fine jewellery design
for AM software developments & bespoke architecture
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Additive Manufacturing
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VOLUME 29 ISSUE 1
ISSN 1751-0333
EDITORIAL
HEAD OF CONTENT
Laura Griffiths e: [email protected] t: + 44 1244 952 389
SENIOR CONTENT PRODUCER
Samuel Davies e: [email protected] t: + 44 1244 952 390
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from the editor
FROM THE EDITOR

LAURA GRIFFITHS
Business
as usual?
It’s highly (and hopefully) unlikely and goodwill has opened up
any of us will ever have another eyes to additive for the long-term.
year like 2020 – though these While a return to normality sounds
first few weeks into the new year wonderful right now, business as
have sort of felt like a hazy 2020 usual needn’t be the default setting
hangover. going forward.
Almost overnight our routines were So onto our first issue of 2021. I
skewed; our dining tables turned don’t think we intended for this
into desks, we became Zoom issue to be a binder jet special but
tech support for distant relatives based on conversations our Senior
and lamented the former ease Content Producer Sam Davies and
of locating a travel sized bottle I have held with various figures
of hand gel. I experimented with over the last few months, that’s kind
“pyjama chic” on impromptu video of what we’ve landed on. So, let’s
calls, spent evenings remotely agree it was intentional, eh?
attending international conferences
while enjoying the novelty of On the cover, ExOne declares 2021
secretly tucking into a McDonalds as ‘the year of binder jet’ and as
Uber Eats delivery. I even did the new machines from major players
unthinkable and started watching like Desktop Metal, HP and GE
Selling Sunset. Additive are expected to expand
the scope for binder jet hardware
Yet, perhaps the most interesting over the coming months, there’s
consequence for me was getting good reason to believe this to
to view 2020 through the lens of be the case. To find out how the
the additive manufacturing (AM) rest of the industry is prepping
industry. As supply chains were for this oncoming trend, we
disrupted and PPE demand soared, spoke to a number of companies
the pandemic presented a unique about how they’re shoring up
challenge that AM was uniquely software capabilities to tackle
equipped to tackle. Leveraging the technology’s most complex
the benefits of rapid product challenges.
development, mass customisation
and decentralised manufacture, for Elsewhere, we’ve got conversations
some industries and crucially on the on entrepreneurship with
frontline, AM provided a temporary newcomer Hyperganic and AM
lifeline and, as we explore in more application in creative industries
detail on page 11, encouraged with jewellery maker Jenny
overdue conversations about Wu and Aectual Co-founder
supply chain resilience. Hedwig Heinsman. Plus, stories on
certification and useful advice on
Places like the UK’s Digital creating a business case for AM
Manufacturing Centre, which we shared by Phil Reeves in our regular
paid a remote visit on page 28, Expert Advisory Board column slot.
believe AM has a huge part to
play in industry recovery and the Enjoy the issue and stay safe.
coming year will be a real proof
point of whether that enthusiasm
29.1 / www.tctmagazine.com / 05
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ISSUE 1
VOLUME 29
COVER STORY 23
11
Software &
8
8. THE YEAR OF
BINDER JET
ExOne explains why
Simulation
2021 is a turning point for 23. ENABLING CMF WITH 3MF
the technology it brought Stratasys on enabling CMF simulation
to market more than with full colour 3D printing. 31
20 years ago. 24. FINDING A ‘RITHM
Sam interviews Hyperganic CEO Lin NEWS
11 SUPPLY CHAIN
Kayser about his vision for algorithm-
based design.
31. AM INDUSTRY NEWS
A look at some of the biggest industry
26. BIND-AND-SOFTWARE developments at the start of 2021.
11. THE ROLE OF 3D PRINTING
In the ‘year of binder jet’ Laura explores
IN FUTURE SUPPLY CHAINS
the software advances promising to
The TCT content team talks to industry
maximise the technology’s production
leading personnel to understand why 3D
printing makes sense for supply chain
capabilities.
Expert 34
resiliency. Advisory
Through
14. SUPPLY CHAIN COMPLEXITY:
AM IN THE POST COVID-19 ERA
28 the Doors
Column
University of Bristol’s Dr. Jennifer Johns 34. UNDERSTANDING THE
offers her insights on supply chain as a 28. THE BIG KW SPECIAL INVESTMENT CASE FOR AM
reader in International Business. PROJECT Industry consultant Phil Reeves on why
We take a look inside the new Digital understanding the business case for
Manufacturing Centre at Silverstone AM is important.
CREATIVE 17 Park in the UK.
17. DIVINE DESIGN Standards & 30

Sam talks to Indian service bureau Certification 8
Imaginarium about a record-breaking
diamond ring. 30. GETTING UP TO STANDARD
Burloak Technologies on the long
18. FINE LINES road to becoming a certified AM
LACE founder Jenny Wu sits down with supplier to Boeing.
TCT to discuss her use of 3D printing to
produce jewellery pieces.
20. AECTUALLY, IT’S 3D PRINTED 18

Laura speaks to a company using
3D printing for bespoke architectural
projects.
THE YEAR OF
BINDER JET
At least five new production metal binder jet
systems are expected this year from ExOne, HP,
Desktop Metal and GE, with more likely to follow.
I
n the early years, few engineers thought it would
be possible to simply inkjet binder onto powder
and deliver high-density metal parts. For most of
the two decades that followed the original 1993
binder jet patent from MIT, that conventional wisdom
reigned.
The ExOne Company, which was the original licensee

of MIT’s binder jet patents for metal, went on to launch
the first metal binder jet system in 1998 and continued
to print metals on increasingly sophisticated machines
without any direct competition for years. With as-
printed part densities hovering at about 55-60%,
binder jetting metal was viewed as a niche process
with limited potential. ExOne had to infiltrate its printed
metal parts with another metal to fill in the gaps.
That all changed in 2013, when ExOne finally cracked

the code on binder jetting metals to high densities, or
those greater than 97%, during a joint R&D project with
an aerospace company. The team thought if they could
just print the finest available powders, the particles
would compact, or order themselves, more densely.
The challenge with that, of course, is that these
powders don’t flow easily like grains of sand; they
clump together like baking flour and are difficult to flow
and spread evenly. But the project was successful, and
the news spread quickly.
Even after ExOne filed patents on its invention,

however, it took the company several years to get
the first commercially viable high-density metal 3D
printer — the Innovent — to market in 2016. One of the
biggest challenges was figuring out how to automate
dispensing, spreading and compacting the powders.
The year after the Innovent launch was a big one for
binder jetting: Digital Metal, a subsidiary of Höganäs,
launched production of the DM P2500. Desktop
Metal announced plans for its Production System. GE
announced it would produce its own binder jet system.
In 2018, HP announced its Metal Jet Fusion binder
jetting system.
While the Digital Metal printer has been available

since then, this year – 2021 – is the year that all those
5TOP: 3FROM THE COVER
EXONE INNOVENTPRO IN 2021, THE NEW EXONE
other binder jet printers are slated to come to market. METAL BINDER JET LINEUP
5ABOVE: WILL INCLUDE (LEFT TO RIGHT)
EXONE’S MATERIAL THE X1 25PRO, ALREADY
What’s more, ExOne also launches a new version PORTFOLIO NOW OFFERS IN USE WORLDWIDE, THE
of the system that jump-started the sector, with its MORE THAN 20 MATERIALS INNOVENTPRO AND X1 160PRO
08 / www.tctmagazine.com / 29.1
COVER STORY
InnoventPro to be offered in a 3L Most of the new binder jetting

and 5L size. Binder jetting is having systems that come to market in
such a moment, in fact, it wouldn’t be 2021 will arrive with stainless steel
“Binder jet is surprising if other companies jumped

in.
alloys, most often 316L and 17-4PH,
but more materials are expected to
well on its way to “We really do believe this year is a

follow. Digital Metal already offers
at least six materials.
disrupting other
turning point for binder jet 3D printing,”
said John Hartner, ExOne’s CEO. “We ExOne's material portfolio now
manufacturing
see an increasing number of customers offers more than 20 materials,
looking into how binder jet can help including 11 single-alloy metals.
their business, whether it’s delivering That includes 17-4PH, 304L,
technologies.” lightweight parts, higher performance

parts, or even decentralising their
supply chain. It’s a truly exciting time,
316L, M2 Tool Steel, Inconel 718,
Cobalt Chrome, Copper, H13 Tool
Steel, Inconel 625, Titanium and
and we see the whole field growing.” Tungsten Heavy Alloy. Aluminium,
which is already qualified for
THE LURE OF BINDER JET R&D use on ExOne systems, has
One of the reasons the lure of binder been fast-tracked for third-party
jetting has never really vanished, even qualification status, which indicates
though many doubted its ability to print general market readiness. ExOne’s
high-density metal, is simple: speed. first aluminium alloys are expected
to receive this status upgrade
In the complex field of additive during 2021.
manufacturing technologies, binder
jetting is the most similar to paper SUSTAINABILITY DRIVES
printing and regarded as one of the BINDER JETTING
fastest methods for volumetric output. While most 3D printing
technologies can call themselves
In binder jetting, an industrial green for their ability to deliver
printhead quickly inkjets binder consolidated, lightweight parts
(essentially a glue) onto a thin layer and other benefits, binder jetting
of powder particles – metal, sand or stands alone in one important
ceramic – creating a solid part one layer respect: it can deliver a bigger
at a time. When printing metals, the final impact.
part must later be sintered in order to
SHOWN:
PRODUCTION METAL BINDER JET PARTS
fuse the particles together. The ability to produce high
volumes of sustainable designs
When looking at metal 3D printing means that the technology can
alone, almost every other method builds deliver sweeping benefits when
parts with a single point, either a laser it comes to lighter parts that can
or nozzle, that struggles to compete help decarbonise cars and other
with a printhead. Multi-laser or multi- products. In fact, ExOne routinely
nozzle systems have grown increasingly delivers consolidated parts that are
common but, generally, adding those redesigned for up to 40% weight
points isn’t as affordable as expanding a savings. What’s more, research has
row of printheads. already shown that binder jetting
has a material efficiency of up to
“All technologies have their sweet 96%1.
spot, and binder jetting was really built
for high throughput,” Hartner said. ExOne also recently joined the
“Though we expect it to take time, Additive Manufacturer Green
binder jet is well on its way to disrupting Trade Association to support
other manufacturing technologies.” independent research into benefits
like these so manufacturers can
INCREDIBLE MATERIAL have data about the environmental
FLEXIBILITY impact of binder jetting. “Our
Virtually any powder can be 3D team is confident about the
printed in binder jetting so long as the broad sustainability benefits
right binder chemistry and sintering of binder jet,” Hartner said.
recipe can be developed and optimised “Whether it’s waste reduction,
to densify the printed part. part consolidation, lightweighting
or enabling decentralised
At ExOne, the company has printed manufacturing, we’re a company
everything from traditional MIM that is truly dedicated to our
powders to concrete, trash and more. values and vision of Sustainable
REFERENCE
1
Mirzababaei, S., Paul, B.K. & Pasebani, S. Metal Powder Recyclability Creating bound powder designs is the Manufacturing Without Limitations.”
in Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing. JOM 72, 3070–3079 (2020). easy part, with optimising recipes taking
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-020-04258-6 the most time.
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SUPPLY CHAIN
THE ROLE OF 3D
PRINTING IN FUTURE
SUPPLY CHAINS
Sam & Laura speak to several industry personnel to understand the potential
role of 3D printing technology in more agile manufacturing supply chains.
I
n California, a collaborative effort
involving Forecast 3D takes just
three months to go from design
development of a nasopharyngeal
swab to additively manufacturing a million
FDA-approved units.
In South Carolina, Johnson & Johnson’s

