The first day back in the office after TCT Show is a strange one. After months of preparation, I arrived back at my desk with a false sense of ‘job done’ only to realise that with the amount of launches, product debuts and UK firsts that took place over those three short days in Birmingham, the work for Team Content is far from finished.
With stories to write, videos to edit, and reviews to collate, we will be bringing you plenty more from the show floor over the next week and in the upcoming issue of TCT Magazine but before our attention turns to formnext powered by tct (six weeks away, how did THAT happen?), I wanted to briefly reflect on some of the things I picked up at our biggest event yet which brought 10,000 visitors and over 250 exhibitors to the NEC last week.
Collaboration is a theme that has been continuing to build momentum over the last couple of years as big companies, both inside and outside of the industry, start to see the benefits of teaming up and combining knowledge. This was evident throughout the show, particularly during the TCT Awards ceremony where Materialise CEO, Fried Vancraen, thanked the Belgian company’s growing network of partners during his TCT Hall of Fame induction speech, stating that in order for the industry to move forward, we cannot go it alone. This was echoed during the #3DTalk panel session, held in association with Women in 3D Printing and Cyant, where each of our speakers cited collaboration as one of the big factors in developing the industry as a whole and more specifically, the materials market. Carbon, a fellow TCT Awards winner, is a great example of that put into action with its production partner adidas, aiming to deliver 100,000 pairs of Futurecraft 4D shoes using Carbon’s CLIP technology by 2018, making it one of the first mass manufactured products to feature 3D printing.
#3DTalk panelists discuss 3D printing material developments.
TCT Show is undoubtedly an industrial event with all of the major players such as SLM Solutions, GE Additive, EOS, EnvisionTEC and newcomers like Desktop Metal all represented on the floor, but it was great to see many desktop vendors getting in on the action with brilliant examples of small machines being used on the production line. Ultimaker displayed some impressive figures from Volkswagen which has been using its Ultimaker 3 systems to produce jigs and fixtures resulting in a crazy cost reduction of 150,000 Euro per year and 95% reduction in tool development time. Rize was also on site for the UK debut of the Rize One, an office-friendly machine that allows users to prototype quickly with minimal post-processing. The possibilities for Rize One, thanks to its multi-material capabilities and combination of FDM and inkjet, are wide open and there were some promising examples on the booth showing functional electronics and custom replacement parts. Another exciting newcomer was the Sigmax from Barcelona-based BCN3D, its biggest professional machine so far, complete with dual print heads that allow you to double capacity by duplicating or mirroring your print.
3D printed jigs and fixtures from Ultimaker.
Major industrial applications could be seen across the hall and some of the most interesting were from the automotive industry. Stratasys exhibited its partnership with McLaren with the McLaren-Honda Formula 1 race car welcoming visitors onto the showfloor, which has benefited from 3D printing in prototyping, tooling and even final part production to improve performance and lead times.
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Exhibit at the UK's definitive and most influential 3D printing and additive manufacturing event, TCT 3Sixty.
Furthering the automotive trend, Pat Warner, Digital Manufacturing Manger at Renault Sport Racing F1 Team toured us around the 3D Systems booth featuring the Renault F1 car and discussed how the automotive industry and the AM industry have developed in tangent, from prototyping to casting.
As we know, this industry isn’t just about 3D printing hardware and all areas of the sector were addressed across Hall 3 from software to 3D scanning and beyond. Ultimaker announced a major milestone; one million users of its Cura slicing software (complete with a giant cake, I hovered, it was delicious) and a new software strategy that will see a string of updates rolled out that will make 3D printing easier, particularly for its industrial users. Materials were spotlighted across several booths and stages and it was great to see the Product Stage bustling for a talk from Inert and Sievgen about the importance of efficient powder handling and recycling. The Inspex colours could be seen dotted throughout the show on stands were metrology and 3D scanning products took centre stage. Anglo Production Processes showed the new CyberGage360 scanning and inspection system from CyberOptics whilst Central Scanning spotlighted the latest from 3D scanning leader, Artec. Seeing each of these exhibitors together on the showfloor demonstrated the importance of having all corners of the 3D technologies world come together, really driving home the idea that you can’t have one without the other.
David Buckley, Product Manager at Sievgen on the TCT Product Stage.
Now, I’m probably going to go against the message that every professional user of 3D technologies is trying to put across in an industry where we’ve just gotten over a severe case of hype and now getting into serious production. But walking around the showfloor, I couldn't help but get excited by what you might refer to as the typically ‘cool stuff’. Yes, we may have seen examples of 3D printed Alien heads for years but now they’re multi-material and ridiculously detailed thanks to some great examples from Tri-Tech 3D. Baby Groot seems to have replaced the Yoda busts of previous years, and that’s fine by me when they’re showing the level of detail and finishing from the likes of LPE. colorFabb showed a stunning range of prints in its new nGen_LUX filament which features diffuse reflection to create a glittering metallic effect and could be spotted accessorising my TCT Awards outfit on day two (thanks guys!). Digital Metal announced the commercial launch of its DM P2500 machine which is capable of producing the smallest and most intricate metal parts in the industry. On the booth, Ralf Carlström, General Manager was sporting a Montfort watch featuring a 3D printed dial inspired by the Swiss Alps. The detail was incredible. That, 3D printed electric skateboards from XRobots, original puppets from the Sainsburys Christmas advert by 3D Print Bureau and Tri-Tech 3D, a Terminator-style mechanical #TCTDog from EnvisionTEC and then some, all showed that there is a lot to be excited about in 3D applications.
3D printed puppets from last year's Sainsbury's Christmas advert.
Overall, this industry is maturing and particularly here in the UK where the UK Additive Manufacturing National Strategy was just launched, at TCT Show. That’s a huge statement, and solidifies the important role that AM will play in the future of the UK manufacturing landscape. Next year, TCT Show is sure to, once again, be even bigger and better and I’m looking forward to seeing where that maturity takes us. Not before we make our now annual, international stops in Korea, Germany, China, the U.S., and who knows where else.
Stay tuned for interviews with Desktop Metal, Stratasys, 3D Systems, Formlabs, Coobx and more here and on Twitter at @TheTCTMagazine.
