Henkel engineer working with customer to optimise 3D printed part.
Chemical leader Henkel has announced the expansion of its Additive Manufacturing Services this week in an effort to support its automotive and industrial customers with the provision of with 3D printable materials through a wide range of additive manufacturing (AM) capabilities.
Henkel Additive Manufacturing Services leverages Henkel's existing experience at its application centres and certified plant in Richmond, Missouri, which already provides millions of traditionally produced parts to those aforementioned key industries. Its AM activity is aimed specifically at parts intended for ongoing serial production.
"Within Henkel Additive Manufacturing Services, we're focused on providing additional support to our existing industrial customers, including OEM automotive manufacturers and their top suppliers," says Simon Mawson, Senior Vice President and Head of 3D Printing. "They have very unique requirements, and we're leveraging our vast material portfolio to help them build quality, repeatability and scalability into their additive manufacturing efforts. They want to produce end production parts, and our mission is to help them achieve that goal."
The company's AM Services specialises in stereolithography, digital light processing, and HP Multi Jet Fusion technology along with post-processing services. The idea is to assist customers with optimising their AM projects from design through to selecting the right process, material and finishing.
"Knowledge of materials, and additive manufacturing workflows are critically important to the future success of 3D printing in a production environment," says Chris Liddiard, Market Segment Head Automotive and Industrial Parts. "Equally important, and often overlooked is a knowledge of industrial customer requirement, APQP, exacting customer quality requirements, and seamless part ordering and delivery. Failure to control and manage all these factors can lead to a breakdown in customer supply chain. Henkel's long history in producing and delivering traditionally manufactured parts as a Tier 1 to multiple industries, coupled with exciting material development in additive manufacturing is a powerful combination to lead the development of the production of reliable end use parts."
Back in 2016, Henkel announced its plans to enter the AM market through the development of novel 3D printing materials. Since then, the company has launched a portfolio of resins and established partnerships with a number of AM hardware manufacturers including HP and Origin to enhance material development, while its Loctite materials are currently being leveraged in an exclusive deal with Shapeways.