(J&J) Ethicon brand works with PRISMA
Health to additively manufacture an FDA-
authorised ventilator expansion splitter
that enables a single ventilator to be used
for two rescuable COVID-19 patients until
individual ventilators come available. “After COVID,
In Texas, Essentium designs a 3D nobody can say
failures are not
printable face mask that is additively
manufactured tens of thousands of
times over ten weeks before its injection
moulding tooling is ready, and a more anticipated.”
traditional method can shoulder the burden.
And then it keeps printing supplementary
masks alongside.
There were many more examples all

over the world of 3D printing filling gaps of
stretched supply chains as the COVID-19 Manager of 3D Printing, Ramon Pastor, noted
pandemic caused disruptions from the Far how the ‘resiliency of a supply chain is the
East to the West Coast. It quickly sparked resiliency of the worst part of said supply chain.’
conversations about the need for more Around 12 months ago, as offshore factories
agile and resilient supply chains, and in this closed down as a result of the spread of
industry, how important 3D printing is to the COVID-19, manufacturing organisations around
transformation of these supply networks. the world learnt that the hard way.
For Steve Richardson, Forecast 3D’s COMPLEX CONSIDERATIONS

Business Development Manager who In the 2019 Global Services Location Index,
focused on supply chain development which lists the most attractive locations
on an international scale while in the to produce goods, India, China, Malaysia,
electronics industry, there’s much that Indonesia and Vietnam topped the rankings,
needs to go into a supply chain to make with Thailand joining the United States and
it agile – “you have to have visibility United Kingdom in the top eight. Notably,
throughout the value stream, knowing that though the US and UK excelled in ‘people
you have one focal point, normally the OEM, skills and availability’, ‘business environment’ rocked upon the spread of COVID-19. In a
orchestrating all the different pieces, and and ‘digital resonance’, they lacked in ‘financial Deloitte survey carried out last year, 59% of
we have to have data-driven decisions.” – attractiveness’. respondents said they saw a slowdown in
but having seen up close the capabilities sales and challenges to their cash flow, with
of 3D printing, he is in no doubt that it has Because so much emphasis has been placed 22% noting their inability to directly serve
its place: “What I really took away from the on lowering costs within many manufacturing customers was the main negative impact on
pandemic was how dynamic the supply organisations, the effectiveness and resiliency their business during the pandemic.
chain can be with additive manufacturing.” in many cases had been neglected. As
Richardson pointed out, “If a company has a “COVID caused every company in the
Speaking to TCT in the autumn of 2020, mindset of, ‘we’re going to be low cost’, every world to look at their supply chain and say,
having surveyed 2,000 manufacturing decision that supply chain makes is based ‘I can’t tolerate this, I have to have more
business leaders about trends in digital on having the lowest cost product in the flexibility,’” said 3D Systems CEO Jeff Graves
manufacturing, HP’s World Wide General market.” Companies and entire industries were in a recent interview with TCT.

“Nobody could have anticipated COVID,” away where you have manufacturing home.’ Without
LEO Lane Co-founder and VP, Business no visibility of it just them, manufacturers are likely
Dr Lee-Bath Nelson offered, “but after because it costs you ten to put cost efficiency first. This
COVID nobody can say that failures are not cents?” point was highlighted by 3D Hubs
anticipated. You have to take measures for CEO Bram de Zwart who, in writing for
that.” The same idea crossed Business Insider last year, said: “From
Xometry CEO Randy our experience, the balance between cost
The strategy of manufacturing parts Altschuler’s mind in April 2020. and the quality of manufacturers is often much
offshore is carried out with cost at the Talking to TCT, he stressed: “We need to more favourable when sourcing overseas,
forefront of the mind, rather than control, start quantifying the cost of supply chain which is a very harsh reality but something we
visibility, or even ethics. Using the cheaper disruptions and of risk. It may look like can’t ignore, especially during a period when
locations of the world to manufacture goods something from a location overseas might most businesses are particularly stretched
at high volumes is a cost-effective way for be 50% less expensive than domestic, but if on resources.” He went on to suggest that a
many manufactures to run their business you factor in some percentage chance that combination of both onshore and offshore
and, with no incentive to do otherwise, there could be a supply chain Black Swan production is an effective way of enabling
rearranging a supply chain to ‘reshore’ event like we’ve had now where there’s no supply chain flexibility, citing the fact that when
manufacturing is likely much too complex supply available, that’s worth something Asian factories opened up again last year,
and much too time-consuming to do. and that needs to be put into the equation.” many of those in Europe and North America
were shutting down.
Yet, many consider there to be hidden Those considerations are certainly
costs involved with this model that only more likely to be made off the back of the There is much to ponder for manufacturers
rear their ugly heads in times of crisis. pandemic and the disruptions that came making these decisions, particularly at a time
Richardson gives the generic example of a with it. But as Dr Jennifer Johns writes on when supply chain disruptions and cash
part that is integral to one’s manufacturing page 14, the reshoring of manufacturing is flow problems are impacting the business
line, or integral to the function of their a political discussion. Indeed, Altschuler in an intertwined way. Again on page 14,
customer’s assembled product, something conceded that the concept needs Dr Johns notes that she generally doesn’t
that, “if you don’t get that part, it’s going the backing from governments, with expect manufacturers to shift production
to cost you more than anything. Is it worth subsidies being offered, as they have from one location to another in a ‘like for like’
having it manufactured thousands of miles been in countries like Japan, to ‘bring way because of the complexities involved,
SUPPLY CHAIN
but instead there may be changes to the Customer Solutions at J&J. “We operate in your partners and then trying to get that real
‘status quo’ and that could be good news a dynamic marketplace where consumer time data from the market of where shortfall
for additive. Especially given some of the preferences are constantly shifting and was.”
potential wins that are available. demands are only increasing, meaning we
must be able to quickly pivot to meet the There’s an array of opportunities for 3D
"THE SKY'S THE LIMIT" needs of customers in specific markets. printing, some being proved out during the
The fundamental thing that a supply [This] can only be provided through a pandemic, while others are currently more
chain must do, Pastor emphasised last sustainable, flexible supply chain aligned speculative. But those that are proffered
year, is match demand with supply. And end-to-end with our commercial R&D generally revolve around the technology’s
the best way of doing that, he reckons, teams.” capacity to produce end-use parts, particularly
is on-demand manufacturing with limited as its capabilities continue to grow. Often
physical inventory. Scott Sevcik, Stratasys’ Richardson too, in referencing Forecast overlooked when discussing 3D printing’s
VP of Aerospace, agreed in July 2020, 3D’s additive manufacture of testing potential within flexible supply chains is its
pushing forward the idea of ‘one on the swabs, eulogised about the demonstration rapid prototyping proficiencies. This is where,
shelf’, allowing there for less wait time upon of “collaborative planning, collaborative Richardson suggested, the technology will have
ordering the part, and less scrap should the design, focusing on your strengths, trusting its biggest and quickest impact. Graves agreed,
asserting we could be about to see
“an explosion in the designing of
components made by additive
manufacturing.”
Yet, Richardson maintained

that ‘every production opportunity
starts with a prototyping opportunity.’
Indeed, he and Forecast 3D saw as
much just under 12 months ago. The
naval swabs project started out as a way
of validating design; it became a bona
fide AM production application scaling into
the millions. Key, as ever, to opening up such
opportunities with AM remains finding the right
demand for it never come. Both suggest business cases, whether it be down to volumes
3D printing has an obvious play here, while required or complexity. Not every agile and
Pastor said HP is working with customers resilient manufacturing supply chain will rely on
who are already starting to implement the 3D printed parts, but in a period when all will
strategy. be carrying out in-depth assessments of their
supply networks, there’s a belief across the
In responding to a statistic that board that additive has a big role to play.
came out of HP’s aforementioned
survey – that 75% of respondents “Supply chains take a long time to re-
suggested 3D printing may be engineer,” Teipel evaluated. “It’s going to take
useful as a back-up technology to another 1, 2, 3, 4 years to see the evolution of
traditional means of manufacture supply chains to the point where there’s a new
– Essentium CEO Blake Teipel type of optimisation because the supply chains
analogised 3D printing with a fleet have been optimised for the manufacturing
of water pumps that operate in New technologies of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s.
Orleans, a city just below sea level that But now, because of additive manufacturing and
gets hit every year by hurricanes. In normal the buzzy bits of smart factories and the rest,
times, those pumps might be at 20-30% you’re starting to see a new type of efficiency
capacity to keep the ocean back, while the emerge.”
rest sit idle. Yet, when a hurricane arrives,
they all spring into action to quickly reduce “We anticipate that 3D printing is a mainstay
the flooding. of supply chains,” Onukuri added. “We always
want to ensure that we can meet the needs
“AM is just like those pumps,” Teipel said. of customers in different markets while also
“You’re able to produce parts and then pivoting quickly. By re-imagining the way that
you’re also able to have that surge capacity we create and deliver products and services,
when you need it.”
“We anticipate
we truly move one step closer to innovation that
can change health for humanity.”
Essentium also thinks there’s scope to, as
they did with the face masks earlier in the
pandemic, use 3D printing to supplement that 3D “Additive manufacturing with trust and
collaboration can take you to the next level,”
traditional manufacturing. Similarly, from
J&J’s experiences, the company is backing printing is a Richardson finished. “Case in point is the nasal
swabs. We did it in a short period of time,
the sheer ability it displayed to turn on a
dime last year and produce something it mainstay accelerated under the gun and were very
reactive. Now, think if you were proactive, and
of supply
wasn’t expecting to a few days earlier. had a big supply chain goal or vision in your
head, and then you take the time to implement
chains.”
“As a global company operating in an agile supply chain with time, I mean, the sky’s
markets all over the world, there is no the limit.”
such thing as a ‘one size fits all approach’,”
said Sam Onukuri, Head of 3D Printing &

