GE Additive has made a significant step in its commitment to accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing by establishing the first of several Customer Experience Centers.
This initial facility is based in Munich, Germany, with GE planning to open others across the globe in the coming months and years.
The centre, launched with an investment of around $15 million, will adjoin GE’s Global Research Center (GRC), also in Munich, and is set to be in full operational by the end of the year. GE foresee current and potential customers experiencing first-hand the designing and production of components with additive manufacturing techniques at this facility. Up to 50 GE Additive employees will operate the centre and around ten AM machines from GE-acquired Concept Laser and Arcam EBM will be installed. These machines will be enhanced by GE’s cloud-based Predix operating platform to enable industrial-scale analytics and GE Edge devices, providing real-time control and monitoring. GE say customers will benefit from hands-on training and instruction at the facility, covering additive design, machine operations and support.
“The concept of customer experience centres is an integral part of GE Additive’s strategy to expose and engrain the additive technology to manufacturers worldwide,” said Robert Griggs, general manager of the Customer Experience Centers for GE Additive. “We expect to announce the second GE Customer Experience Center later this year with others to follow.”
GE Additive selected Munich as the location for its first Customer Experience Center due to the opportunity to align it with the already-established GRC, as well as to the manufacturing, sales, and service of both Concept Laser and Arcam, the companies which GE acquired majority ownership of in 2016. GE’s new Munich centre will augment the customer training and support centres within both Concept Laser and Arcam facilities. Similar to both of these sites, the Munich centre will be a distribution base for critical spare parts.
The GRC facility has been one of GE’s main additive research sites for several years. It recently welcomed three Concept Laser machines and two Arcam machines, and is actively producing additive parts. GRC will work closely with the neighbouring Customer Experience Center in the education and demonstration process. As well as the chance to connect with the GRC, GE’s Customer Experience Center will also have access to additive engineering talent form several nearby universities.
“Germany is a pioneer for the entire additive manufacturing movement”, added Griggs. “It was no coincidence we chose Munich to open our first [Customer Experience Center].”
