Prodways Acquires Polymer Specialist Materials Company Exceltec

Industrial 3D printer manufacturer Prodways has just announced that they are acquiring polymer materials manufacturers Exceltec. The news is sure to be one of many 3D printing news stories coming out of formnext 2015 in Frankfort, Germany. This is the second high-profile move into the 3D printing industry for the Group Gorgé-owned company in as many months. Back in September Prodways announced that they would be teaming up with Farsoon to develop a new series of industrial quality selective laser sintering 3D printers.

Now that they are moving into laser sintering technology, the obvious next step for Prodways was to develop their own sintering materials, and that is where the Exceltec acquisition comes in. Prodways intends to use Exceltec’s expertise to develop materials specifically made for their new ProMaker P Series of industrial laser sintering 3D printers, as well as utilizing the full range of Exceltec polymer sintering powders, including their various Polyamide 11 and Polyamide 12 formulations. This will provide Prodways with one of the most diverse catalogs of premium laser sintering materials available on the market.

“We want to change the game. We are convinced that the future of 3D printing lies in high performance materials specially designed for large capacity industrial solutions, while keeping production costs under control and optimised,” explained Olivier Coulet, director and founder of Exceltec.

Prodways not only intends to have Exceltec develop new powder materials for them, but to extend the available varieties of the Exceltec polyamide powder materials already available. The PA12 range of polyamide powder materials are a strong and dependable general purpose plastic material designed for industrial, automotive and military use. The line of powders is available in a large selection of colors and formulations to suit a variety of applications. The PA11 range of polyamide powders are a more specialized material suited to large, bulky or complex components. This line of plastics is primarily used for medical applications, or large-scale automotive part manufacturing. The materials are also classified as fire retardant, so they are suitable for use in the aerospace industry.

“Prodways intends to establish itself as a benchmark player in selective laser sintering, as it has already done in [DLP] MOVNGLight technology. Our new premium range of ProMaker P series industrial printers ‘powered by Farsoon’ offers the best thermal stability combined with the highest levels of productivity and precision in their category and additionally, offers a very wide range of high performance powders developed by Hunan Farsoon Tech Ltd and Exceltec, to suit the most demanding industrial applications,” said  Chief Executive Officer of Prodways Group Philippe Laude.

In addition to developing new powder 3D printing materials and plastics for Prodways, Exceltec is expected to continue to offer a wide range of materials consultancy and training service bureau resources to industries looking to incorporate sintering technology into their business. As part of the acquisition deal Exceltec will continue to operate under the same company structure and the brand name will remain in place, they will simply be part of the Prodways Group. Coulet will continue to head Exceltec, the new Prodways powder materials division, which will be expanded by increasing their manufacturing capabilities and international exports.  Let’s hear your thoughts on this acquisition in the Prodways / Exceltec forum thread on 3DPB.com.