WORDS: Dr Jennifer Johns, Reader in International Business, School of
SUPPLY CHAIN
Management, University of Bristol & Academic Advisor to GTMA and Reshoring UK
COMPLEXITY:
AM IN THE POST-
COVID-19 ERA
changing combinations of in-house
production, inter-firm trading and
outsourcing (within or beyond national
boundaries), supply chains have
become highly sophisticated to meet
the demands of manufacturers and their
customers.
However, there are many

pressures on industry that of COVID-19 and, to a lesser
threaten to reshape supply degree, political changes
chains in numerous ways, (Trump’s US trade policies
typically encouraging a and BREXIT) are having
reduction in complexity. For more long-lasting and
G
the last three decades, where transformational impacts
lobalisation attention has been focused on supply chains. Since
has created an on supply chains it has done March 2020, they have been
interconnected so as part of the sustainability battered by external forces,
global economy. agenda. This agenda covers resulting in disruption and,
Underpinning this are supply environmental (i.e. food in some cases, permanent
chains, facilitating the movement miles, peak oil) and supply rupture. The impacts are
of goods in increasingly complex chain ethics (i.e. human rights abuses) multiple and include the temporary closure of
ways. Until relatively recently, the concerns. Environmental concerns factories in China, national lockdowns, workforce
vital importance of supply chains pressure supply chains to shorten as vulnerabilities and shortages, and the costs and
has tended to be overlooked, demand for more locally produced logistics of complying with COVID-19 guidance.
certainly in relation to the general goods (particularly food) increases and
public’s understanding of how producers seek to reduce their carbon We can see three broad trends in the
supply chains support economic footprint. Ethical concerns, typically reconfiguration of supply chains that seek to
activities. Now the combined concentrated on the working conditions address the vulnerabilities of geographically
impacts of COVID-19 and BREXIT in factories (including subcontractors), extensive supply chains (particularly those
are forcing a closer examination has increased requirements on firms between advanced economies and the Far
of supply chains as they to monitor and inspect suppliers and East). First, that of reshoring, the process of
change, are disrupted or even be aware of lower tier suppliers. This manufacturing returning ‘home’ to advanced
permanently ruptured. has been driven by companies’ own economies from lost cost locations. Interest
corporate social responsibility strategies in reshoring is partly politically motivated (the
The contemporary and more recently as a consequence futile aim of national self-sufficiency) and partly
complexity of supply chains of the Modern Slavery Act. One could driven by industry concerns around quality
is well understood within logically expect to see a reduction in and supply chain risk. Beyond a handful of
the manufacturing sector. supplier numbers to facilitate closer well-publicised multinational firms relocating
Over decades, advances in monitoring and inspection, but this has some manufacturing, data on reshoring levels
communication and transportation not emerged as an observable trend. shows it to be relatively small in scale but
technologies have allowed increasing – and likely accelerating since March
supply chains to become more Despite substantial pressure, we have 2020. Reshoring presents an opportunity for
geographically extensive, and not seen either a reduction of the length additive manufacturing (AM) as the relocation
firms have been able to use of supply chains or in supplier numbers. of production affords companies the chance
a wide array of sophisticated Indeed, complexity continues to increase to rethink their production methods. Evidence
logistics, tracking and monitoring as the economic (profit-maximisation) currently suggests that little reshoring is on a
technologies to manage their imperatives driving sourcing decisions like-for-like basis and if firms relocate production
supply chains. Combined with prevail. Until recently that is. The impact to their home (advanced) economy it is likely they

SUPPLY CHAIN
In times of supply uncertainty this

strategy supplements existing (often
geographically extensive) supply
chains with more localised supply
options. Often the local suppliers are
the backup option in the event of
established supply chain failure. This
dual sourcing strategy thus increases
supply chain complexity rather than
reducing it, adding to the resourcing
and management of supply. Again,
this opens up potential spaces for AM
to exploit, particularly with regard to
removing the need for time consuming
and costly re-tooling. The flexibility
of AM may prove to be attractive to
companies needing additional supply,
which begins dialogue with firms that
may not (yet) be convinced of the
advantages of AM, potentially leading
to the local AM firm outcompeting the
low-cost supplier.
At present the situation regarding the

reconfiguration of supply chains is an
will be adopting uncertain one, especially as we enter

more advanced the post-BREXIT period. A number
production methods. of different processes are operating
Here, the ability that will impact on where and how we
of AM to produce manufacture, but not all are moving
complex parts (that in the same direction (technologically
combine a number of or geographically). We can expect
previously separately a general trend towards a degree
manufactured of relocalisation of production and
components) will reduce reshoring, but this will be sectorally and
supplier numbers and facilitate the geographically uneven.
relocation of production.
As history has shown us, supply
Second, the relocalisation of chains are increasingly complex, but
production, often bringing production the weight of the impacts of COVID-19
much closer to the consumer. and BREXIT may force a change. It is
This satisfies many sustainability a challenging time, but there are some
demands, reduces supply chain disruption clear opportunities for AM to begin to
and increases speed to customer. Distributed really demonstrate and showcase the
manufacturing is often assumed to include capabilities of the technology, helping
“Relocation of advanced manufacturing methods, across the to deliver meaningful progress in the
production affords
whole spectrum of desktop to industrial AM reorganisation of manufacturing in the
machines and post-production technologies. post-COVID-19 era.
companies the Here, the unique capabilities of AM mean the

technologies are able to offer much more
chance to rethink highly localised solutions than traditional
manufacturing methods.
their production The current COVID-19 crisis is having
Watch: AM’s Role in Supply Chain
Resilience | TCT Conference @
methods.” an immediate effect on the organisation
of supply chains with the adoption of a
Formnext mytct.co/JJohns
compromise solution, that of dual sourcing.

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CREATIVE
WORDS: SAM DAVIES
and resin temperature control capabilities

SHOWN: to produce iterations in a quick-print,
SKILLED JEWELLER SETTING high-resolution general-purpose material
DIAMONDS ON THE DIVINE – 1801
BRAHMA VAJRA KAMALAM RING that helped Imaginarium visualise the
design and spot defects. The company
then harnessed Rapid Shape’s direct
casting material to allow the ring to be
cast in gold.
“When it comes to this level of

precision,” Shah explains, “we needed
a laser-based printer because of the
tolerances. Rapid Shape comes closest
to an SLA. The interesting evolution
of technology is that projector-based
system, because of its high resolution
and high definition, is now giving parts
at a par with a high-end laser-based
SLA machine. But the added advantage
for the DLP is speed. Whereas an SLA
I
machine would have taken six hours to
n Mumbai, India, a world record make this prototype, a DLP would take
certifying authority representative sits
and counts up to 7,801. Imaginarium
“The precision one hour to do the same.”
and the Diamond Store by Chandubhai

have gone for the world record of most
and tolerances Jewellery is one of Imaginarium’s
four main business activities, with 3D
diamonds set in a ring and wait patiently
to have it confirmed. Watching the
are impossible in printing regularly being leant on to help
the conventional
the company tackle complex designs,
representative manually count nearly 8,000 reduce the time to manufacture and print
diamond pieces across two whole days with
nothing but a jeweller’s loupe, the partners way of making one-off or customised goods. All were at
play in this record-breaking project. Shah
are thankful they had digital technologies to
hand when embarking on the Divine – 1801 jewellery.” estimates that this design, approached
in a conventional way, would have taken
Brahma Vajra Kamalam project. months because of the complex shape
and need to assemble multiple pieces.
The piece, which broke the Guinness World And that is just the first iteration, without
Record in August 2020, only to be usurped a block of [material], and they have considering the size of the prongs that
in November, was inspired by the natural only two-dimensional sketches to differ for every diamond they hold.
design of the Himalayan Camellia flower. refer to, so even the curvature [of the
It features seven parts – a gold shank and petals] in three dimensions, the way it “That’s the standard,” he says. “So,
six rows of petals – all assembled around a fills that volume, was something that enter 3D printing. What that does is one,
stigma crew to allow thousands of diamonds had to be in their head. Only a select all of your simulation, validation etc is
to be set by one of Imaginarium’s skilled few skilled artisans could have pulled done in the CAD software; we could
jewellers within prongs on each component this off.” modify the design as many times as
with the highly precise micro pavé technique. we wanted, and even after making the
But such were the intricacies of the Imaginarium was well-placed to take first prototype, if we find something not
design, the partners decided to leverage on this project. At its headquarters in working, it’s a matter of one hour or two
Imaginarium’s 3D printing capacity to iterate Mumbai, it has dozens of employees hours to tweak the CAD design and start
multiple versions of the ring before heading working on jewellery manufacturing again. Two, of course, it’s impossible to
into production. and finishing every day while it achieve otherwise. And the third is when
was able to leverage Digital Light you can play with multiple materials,
“The precision and tolerances are Processing technology from Rapid you’re not trying to replicate a prototype
impossible in the conventional way of making Shape, who has products designed into some other conventional form, it’s
jewellery,” Tanmay Shah, Head of Innovations specifically for jewellery projects. part of the same workflow. It’s just one
at Imaginarium, tells TCT. “The convention Using the vendor’s S30+, Imaginarium workflow.”
that I refer to is where all of this would have utilised its 405 nm UV LED light
been the work of a craftsmen who starts with source, HD 1920 x 1080 px resolution

