If a full month goes by without Optomec announcing a new distribution partnership, it’s an unusual month at 3DPrint.com. The New Mexico-based additive manufacturing company has been rapidly spreading its distributorship around the world, in Europe, South America and Asia, over the past year, and today they’ve announced that they have partnered with DETEKT Technologies Inc., a provider of additive manufacturing systems and services to China and Taiwan.
“We are pleased to partner with DETEKT to expand sales of LENS and Aerosol Jet systems in Taiwan and to select companies in greater China,” said Michael Kardos, Optomec Vice President of World Wide Sales. “DETEKT is a leading provider of industrial additive manufacturing systems and services in Asia with production facilities that meet the stringent quality standards of the medical industry.”
DETEKT will sell Optomec’s patented Aerosol Jet systems, which have gained wide usage in the consumer electronics, aerospace, defense, and Internet of Things industries. Aerosol Jet technology is capable of printing electronic circuitry, sensors and other components at a micro level, as small as 10 microns. The process essentially sprays conductive material onto surfaces such as aircraft parts or other mechanical components, with a speed and precision that allows for hundreds of tiny electronics to be installed on large surfaces in one fell swoop.
Optomec’s LENS printers have been around since 1998, long before metal 3D printing – or 3D printing in general – became a household name. The printers are not only capable of printing large and small metal parts, but they can also repair existing metal parts, additively manufactured or not, by adding metal layers. Compatible with a variety of metals including titanium, stainless steel, nickel, and cobalt, LENS printers have become well-known for printing high-performance metal parts. They’re especially popular in the manufacture of medical devices, which makes them an ideal technology for DETEKT, which has a strong presence in the medical and dental industries.
DETEKT offers additive manufacturing services that encompass a wide range of 3D printing technologies, including selective laser sintering (SLS), selective laser melting (SLM), stereolithography (SLA), and ceramic laser fusion (CLF). 3D printing is only one of the services they offer, however; the product development company has a large portfolio of strangely innovative inventions to its name. (A household biodiesel processor, a smartphone-controlled cat door, and a cell phone sanitizer are just a few of the products that caught my eye.) Cutting-edge technology is nothing new to DETEKT, but adding Aerosol Jet and LENS systems to their repertoire can only make them more appealing to potential clients. Discuss in the DETEKT 3D Printing forum over at 3DPB.com.
