MetalFAB1
The year before formnext powered by tct launched a company called Additive Industries appeared at Euromold with a giant wooden crate that had "coming soon" sprayed onto the side. It looked more like the marketing for a new King Kong movie than the announcement of a new player into the metal 3D printing world.
Fast forward four years and Additive Industries is launching a new five-year plan to take them into the top three metal additive manufacturing OEMs with its new slogan that echoes that of TCT, "Accelerating Industrial Additive Manufacturing."
The plan includes an expansion of the team, new global facilities, a new HQ in Eindhoven, new partnership announcements and importantly a new module for its MetalFAB1 System.
The new Product Removal Module takes the build plate, flips it on its head, removes the part(s) using a bandsaw, the part lands in a foam lined bin, and the build plate is automatically returned to be milled for reuse in the system.
CTO Mark Vaes told a gathered breakfast briefing that a problem they see too often in the industry is build plates here, there and everywhere, being sent to be Wire EDMed or returned to base. They wanted to make the use and reuse of the build plate as regular as a build plate in polymer-based 3D printing.
All this points in the direction in which Additive Industries was headed from its beginning in 2013; to automate as much of the additive manufacturing process as possible. Its MetalFAB1 system is fully modular, and this foresight early on allows the company to work on modules like that of the Product Removal to enhance customer's use of the technology.
One customer Daan Kersten, CEO of Additive Industries, was proud to present at this morning's briefing was with SMS Group - a €2.8 bn metal manufacturing company. Norbert Gober was introduced its Scale4Series vision that sees the two companies join together to envisage an additive manufacturing plant for series production housing several full integrated MetalFAB1 machines alongside powder manufacturing/handling, heat treatment, finishing and metrology equipment.
That is a vision for the future but in the here and now Additive Industries also used the briefing to announce that due to the companies continued growth (currently over 50 employees at the HQ) it would be moving into a much more larger HQ, still in Eindhoven.
Daan also introduced several of the new team including Mark Beard, formerly of 3TRPD and Shane Collins who would be looking after a new applications development office in California.
Shane has previously worked on the ubiquitous LEAP fuel nozzle and has recently been working on the additively manufactured content found within 50% of geosynchronous orbit satellites that are launched today. The decision to open a facility in California was mostly down to the sheer amount of potential space customers in that region.
The 5,000 square foot facility will be home to 20 engineers and several MetalFAB1 systems, the first of which is being shipped directly from formnext powered by tct. Daan and the Additive Industries team hope to capture some of the regions AM work with its new program open to 10 professional users to, essentially, try out Additive Industries equipment and expertise.
The future is looking increasingly rosy for Additive Industries, and its technology continues to impress.