FINE LINES
WORDS: SAM DAVIES
LACE founder Jenny Wu on using 3D printing to produce fine jewellery.
I
n the corridors of Art Basel Miami, so now I mostly work with SLS [Selective 4RIGHT:
visitors are rushing to see a bold Laser Sintering], which, being powder- LACE'S ALLEGRO CUFF RING
piece they’ve never seen before, based, obviously makes it more feasible to IN 18K PLATED ROSE GOLD
wanting to know more about it, do interlocking pieces, [for example].”
wanting to touch it, maybe even wanting 6BELOW:
to buy it. Finding the right process to produce LACE'S 3D PRINTED TANGENS NECKLACE
this piece was paramount for Wu since
Taken aback by the interest, Jenny Wu she had insisted on the necklace being
returned to her Oyler Wu Collaborative completely 3D printed, including the latch,
architecture design studio with the with zero assembly. Since the necklace
idea to start a new business. Seven was a big and bold piece, it needed to be
years on, her LACE jewellery brand has flexible and durable, but not so hard that it
launched a wedding collection, a men’s would hurt upon contact with the skin.
line, and recently expanded into Europe.
Underpinning all that success is 3D “Figuring out how to print the necklace
printing technology. was probably one of the most challenging
things,” she recalls. “Just the latch itself,
It was the autumn of 2014 when Wu’s first I probably printed that latch 50 times
LACE line of jewellery was launched, just because when it’s too tight, the customer
a year after she first used 3D printing to will yank on it and the whole thing will pull
make a fashion statement while speaking off, and then if it’s too loose, someone
publicly and attending events. Among the knocks you and it falls off, and so, in the
first products on sale were the Tangens end, we figured out using SLS with a TPU
necklace, which features interlocking was the best method, but even within that,
elements and was initially produced looking at the tolerance of each intricate
with Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) [interlocking] piece and trying to make
technology, and the Papilio ring, a sure they move but don’t collide, that was
design inspired by the movement of a a lot of work.”
butterfly wing that has been additvely
manufactured in nylon and metal A lot of effort, as well, has gone into
“I was
materials, while also cast in sterling silver. finding the right material to use for pieces,
especially as the additive manufacturing
Each of these designs began with a industry has made great strides in
sketch, before moving into an extensive
prototyping phase that first assessed
expanding users’ options in that regard
over the years. Some materials have been always
interested
form and fit and later considered the best too soft and easily breakable, others too
material for production. The process used stiff for the specific application.
for production, though, has been subject
in elevating
to much deliberation over the years, for It has led Wu to look beyond polymers
not every step of Wu’s journey with LACE and closer at what metal 3D printing
has been a walk in the park. “For the can offer, resulting in many new designs
3D printed
first few years, there was definitely a lot that polymer AM couldn’t address, such
of learning,” she tells TCT. Case in point as the Mobius ring, while offering metal
is the Tangens necklace, one of LACE’s versions of several existing designs that
flagship products and the kind of piece
that was drawing the attention of so
had previously been released as plastic
pieces, like the Papilio ring. Per Wu, jewellery
into fine
many in Miami. While the design remains most of what LACE now offers is done
much the same as it did back in 2014, the in precious metals and steels, largely for
production method needed changing. reasons around durability and wearability
jewellery.”
– considering how a customer might bang
“Back then, it was mostly FDM and to their ring on a table or not feel when their
print a lot of my jewellery was challenging, earrings have fallen out because they’re
there was a lot of limitations for the kind too lightweight – but also because, “I was
of work I wanted to do and how it might always interested in elevating 3D printed
translate to 3D printing,” Wu says. “With jewellery into a fine jewellery brand and
the support systems, FDM was impossible, not a fashion jewellery brand.”

CREATIVE
canopy for a museum, and at the same

time, I was working on this Velum piece.
It’s nice to have things that are working
at different scales and, obviously, with
the soft surface and curves, 3D printing
is just completely suited for that type of
application.”
Though Wu has been working as a

jewellery designer for seven years now,
she has never seen it as a departure
from architecture. Rather, she considers
it architecture at a smaller scale that
is placed on the body. While the Oyler
Wu Collaborative endeavour sees the
implementation of additive to produce
scale models, LACE has enabled her
to explore the full potential of the
technology with greater freedom. It has
also allowed her to do so in a manner that
matches her values, that considers the
wants of her customer base at an intimate
level and allows her to bring to market
something unique in style and design.
Each LACE piece begins on a sketch

pad, is modelled digitally and printed
repeatedly until the design is finalised,
before production is outsourced. A
workflow typical of many a jeweller. But it
is done Jenny Wu’s way.
“For me, 3D printing has completely

changed the way a business model is
run, especially in fashion and jewellery,”
Wu finishes. “There was a point when
you consider, ‘should I just have this
[mass] produced somewhere and instead
of printing it in small batches,’ and in six
VELUM AND VALUES years of building this company, I found
The latest LACE piece is the limited-edition that I was able to evolve my design over
Velum ring, released in 2020 with only 35 time, I was able to hold small inventory,
units going into production. It came after many and I’m able to print to order and be
months of design and prototyping using a resin nimble about when I can launch a piece.
3D printer, making adjustments ‘slowly and
constantly’ before eventually printing a final “When I talk to more traditional
iteration in precious metal. Velum, as with all brands, just making a mould for a piece
LACE products, is produced on-demand and of jewellery costs a lot of money and
is available in stainless steel, bronze and grey then the time between conception and
steel, which are 3D printed, or cast in silver production could run between one
after the piece has been printed in wax. to two years. You’re making a huge
investment and you’re expected to order
Velum is said to have taken LACE into a 100,000 pieces otherwise you can’t
new direction with regards design and the recover the cost of R&D. You just think
inspiration behind this piece tells you it could about all that fast fashion out there, and
barely be possible without 3D printing. the fact we have sweatshops and they’re
just pumping out massive amounts of
“Sometimes I think about the work we do [products] that people may or may not
in architecture leading the way, inspiring the want, and then you have this huge sell
work in the jewellery, but Velum is one that out at the end, it just feels like this is
is happening at the same time as what we’re not the right business model to work in
doing in architecture,” Wu explains. “We’ve this time and age. Obviously, our cost
been really inspired by taking a soft, draped per piece will be higher than if it was
surface, but then producing it in a hard mass-produced, but I feel like this is the
material; trying to get the undulations and more sustainable and ethical way of
the reading of fabric, but hard. We’ve been SHOWN: practicing.”
interested in that type of design for some time. LACE'S LIMITED EDITION VELUM RING
We won a competition for this drapery inspired

AECTUALLY,
IT’S 3D PRINTED
WORDS: LAURA GRIFFITHS
I
f you’ve walked through the develop their own products. To date, those more classic materials. Heinsman
terminal building at Amsterdam’s this design-to-delivery platform has shares how, in this case, they were
Schiphol Airport, you perhaps been deployed in over 50 projects for able to use waste marble material and
won’t have noticed that the floor established customers like Nike and replace the traditional binding agent
you rolled your suitcase across was, in BMW Group. with a plant based alternative while,
fact, 3D printed. It’s one of the many in another project, they managed to
high-profile projects realised by Aectual, The Aectual solution comprises of a recycle used Budweiser bottles into a
a provider of large, bespoke 3D printed proprietary extrusion-based 3D printing unique flooring concept at the Capital C
architectural and interior products technology, robotics from ABB and offices in Amsterdam.
that demonstrate the true potential for recyclable materials, including specially
additive manufacturing (AM) in the built developed plant-based polymer pellets
world. engineered with Henkel. But perhaps
the biggest takeaway from Aectual’s
“The whole
Inspired by classic terrazzo flooring, platform is how its foundation is
the end result was a combination of 3D firmly rooted in the circular economy.
production
printed patterns fused with a bio-based Back in 2019, while outlining its ‘The
terrazzo infill, built using a sustainable Future of Making’ ambitions for design
AM workflow which Aectual opened up automation, software provider Autodesk
to AEC professionals and consumers
in a new online beta platform back in
shared findings that 30% of global
waste comes from the construction process
January. industry. Aectual’s strategy seeks
to address this crucial challenge. In will only
It’s an idea that grew out of the
3D Printed Canal House project in
addition to leveraging the outward
benefits of additive versus subtractive become more
and more
Amsterdam, a renowned R&D venture manufacturing – less waste, less
conceived by Dutch DUS Architects material usage – Aectual says its
sustainable.”
to build a full-size canal house using process promises less CO2 emissions
a large-scale, portable AM system compared to traditional methods of
known as the KamerMaker. Today, manufacture for custom architectural
through Aectual, that same team is products and promotes a full end-to-
now deploying that very technology end sustainable customer journey,
to produce mass customised products which encourages buyers to return their
such as wall panels, flooring, room Aectual pieces once they’re no longer While products are manufactured
dividers and stairs with 100% recyclable, needed so that they can be shredded in-house at Aectual’s Amsterdam
renewable materials. and repurposed into new products. production facility, which currently
houses four robot arms with a huge
“We actually got a lot of questions Of Aectual’s ethos, Heinsman said: print area of 500 sq. ft., Heinsman adds
over the years from architects [and] “We had several pillars. One was really that in future, there’s scope to leverage
colleagues that would also love to the idea of community or democratising additive’s other highly touted green
do something with the technology,” architecture so that you can really give attribute – localised production.
Hedwig Heinsman, Co-founder and people access to the act of shaping their
Chief Commercial Officer, Aectual told environments - ultimately, entire homes “That’s of course really how we
TCT. “We realised we really would love and communities but we start small envision it in the future - there will
to build a platform where anyone can with these products. And of course, the be just a lot of local hubs and we
just go online and customise their own whole aspect of creating without any can connect to all kinds of digital
interior and architectural products and waste and working with recycled and manufacturing techniques,” Heinsman
ultimately, even buildings. So, at that more natural materials has also been said. “At the moment, I think it’s already
moment, we decided to just take the really a core element from the start.” a better alternative because we can
plunge.” really produce very strategically so it's
As the Schiphol Airport project shows, all made to measure - we can really
Through this new platform, consumers Aectual’s work blends 3D printing with dimension things according to how it's
can tailor the size, colours and patterns traditional construction mediums like transported so that it can be flat packed
across a line of 12 signature parametric glass and concrete but the start-up in a smart way. So, the whole production
pieces, while those in the AEC industry has been mindful to ensure that this process will only become more and
are being invited to collaborate and sustainability focus remains true even in more sustainable in the coming years.”

