BigRep
BigRep Pro
Boyce will install the BigRep Pro in the coming weeks.
Boyce Technologies has become the first commercial customer in the U.S. of BigRep’s new Pro system, an expansion of the two companies’ partnership.
The engineering firm is based in New York and manufactures transit safety products. Its founder, Charles Boyce, was initially a 3D printing sceptic, unsure of how it could be implemented effectively within Boyce Technologies.
But within the last year or two, Ajmal Aqtash, the company’s Director of Advanced Robotics, has helped to begin the integration of 3D printing technologies into the business to supplement its comprehensive portfolio of more than 30 Hurco CNC machines. With the imminent arrival of the BigRep Pro, Boyce will double its 3D printing capacity.
The company first installed a BigRep Studio for prototyping, test fitting and the development of moulds for thermoforming, but gradually the application of the technology has evolved, and more and more, is being used to produce end-use parts. These components include sections of digital kiosk tower manufactured for Verizon, which are installed in subway stations to give members of the public access to maps, and information on the local area.
Boyce printing parts using the BigRep Studio.
Boyce printing parts using the BigRep Studio.
It was when prototyping these parts, which deal with air intake or had to be conductive to radio frequency, for example, Boyce’s engineers realised it might be better to 3D print the parts with ABS or PLA, rather than going through a subtractive process. The company produced a large run of the parts for the Verizon digital kiosks, and it proved successful.
“Collectively as a company, we realised that 3D printing was going to play a much larger role in the immediate future and so we started looking at other ways that 3D printing can be implemented. When the next project came along it wasn’t a question of why 3D printing could be parts of this, it was like can we 3D print that as a part,” Aqtash told TCT. “It became part of the toolset and it wasn't primarily looked at as ‘hey prototype to see if the fit is right’, it was like ‘hey let's prototype this part because it's going to be housing a certain kind of sensitive telecommunication and certain metal parts would affect or disrupt that transmission’ so it had to be plastic. If it's not injection moulding, and it's not thermoformed, the obvious choice was 3D printing.”
Boyce later harnessed BigRep 3D printing technology on a light beacon that sits on top of a similar information system for New York City Transit. This light beacon contains within it cellular antenna and an LED strip with sensors for that antenna, which had to be housed correctly so the transmitter isn’t get blocked in any way. Boyce’s options for producing the housing were to CNC with ABS, injection mould it, thermoform it, or 3D print it. On this occasion, the latter won out because of the short time to market.
“We had a very short period of time to produce the product because we had acquired the contract from another contractor from the State because they couldn’t fulfil their deadline. We only had two weeks to produce 30 units. The other contractor had nine months to produce these units, and we had to do it in less than two weeks,” Aqtash recalled. “When you’re looking at time and quality, 3D printing made complete sense and we went rapidly into implementing the 3D printer to produce hundreds of these parts, we were able to fulfil our contract.”
This application of 3D printing for end use components is such that, today, only around 10% of Boyce’s use of additive technology is for prototyping. That has led to Boyce expanding its investment to bring in the Pro system, a machine actually designed for low volume manufacturing. The system boasts two print heads powered by the vendor’s Metering Extruder Technology (MXT), which promises to enhance the speed and accuracy of printing, and has been designed in line with the materials that are being co-developed by BASF and BigRep. Additionally, it has the ability to interface into factory data control systems, enabling every part to be tracked throughout digital workflows.
The investment in the BigRep Pro came about after BigRep learnt of how Boyce was pushing the Studio system to its limits. The pair will potentially work together to produce a second, updated version of the Pro, but in the meantime both parties are looking forward to what comes of Boyce’s implementation of the additive manufacturing system.
“They don’t just pick machines, they pick partners, and we’re excited to work with them together with the new BigRep Pro that have coming in and the new MXT technology that they have coming in, and where that can take their next generation designs,” said Frank Marangell, President, BigRep America. “It’s exciting and we’re really proud to be part of the Boyce family.
“The Pro will be able to run all of the engineering grade materials that Boyce will need going forward so they'll be able to expand the capabilities of the system, not just because of accuracy and speed, but also because of material properties. We're ready to take this next step with Boyce.”
“I’m betting on BigRep to make huge waves with this technology,” Aqtash added. “By associating ourselves with BigRep, we want to declare our interests and desire to be additive manufacturing leaders. We want to help forge that path. There’s no doubt about it that Charles Boyce wants [Boyce Technologies] to be associated with the most advanced manufacturing, but also the most advanced additive manufacturing [technologies].”