CREATIVE
6BELOW:
AECTUAL’S KAMERMAKER PRINTER
Having ran DUS Architects for restrictions, UV resistance, etc.

15 years and worked closely with So, in that sense, it's quite easy
large-scale 3D printing – the to make a prototype but in order
KamerMaker printer itself is now to really launch something onto
on its third iteration – Heinsman the market, that's really a different
feels there’s been a shift in the thing and I think that's really what
way AM is being used by AEC we've mastered or managed to do
professionals. Like the bespoke now with several products.”
Aectual panel on the wall of Nike’s
flagship store on London’s Oxford This is just the beginning and
Street that went from concept Heinsman assures that those
to installation in just six weeks, ambitions to fully 3D print buildings
there’s a lot of value to be found are very much in Aectual plans as
in 3D printing individual features it proved last year with the “tiny
rather than focusing purely on, Bauhaus”, a small visitor building
oftentimes headline making, entire designed to celebrate the Bauhaus
buildings. movement.
“Any building that you see now “It is definitely something that
is always built up from lots of we can already do,” Heinsman
different elements, windowpanes, added. “But what we also love
doors, bricks, you name it,” is that we offer a lot of solutions
Heinsman explained. “What is for conventional buildings,
also interesting there is that renovations, new builds. Overtime,
[AEC] is a very capital-intensive my ultimate fantasy is that people
industry, there's a lot of expensive can go online and just start to pick
machinery involved and you're and play with all kinds of products
dealing with a lot of building and start to create their own dream
regulations. It makes it a bit easier office or dream home or dream
when you focus on one product day-care centre. We're actually not
at a time, to really deep dive into so far away from that.”
products, get all of the building
regulations and specs sorted, fire
3LEFT: 6BELOW:
FLOOR AT AMSTERDAM’S 3D PRINTED PANEL AT
SCHIPHOL AIRPORT NIKE FLAGSHIP STORE

SIMULATION
IS EVOLVING
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SOFTWARE
SPONSORED BY
ENABLING
CMF WITH 3MF
WORDS: SAM DAVIES
I
t can be deflating, stressful and space, that even after 30 years, there is “3MF was actually the enabler,” Diga
exhausting. To exert so much still room for the technology’s prototyping explains, “because the special thing about it is
effort, brain power and creativity capabilities to grow. In particular, the that it doesn’t just hold the geometry, but also
over a sustained period of time, company sees CMF simulation as a key the colour, the materials and finish. You have
only to realise there’s still much room for part of the design phase that is currently much more information in one package.”
improvement. Or you can take it in your too costly, time-consuming and complex.
stride, collaborate with the right partner Being able to transfer the capabilities of
and open the door to new opportunities. “The screen is good enough for KeyShot 10 through to the J Series and hold
some things,” offers Lior Elgali, Product so much data, Diga and Elgali believe, is set
For decades now, design engineers have Manager, Design at Stratasys, “but you to have a massive impact on the speed and
leant on 3D printing’s ability to rapidly print don’t touch it, and this means you don’t quality of product design for J Series users.
parts to assess the form and fit, maybe really know how it’s going to behave in In the past, they’ve seen designers use
the function too, of an application that the real world. Even if you think you do, CAD platforms with limited CMF tools, using
will soon go into production. But they’ll you don’t. It’s like seeing a scenery on textures and colours as placeholders – even
probably do so in a different material, National Geographic and being there, it’s labelling parts ‘green’ rather than designing
colour and surface finish. a completely different experience.” in the shade they desire – because of the
lack of available options. It means that often,
Companies don’t want to spend too Independently, the KeyShot 10 software the fully formed and fully detailed design
much money on expensive materials, boasts extensive material, texture and isn’t prototyped until the very end. But the
only for the design to be iterated a dozen colour libraries. Users can access metal, combination of KeyShot 10 and the J Series,
times, especially when tools to simulate plastic and wood materials; Pantone Diga believes, can change that.
performance and behaviour are now so and RAL colours; and bump, colour,
readily available. It means colour, materials displacement and roughness textures, “It accelerates the design process so they
and finish (CMF) simulation, in which rendering models to encompass all this can start early with CMF,” she says. “They get
designers get a true insight into how their detail on screen. With the J Series and [the prototype overnight], the quality is better
part looks, feels, and performs, is often its own proficiencies in colour, because they don’t have to imagine too much,
carried out only towards the end of the materials and surface you can hold it and touch it, and you can give
product development phase. finishes, as well as its it to the decision makers so that early in the
compatibility with the process you have the right direction.”
“The problem is they don’t trust 3MF file format, they
the digital design and some of can also fabricate Having enriched the capacity of 3D printing
them are using animation tools, the design in 3D as a prototyping tool with their partnership,
rendering tools, CAD tools and form. Luxion and Stratasys promise there is more
so on, so the workflow isn’t to come. They want to add an option to print
smooth,” Michal Diga, Director directly from KeyShot 10 to their nearby
of PolyJet Software Solutions at service provider, control and specify shore
Stratasys, begins. “We wanted value within the 3MF file, carry out research
to enable our customers to have into how to translate transparencies from the
a smooth workflow, to capture the computer to the real world, and support bump
design intent and hold the physical maps to enhance surface finishes.
model in their hands.”
“It has been a pleasure working with
Diga is explaining the motives behind Luxion in the past year, and we’re so
Stratasys’ partnership with software happy we have the opportunity
company Luxion, which has resulted in to continue working together in
the former’s multi-material, multi-colour J 2021,” Diga finishes.
Series of PolyJet 3D printers and GrabCAD
Print software being made compatible with
the latter’s KeyShot 10 rendering platform.
It is recognition from Stratasys, one of
the oldest companies in the 3D printing

SHOWN:
BLUETOOTH SPEAKER MODEL FEATURING
ADVANCED SIMULATED TEXTURES SUCH AS
WOOD. PRODUCED BY PRIORITY DESIGNS ON THE
STRATASYS J55 3D PRINTER USING KEYSHOT 10

FINDING A '
T
here are many places in which set about developing tools that not only
you could pick up the story of aim to change how parts are designed,
Hyperganic CEO Lin Kayser. but in doing so, take full advantage of 3D
There’s the child inspired by
technology, the entrepreneurial teenager,
“We have a printing’s capabilities.
the successful businessperson rubbing

shoulders with Hollywood actors and lot of global From the outset, Kayser and the
company’s CTO Michael Gallo believed
now the spearhead of a team that talks
seriously of a ‘paradigm shift’ in design. challenges to they would not be able to enable the
paradigm shift they think is necessary
That kind of chat followed Kayser’s solve and we’re with traditional CAD software that ‘work
very nicely for simple shapes, but terribly
running out
purchase of a 3D printer in 2012. For for complex things.’ In one conversation,
someone who thinks of software as an Gallo is said to have suggested creating
of time.”
‘amazing technology that can create a model where ‘we basically store
anything,’ having a 3D printer fabricate every atom, every molecule in an
some of those things physically saw object and then we can design
Kayser hooked immediately. While at that anything the printer can
time many in the industry were positing print.’ “Of course,” Kayser
the idea that a 3D printer would be in
every home, one of the technology’s
hobbyist users was captivated by its
potential to ‘transform’ the way we
manufacture. Not long after, he handed
his notice in at his then-employer Adobe,
set up a new start-up in his hometown of
Munich and is still motivated by that very
thought nearly ten years on.
“The key thing for us is to dramatically

accelerate innovation,” Kayser begins. “We
believe that innovation of physical objects
has not been progressing very fast. And
we believe that we have a lot of challenges
as humanity that we need to solve through
physical objects. Think about last year, we
shut the entire world down, essentially,
and it had how much impact on carbon
emission? It had one, but we didn’t have
enough impact to make a dent in climate
change, for example. The technical
solutions that we have need to change in
order to address [these issues].”
FUNDAMENTAL FRUSTRATIONS
Hyperganic’s contribution to that is
the Core 2.0 and Print Framework 2.0
software it is launching formally in the
coming months, after years’ operating
in stealth and even more time carrying
out R&D. As Kayser saw 3D printing’s
potential to alter the way things are made,
he also observed that ‘maybe we should
also change the way we design things
and engineer things.’ He believes that 3D SHOWN:
ROCKET ENGINE
printers are not so much limited by their
APPLICATION
technology as they are by the designs that DEVELOPED WITH
are fed into them. And so, Hyperganic has HYPERGANIC’S PLATFORM

SOFTWARE
SPONSORED BY
'RITHM
WORDS: SAM DAVIES
recalls, “we had a good laugh and said, ‘this challenges that we need to solve and we’re ventilation at the top of the helmet and
is ridiculous.’ But then a couple of days later, kind of running out of time. And the problem a less porous structure around the sides
Michael calls me and says, ‘hey Lin, why don’t is that the paradigms that we use to engineer to protect the user’s fall.
we try this?’” objects are derived from the way the Greeks
and the Romans designed objects. The smart “This is the power of mass
Building the high voxel engine that would guy or smart girl sitting in front of a computer customisation,” Kayser told the All
enable Hyperganic to do this took three to four and drawing stuff on the screen and it always Digital Additive Manufacturing YouTube
years. But now, Kayser and co are confident depends on the intelligence and experience channel in January. “First, it fits the right
their platform can ‘represent any object that of the designer and engineer to know what person, and second, you can take new
a 3D printer can theoretically output.’ That comes out of it.” information into account and in the next
opens them up to objects of such extremely production run, immediately there is a
high complexity that the development of the Hyperganic’s idea is to develop algorithms better product. This can only happen
parts, Kayser says, need to be automated. within its Core 2.0 offering, input a description if you have algorithms creating these
of the part and allow the artificial intelligence things because no human ever has the
“This is where we end up in AI-based to take care of the design of that component. It time to adapt everything all of the time.”
engineering, where you can use genetic leans on some of the principles of generative
algorithms and use neural nets to find out design tools, building optimised designs from Another application the company
interesting patterns and structures that work scratch and then allowing the user to harness has been working on is a heat sink
well,” Kayser explains. “And why is that so the intelligence generated for other products. additively manufactured in copper
interesting to me? That has its roots in a Hyperganic refers to this as ‘defining a way that looks more like the bristles of a
fundamental frustration. Take a modern car to design’, rather than simply designing with brush or a coral in the ocean than a
and strip away all the plastic decoration that sketches and CAD drawings. This idea has typical heat sink. Its surface area has
they put on, it doesn’t look that different been adopted in the computer hardware been maximised to allow it to dissipate
from a car from the 1980s or 1990s. And space where initially microchips had been as much heat as possible, while the
you ask yourself, why has innovation sketched, and then later designed in a CAD funnelling of air to the bottom of the
not happened faster? Because programme, but once they got so complex, component has also been optimised.
we need it urgently, we they had to change the approach. This is considered to be an incredibly
have a lot of global complex design to tackle, per Kayser,
“Instead of doing computer-aided design, but because it was developed with an
you have to do computer-generated design,” algorithm, it’s not a complexity that
Kayser explains. “If today you design a Hyperganic needs to address again and
microchip, you’re not doing it geometrically, again.
you’re doing it algorithmically. You’re
describing what the algorithm should do “When you implement it once, you can
and the algorithm comes up with the reuse it everywhere and sometimes it’s
geometry. That’s what we want to do really surprising where you end up,” he
for the rest of the world.” says. “For example, the heat exchanger,
because of the algorithm it uses, it
EARLY APPLICATIONS generates structures that are very
Since Hyperganic first engineered stable, so you can stand on it. We’ve
its software a few years back – before now been using that in completely
Kayser had even incorporated the different applications where you need
company in 2017 – the company has been something that distributes the weight
working with customers to develop concept evenly. It’s so interesting because we
applications by combining its Core offering actually just wanted to radiate a lot of
with 3D printing technology via Print heat and be aerodynamically optimised
Framework’s mesh repair, slicing, support so that the air flows and takes the heat
generation and stacking tools. One of out.”
those applications is a customised bicycle
helmet that was derived from the scan Read the second part of this interview,
data of a triathlete’s head and statistical where Kayser goes on to discuss some
crash data procured from research into of the company’s biggest challenges
how cyclists fall when they come off their in bringing its products to market, at:
bike. This information was factored into the mytct.co/HyperganicInterview.
Hyperganic algorithm and output thousands
of design possibilities, with the selected one
looking like a slimline cap, with room for

BIND-AND-SOF
A
s ExOne boldly declares on the cover of this
issue, 2021 is shaping up to be the year of
binder jet additive manufacturing (AM). With
a stream of new machines from the likes of
GE Additive, Desktop Metal and HP making their way onto
the market, we spoke to a number of companies within the
space to find out how software is shaping up to address
the complexities of this technology and maximise its
production capabilities.
For the binder jet pioneer, software plays a key role

at ExOne before, during and after printing. Factoring in
part shrinkage to binder quantity and drying times, the
company has developed tools both in-house and with
external partners like Siemens, Ansys and Altair to tackle
design, live in-process monitoring, control and analysis.
To mitigate the effects of sintering, a necessary post-
processing step that has been successfully deployed in
the metal injection moulding (MIM) industry for decades
but the effects of which remain hard to predict, ExOne tells
TCT it has created “complete software-controlled recipes”
and anticipates a wave of commercial software solutions to
arrive as binder jet demand increases.
Rick Lucas, ExOne Chief Technology Officer and VP,

New Markets, continued: “That will certainly help simplify 5ABOVE:
NEGATIVE OFFSET IN LIVE SINTER AND FINAL MBJ PART
the process and increase adoption going forward, but it’s
truly an exciting time in binder jetting and that’s helping
pull a variety of software players into the market to help “It’s clear that MBJ has the potential to bring the benefits
support this key sustainable manufacturing technology.” of AM to new automotive and industrial applications by
sufficiently lowering cost and processing time compared to
Lucas may well be on to something. Simulation specialist L-PBF, and there is a race to get it right,” Robertson added.
Simufact recently introduced a metal binder jet tool which “There are only a few printer OEMs that can achieve this
allows prediction and prevention of the distortion caused initial breakthrough and software that helps make sense of
during sintering. The tool, found in Simufact Additive, the data and guides the user through the necessary steps
addresses this key challenge in the binder jet process to achieve repeatable quality is a vital component.”
which can sometimes see parts shrink by up to a third in
size. Now, Simufact says users without specialist simulation But several OEMs are also building tools internally.
knowledge can manage sintering effects such as thermal Desktop Metal, known for its bound deposition technology,
strain, friction, gravity, and sintering-induced mechanical recently launched its Live Sinter platform in a bid to
stress, and compensate for those factors at the design remove the trial-and-error process of sintering and
level. improve part shape and dimensional tolerances. To
do that, the software uses proprietary algorithms
“We see process simulation as a fundamental enabling to generate negative offset geometries by filling
technology that will help drive the industrialisation of the part design with “cells” which go through the
metal binder jet AM,” Jeff Robertson, Technical Business process of shrinking and distorting in the same way they
Development, Simufact, part of Hexagon’s Manufacturing would in a furnace to eliminate the need for supports and
Intelligence division told TCT. “It stands to reason that ensure parts come out within 1% of their final geometry. Live
without a robust sintering simulation capability, it will be Sinter also improves on the use of setters, typically deployed
difficult for companies to take full advantage of MBJ as the to prop parts up inside the furnace, by minimising the
scalable production technology we need it to become.” requirements for expert sintering knowledge.
Robertson says the most requested functionality is this “If you know exactly what that shrinkage is, then you can
ability to perform geometry compensation and if binder jet put a part in the furnace and essentially scale it up first so that
continues to rack up the kinds of customers it's currently when it shrinks, it comes out the right size,” Andy Roberts,
attracting across industry - Cummins, Wabtec and Sandvik Desktop Metal VP of Software, said. “Unfortunately, it's not
in the case of GE Additive or Volkswagen and U.S. Marine that easy because not only does the part shrink in different
Corp for HP – the significance of those capabilities will amounts in different directions but it also has friction drag
become all the more prominent. against the setter and because there's friction with the part as

SOFTWARE
SPONSORED BY
FTWARE
“We see process

simulation as a
fundamental
it shrinks, the setter doesn't shrink. a prior layer where there's printed
enabling
technology.”
So, what will happen is, the part material, it's almost like hitting a
will drag against the setter and as manhole cover on a street and that
it shrinks, it will warp and deform causes that density to spike up on the
and sometimes even crack.” leading faces of the parts.
Live Sinter runs on a GPU- “What Live Sinter does is simulate

accelerated multi-physics engine the behaviour of the part as it exists
with a set of Nvidia physics tools, after printing with density being technology,” Stefaan Motte, Vice President and Managing
borrowed from the gaming world, messed up inside the part and in Director of Materialise Software, told TCT. “In addition,
in combination with meshless sintering where you've got friction with its large platform, typically smaller parts and high print
finite element analysis (FEA) to and variable warping […]. So it's really rates, binder jetting typically also requires greater parts and
rapidly deal with thousands of not just simulating the sintering but data management. In combination with a build processor,
cells within in a part. Roberts simulating the printer and resulting which manages the communication between software and
shared how the team is constantly furnace effects.” machine, Streamics, our AM management software, can
fine-tuning parameters and facilitate this.”
discovering new resolutions for Aiding Live Sinter, Materialise,
additional challenges such as how known for its software expertise Motte explained how Materialise’s build processors create
asymmetrical parts with cut-outs having provided the backbone to standardised workflows for all print technologies, deemed
can open up and deform as they many leading AM hardware vendors crucial for companies working with diverse manufacturing
shrink or how the powder spreader through its custom build processors, environments. But he also cautioned that there’s a
can cause uneven densities. recently developed a specific fundamental difference when it comes to binder jet, and
platform for Desktop Metal. Through that’s down to the way part data is communicated to the
“It's almost like a street cleaner this collaboration, Materialise is machine by images rather than toolpaths.
in some sense that it has a counter providing additional sintering support
rotating brush and it's pushing a generation and metal binder jetting Motte elaborated: “There are two ways of delivering
mound of powder ahead of it,” enhanced 3D nesting capabilities as content to the binder jetting machine. The first way is by
Roberts explained, pointing to an part of its Magics SG+ module. providing slices to the machine that are converted into
example of a printed fuel swirler. images or immediately provide images to the machine.
“What we found “Out-of-the box software often Materialise currently provides slices to the Desktop Metal
is that when doesn’t meet the unique and specific machines but we are currently also looking into providing
the layer requirements of binder jetting images directly from the build processor.”
of powder
goes across Despite being around for more than two
decades, binder jet remains a complex
process yet its advantages in terms of speed,
material diversity and perhaps most relevant
today, sustainability, make a compelling
proposition for production applications.
Simufact’s Robertson added: “The industry

needs a tool that is useful and enables AM
specialists and engineers to build parts
successfully and repeatably. If we can do that
well, then everyone wins.”
Read more:
mytct.co/MBJsoftware
5ABOVE:
THREE PHASES OF AUTOMATED
OPTIMISATION SHOW COMPENSATION
FOR DISTORTION IN SIMUFACT ADDITIVE

THE BIG KW SP
Laura Griffiths gets a remote first look inside

the UK’s new Digital Manufacturing Centre.
K
ieron Salter sports a hard hat and high vis partnership with South East Midlands Local Enterprise
vest and walks us, literally and figuratively, Partnership (SEMLEP) and a well-timed extension to a
through his vision for the future of UK site by MEPC at Silverstone Park provided KWSP with
advanced manufacturing. Standing at the the ideal location to create a purpose-built technology
epicentre of the UK’s engineering cluster at Silverstone agnostic facility.
Park, the CEO and founder of KW Special Projects tours
his audience through a 2,000 square metre facility that’s “Our differentiator is the fact that we're an engineering-
soon to be filled with rows of polymer and metal additive led business,” Salter said. “We, first and foremost, are
manufacturing systems that will make up a brand-new engineers that design parts and systems, and we're
Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC). now offering the manufacturing solutions to go with it.
We're always seeking new technologies. The DMC is
Providing this whistle stop visit via YouTube and not just open for business but open for partnerships and
speaking with TCT over Zoom, it’s not exactly the kind of collaboration and so if there are American, European,
‘through the doors’ feature we envisioned pre-pandemic Asian companies that want to have a base in the UK, we
but as the final pieces come together ready for a 2021 can offer that. If they've got technologies they want to
launch, Salter shares how those challenges of the last demonstrate in the UK, we can do that. That's the sort
year have emphasised how valuable the DMC and its of thing we're trying to build; a real hub of additive and
digital toolset could be for British manufacturing. digital manufacturing at Silverstone.”
“It made us question whether what we're doing is That collaborative philosophy also filters into its
valid,” Salter told TCT. “Additive manufacturing is still a chosen technologies, curated with support from UK-
growing sector. We're trying to carve a marketplace out based AM equipment provider Laserlines and British
of something that's still growing. So, it was always a risk machine manufacturers such as RPS and Renishaw, the
but we had an even bigger risk when COVID came along. latter of which the DMC recently placed an order with for
We had to question really whether what we were doing two of its quad-laser RenAM 500Q metal AM systems.
was the right thing and whether it was the right time, Describing the partnership with Renishaw as a “close
particularly because two of our early adopter sectors, collaboration,” it’s a two-way street, as Salter explains,
[which] we believed were going to be aerospace and that will grant the DMC access to the latest technology
automotive, got hit quite hard by the direct impact of capabilities but also provide critical feedback and
COVID. We came to the conclusion that actually we learnings to OEMs to help drive efficiencies.
believe additive manufacturing and digital manufacturing
in particular were going to be an important part of the In addition to printing technology, the DMC intends to
recovery.” provide end-to-end production capabilities with a UK-first
fully connected digital workflow that follows parts from
Similar to how we work and communicate became design through to inspection via Renishaw Connect.
largely digital overnight, Salter suggests manufacturers Within that workflow, the DMC also houses ancillary
and industry must now take a similar agile approach hardware including post-processing equipment from
in order to become more efficient and resilient. The polymer finishing and colouring expert DyeMansion and
DMC is setting itself up to be a qualified supply chain DMG MORI advanced CNC machinery secured through a
for onshoring and exporting UK manufacturing and will partnership with Produmax, a Yorkshire-based precision
function as a technology partner for companies within engineering specialist within the aerospace industry,
automotive, aerospace, defence, industrial, medical and which has since set up a satellite centre at the Silverstone
space sectors. AM is a big part of that strategy. Having site.
founded engineering company KW Special Projects
back in 2012 and provided extensive polymer printing “It’s not just additive, it's around digital and
capabilities primarily to the automotive sector, the DMC is connectivity,” Salter said. “It's all about providing
an extension of Salter’s ambitions to scale up and expand engineering services that lead through to complete
into metal AM across multiple industries. manufacturing and to cover a range of technologies.
So, polymers and a range of metal capabilities including
“We didn't want to just have a small step change from aluminium, Scalmalloy, titanium, but also some newer
where we were, we wanted to build a very capable technologies that we’re either involved in developing or
industrial scale production facility, Salter says of the developing ourselves like ceramics.”
DMC’s early plans. The pieces of the puzzle started to
fall into place when the project was granted 3.2 million Of course, all of this equipment requires a skilled
GBP in Local Growth funding through a public-private team to run it and Salter has been busy assembling

THROUGH
INSPEX
THE DOORS
PECIAL PROJECT a crew of experts across additive

SHOWN: and engineering to deliver on
RENDER SHOWING FULL-SCALE this ambition. Over the next five
ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
AMBITIONS years, Salter says the DMC has
the potential to create as many
as 50 jobs for the local area. To
attract the right talent, particularly
younger would-be engineers, the
DMC has been designed to promote
a clean contemporary picture of
manufacturing with collaboration
zones, hot desking and education
centres which can be utilised by
schools and universities to inspire a
new generation of engineers.
That learning aspect also extends

to conversations the DMC is already
having with potential customers,
large and small, around the benefits
of various advanced manufacturing
techniques whether it’s using AM for
“The DMC is jigs and fixtures, optimising a design

for part consolidation or deploying
not just open Additive Casting technology,

which the Centre recently added
for business in a partnership with Enable

Manufacturing.
but open for SHOWN:

THE DIGITAL MANUFACTURING “3D printing metal parts isn't
partnerships and
CENTRE AT SILVERSTONE PARK
always the right solution but quite
often printing the tooling is and
collaboration.” then you can make a homogenous
part from a cast material rather
than worrying about the parameter
optimisation for a laser powder
bed material,” Salter explains. “We
want to make sure we've got all
those bases covered and that we
are focused on solving customers
problems, not trying to force square
pegs into round holes.”
As more machines settle in at

the DMC and the team continues
to grow, the DMC is on track for
its grand opening later this year.
Hopefully, it won’t be too long before
we can go through the doors for real.
Salter adds: “We hope that at the

end of this we [can] stick a big Union
Jack on the front of the building
and the UK Government can point
at it and say ‘well, that's what we're
talking about.’ It's another case study.
It's another success story. And this is
what we do best.”

STANDARDS & CERTIFICATION
GETTING UP
WORDS: SAM DAVIES
TO STANDARD
A
step forward on the path to sector. While it has always provided ‘within a reasonable tolerance band.’ The
a greener future for aviation engineering and AM services, the company has never been able to say the
and the demonstration company had established a ‘long- same for AM. And though Burloak is not
of the company’s ability term vision,’ setting its stall in the at liberty to detail what was required to
to commercialise a transformational aerospace sector, and working out meet the Boeing BAC 5673 specification,
technology. how it would best position itself to Adams says in every other customer
meet the demanding specifications spec the control of machine parameters,
This is how Samuel, Son & Co., of the likes of Boeing. This involved along with control of input materials
Limited’s CEO Colin Osborne described building its own Metallic Material and file preparation, are fundamental
the news that Boeing had approved Properties Development and considerations.
Samuel subsidiary Burloak Technologies Standardisation (MMDPS) database
as a supplier of additively manufactured to show full understanding and It has not always been straightforward
aluminium parts earlier this year. For traceability of the materials, as well for AM technology to meet specifications
Burloak, it had been a long time coming. as adjusting the parameters of every like this, but after 15 years of groundwork,
AM machine it has ever owned. While Boeing has now certified the supply of
Founded in 2005, the additive Adams accepts there is a cause to do aluminium AlSi10mg parts, produced with
manufacturing (AM) service provider had this to tackle the different applications powder bed fusion technology, to a range
aligned with Samuel in 2017 before the and demands, there has always been of application programmes. Burloak will
metal manufacturing firm took complete a need to because of the instability of be the one to supply them and Adams
control of the company 12 months ago. The the processes. believes it is testament to the focus it has
timing was no coincidence. Burloak has placed on extensive datasets and the
always backed its technical competence “There’s still not a perfect machine backing of its parent organisation.
but knew in order to supply the likes of on the market,” Adams assesses.
Boeing, it needed to prove scalability. “What we’re looking for is more stable “I think we’re now at that cutover point
production. I can bring a machine in, where things are going into production in
In the years prior, Burloak had often I can dial that and meet a customer a big way and that’s driven by companies
refused to take orders if it couldn’t see spec. But when the next machines like Burloak having deep and meaningful
where AM added value and placed a arrive of a [duplicate] model, I expect datasets around the material and the
greater focus on understanding the every one to be identical, because material performance, demonstrating
minutiae of how the technology needed we’re now using tens of machines to it in a repeatable way,” says Adams.
to work. Peter Adams, Burloak’s founder support [application] programmes. “But having a company such as Boeing
and Chief Innovation Officer, estimates the We still spend a lot of time with our demonstrate that this can be done at
company turned away 95% of the people engineers tuning them for what we scale is the real exciting thing about
that contacted them in this time, shying know works. And that makes scaling this, because it sets the stage that the
away from the swell in interest around AM the industry a challenge. You wouldn’t time is now right. The market is such,
after GE started investing big. expect that in the CNC environment, with the disruption and fragility of the
we shouldn’t be willing to live with it in supply chain, that having companies like
“We weren’t trying to be all things to all the AM world.” Burloak who [have] multibillion dollar
people,” he tells TCT, “we were determined parents behind them and have got the
that we were going to fundamentally Adams notes that if Burloak demonstrated ability to meet
understand the process, understand where was to buy a CNC machine from these difficult specs, shows
it fits in the market and how to apply it well.” Matsuura, DMG Mori or Mazak, it the scalability of additive
would expect each to demonstrate is there.”
After 15 years of ‘doing things the hard a similar precision and repeatability
way’, the company felt AM was ready
to be applied for production
applications in the aviation

NEWS
AM INDUSTRY NEWS
DESKTOP METAL ACQUIRES to doubling down on the broader FORMLABS REINTRODUCES FUSE 1
ENVISIONTEC industrial market,” commented Desktop Just as we were beginning to wonder
Just as Desktop Metal hinted Metal founder and CEO Ric Fulop. what happened to Formlabs’ office-
when going public last year, the “I’m more confident than ever we can friendly SLS efforts, CEO Max Lobovsky
company has quickly sought to pursue accelerate the adoption of AM 2.0 and reassured us towards the end of 2020
opportunities in the AM market’s help customers transform how parts that the commercial availability of Fuse
consolidation. In a 300 million USD are made around the world.” 1 wasn’t far off. In January, the company
deal, Desktop Metal has taken over formally announced that its mission to
EnvisionTEC to mark its expansion ‘do with SLS what we did with SLA’ was
into polymer additive manufacturing, back on track. Fuse 1 was re-introduced
adding another suite of office-friendly to the market alongside a post-
solutions to its growing product processing station called FuseSift and
portfolio. EnvisionTEC founder Al a Nylon 12 powder, while it also boasts
Siblani will stay on as the brand’s a modular build chamber to enable
CEO, with Desktop Metal believing the continuous printing. Its Surface Armor
transaction will provide a gateway into technology combats the ‘orange peel’
new markets. surface texture issue of SLS, and the
“Together, we have more than 200 machine can also print with up to 70%
distribution partners around the world reused powder with a material refresh
that extend our reach into applications rate of 30%.
across fast-growing markets for “SLS technology has long been
additive manufacturing, such as dental, trusted by engineers and large
medical, and jewellery, in addition manufacturers for its ability to print
strong, functional prototypes and end-
enable supply chain agility and use parts, but its high cost and complex
‘unprecedented’ speed to market, with workflow have historically confined it
Protolabs EMEA VP and Managing to large companies,” Dávid Lakatos,
Director Bjoern Klaas telling TCT Chief Product Officer of Formlabs, told
Protolabs is now a global leader. TCT. “The Fuse 1 and Fuse Sift improve
on the unique advantages offered
“Despite the ongoing crisis by SLS, while bringing it within reach
around the COVID-19 pandemic, for companies of all sizes and types
we look to the future with a great through unprecedented affordability
deal of optimism. The Innovators and ease of use.”
PROTOLABS IN 3D HUBS around the world see themselves as
TAKEOVER key to solving many of the world’s
Consolidation is happening on the most significant challenges, but
service provider side of the industry too. it’s the ongoing revolution within
In a 280 million USD deal, Protolabs manufacturing that is helping to drive
has acquired 3D Hubs, giving the innovation,” he said. “For this reason
international company access to 3D alone, the Protolabs acquisition
Hubs’ global network of manufacturing of 3D Hubs is truly exciting. With
partners and ‘reinforcing Protolabs’ the acquisition now complete,
commitment to being the go-to we’ve created the world’s most
resource in contract manufacturing.’ The comprehensive digital manufacturing
companies believe their complementary provision for design engineers around
tech capacity and services can the world.”
SATORI X GANIT GOLDSTEIN Wang said: “Our vision is to be the

= 3D PRINTED JEWELLERY innovation powerhouse to empower
Having only come to market with its individuals and organisations.
ST1600 Masked Stereolithography system Therefore, we include our end users,
last year, Satori has wasted no time in whether it’s fashion designers,
partnering with a renowned user of 3D dentists, or engineers, in our 3D printer
printing technology. Working alongside development process. The Satori x
Ganit Goldstein, the pair have developed Ganit 3D printed jewellery collection
a collection of necklaces that are is a demonstration of how we adopt a
embedded with WiFi-controlled LED lights collaborative and inclusive approach
and are printed in one piece within 25 to push affordable professional 3D
minutes and at a maximum cost of 3k GBP. printing to the frontier of industrial
Speaking to TCT, Satori CEO Chengxi application.”

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Carol Cooper | [email protected]
TO ADVERTISE HERE CONTACT CAROL COOPER ON + 44 1244 952 386 OR EMAIL [email protected]
THE DIRECTORY
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Expert Advisory Column
UNDERSTANDING
WORDS: PHIL REEVES
THE INVESTMENT
CASE FOR AM
L
ike most 8-year olds, I had no (UKRI) to write a guide for senior my fair share of poor technology due
idea what my father did back executives and finance professionals to diligence and investment trainwrecks.
in 1979. Frankly, I don't think I help them understand the business case These often stem from business
cared. As long as it meant we for investment in additive manufacturing executives' unrealistic want and needs,
could afford a colour television to watch (AM) and 3D printing. The rationale being who often see AM/3DP as some enabler
Ed Stewart on Crackerjack I was happy. that the engineers who understand for 'manufacturing revolution'. Inversely,
It wasn't until I was about nineteen AM/3DP don't always know what the many investment errors also come from
that I mentioned to my father some budget holders want to hear and struggle the magpie-like egos of R&D departments,
problems I was having on my college to secure investment. Inversely, the who see a shiny new toy they need to
summer placement at Vickers Nuclear budget holders don't always know what justify.
Engineering. I was rotating through the questions to ask or which stones to turn About five or six years ago, I was asked
departments and had 'sadly landed' in the over to find the 'real-cost' or 'risk' of to run an innovation workshop in a large
quality control department. I was baffled. AM/3DP technology adoption. American heavy machinery company.
They wanted me to review their newly In late 2020, after 18-months working The idea, or so I thought, was to identify
created ISO9000 documentation to see with BSI, UKIR, and a group of industry applications where AM/3DP could impact
how it compared to their previous BS5750 stakeholders, we finally published the companies topline revenue or reduce
documentation. "Yawn"… PAS6001:2020 - Factors to be considered waste and grow bottom-line profitability.
Little did I know that my father was both in making and assessing the business However, unbeknown to me, there was
the cause of my problem and the solution! case for additive manufacturing and a poorly hidden agenda. When I arrived,
Back in the mid-1970s, my father 3D printing. PAS6001 is a fast-track I was asked if I could tailor the workshop
was the quality control manager at the standardisation document, which defines slightly to 'focus on possible applications
Dutch appliance manufacturer Philips good practice when building or evaluating that would make good use of the
(my parents were very lazy naming their the business case for AM/3DP investment. machines that had already acquired?'
children). The company had a strong Many readers of TCT might overlook As it turned out, the companies
quality and safety ethos and co-opted my the value of such a document; after all, senior management were 'so bought
father onto a British Standards Institute AM/3DP technology has been around for into AM/3DP' they had 'released' a 2
(BSI) working group to develop a standard over 30-years, so surely procurement and million USD budget to engineering and
for manufacturing production procedures. implementation is easy. procurement to embed AM/3DP into the
This activity led to the publication of Not so. business. Doing what good procurement
BS5750. My father spent the next few In the 18-years I have been delivering people do, they had negotiated a
years helping different manufacturing AM/3DP strategy consultancy; I have seen fantastic price of two large platform
companies adopt and embed metals machines with all the whistles,
BS5750 before transitioning his bells and ancillary technology. However,
knowledge across to ISO9000 it was obvious to the trained eye that the
and ultimately ISO9001. technology was a total mismatch for the
It took my father about business needs.
30-seconds to explain what Inversely, I have also seen this story
I needed to do to keep played out in reverse, where the
the QA manager at Vickers engineers have identified the most
happy. He then spent the appropriate technology for a given
next few hours explaining application, only for procurement
why standards are vital to and management to cut a PO for
the success of companies, a 'more cost-effective platform'.
supply chains and industries Again, the result is the same,
as a whole. an underutilised machine and
Fast forward another a bitter taste all round.
30-years, and like good-old
dad, I also found myself sitting Inside the next
in a BSI working group. Albeit issue: A conversation
with a few differences. with Reeves on the
In early 2019, I was asked role of PAS6001 in
by BSI and their sponsors justifying a business
UK Research & Innovate case for AM.

LEARN MORE
exone.com/metaldesignlab
FROM THE OFFICE TO THE FACTORY FLOOR

3D printing metal starts and ends here.
• The ExOne Metal Designlab™ and X1F furnace is the world’s fastest bound-metal office 3D printing system
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• The ExOne family of production metal 3D printers, shown below, can process 20+ metals and ceramics
• InnoventPro™, shipping by year-end, will be the most advanced entry-level binder jetting system for metal
Pictured left to right: InnoventPro™, X1 25Pro®, X1 160Pro™ and X1D1 automated guided vehicle.
3D PRINTING & ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING INTELLIGENCE
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3D PRINTING & ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING INTELLIGENCE

SUPPLY CHAIN SOFTWARE CREATIVE

For the flexible and reliable finishing of 3D prin-

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FUNCTIONAL ALUMINIUM & PLASTIC

FROM THE EDITOR

17. DIVINE DESIGN Standards & 30

20. AECTUALLY, IT’S 3D PRINTED 18

The ExOne Company, which was the original licensee

That all changed in 2013, when ExOne finally cracked

Even after ExOne filed patents on its invention,

While the Digital Metal printer has been available

InnoventPro to be offered in a 3L Most of the new binder jetting

“Binder jet is surprising if other companies jumped

well on its way to “We really do believe this year is a

technologies.” lightweight parts, higher performance

THE TOTAL SOLUTIONS PROVIDER

www.3dprinting.co.uk Fuse 1 3D Printer & Fuse Sift

In South Carolina, Johnson & Johnson’s

There were many more examples all

For Steve Richardson, Forecast 3D’s COMPLEX CONSIDERATIONS

29.1 / www.tctmagazine.com / 011

Yet, Richardson maintained

29.1 / www.tctmagazine.com / 013

However, there are many

014 / www.tctmagazine.com / 29.1

In times of supply uncertainty this

At present the situation regarding the

will be adopting uncertain one, especially as we enter

companies the Here, the unique capabilities of AM mean the

compromise solution, that of dual sourcing.

29.1 / www.tctmagazine.com / 015

Discover more online:

PROTOTYPE TO PRODUCTION SOLUTIONS

WORDS: SAM DAVIES

and resin temperature control capabilities

“When it comes to this level of

and the Diamond Store by Chandubhai

29.1 / www.tctmagazine.com / 017

LACE founder Jenny Wu on using 3D printing to produce fine jewellery.

018 / www.tctmagazine.com / 29.1

canopy for a museum, and at the same

Though Wu has been working as a

Each LACE piece begins on a sketch

“For me, 3D printing has completely

29.1 / www.tctmagazine.com / 019

020 / www.tctmagazine.com / 29.1

Having ran DUS Architects for restrictions, UV resistance, etc.

29.1 / www.tctmagazine.com / 021

Join us for a series of FREE

29.1 / www.tctmagazine.com / 023

the successful businessperson rubbing

“The key thing for us is to dramatically

024 / www.tctmagazine.com / 29.1

29.1 / www.tctmagazine.com / 025

For the binder jet pioneer, software plays a key role

Rick Lucas, ExOne Chief Technology Officer and VP,

pi-am.co.uk • [email protected] • 01603 891618