3D Printing: The Stories We Missed This Week — September 17, 2016

On this week’s “3D Printing: The Stories We Missed This Week,” we’ve got a whole assemblage of breaking additive manufacturing news ranging from Europe to India. To start, all European companies under the umbrella of the industrial product development firm ARRK are uniting under a single corporate identity, making it clear that they’re all a part of a single organization. The Polish 3D printing company Zortrax has reached their highest profit margins ever during the first half of 2016, bringing in over $1.9 million more in profit compared to the same stretch last year. Earlier this week, the professional and industrial 3D printing marketplace 3Diligent participated in Startup Alley at TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2016. The Israeli electronic 3D printing company Nano Dimension has shipped their highly anticipated DragonFly 2020 3D printer to the manufacturing firm FATHOM, marking their first-ever delivery in United States. The College Station, Texas-based filament producer Essentium Materials has just launched an online store to offer their superior 3D printing filaments to customers around the world. Altem Technologies, the leading partner for both Stratasys and SLM in India, recently introduced four Objet Series dental 3D printers to India’s orthodontic practices and laboratories. Lastly, the automotive design firm PSA Group has signed a strategic partnership with Divergent 3D to create a future with more efficient automobile manufacturing processes.

European ARRK Companies Unite Under Single Corporate Identity

The product development operations service provider ARRK Group has helped start and maintain a number of businesses all across Europe. For some time now, these businesses have largely been perceived as operating independently of each other, and have had little association with their parent company. This past week, however, ARRK Group announced that they would be uniting all of these companies under a single corporate identity, a major part of their rebranding initiative. The company has also refined their product development operations services into four distinct categories, which include Engineering, Prototyping, Tooling, and Low Volume Production (LVP). Companies currently under the ARRK Group umbrella in Europe include P+Z Engineering GmbH, Shapers’ Group, SPG Pre-Series Tooling & Prototyping BV, and LCO Protomoule. These companies will begin adopting the ARRK Corporate Identity from this month onward.

“All companies will retain their current legal names, bank accounts, registered offices, VAT numbers etc., it’s just they will now be working and promoting themselves as part of the ARRK Group to deliver an improved business and service to our customers,” commented Tony Lowe, Head of ARRK’s European Region.

Zortrax Reaches Record-Breaking Profits by Over $1.9 Million

The Warsaw, Poland-based 3D printing company Zortrax has some positive news after recently shocking the 3D printing community by admitting that their highly anticipated deal with Dell never went through. Despite this disappointing news, the Polish 3D printing leaders still managed to break a new record for profit margins during the first half of 2016. According to their financial report for the first half of 2016, Zortrax’s income level increased by 42% compared to last year, resulting in $6.7 million in turnover, a whopping $1.9 million more profit than they brought in during the first half of 2015. Additionally, the company’s net profits have increased 114% to around $2 million, much of which can be attributed to the 40% sales increase for their M200 3D printer. The overall increase in profit is also due in large part to a recently successful financial round, which helped Zortrax transfer their R&D to China, and also expand throughout the American market. Even with the Dell deal in shambles, it’s been a busy year for Zortax thus far, as they’re currently preparing to debut the new M300 3D printer model and also close another financial round.

3Diligent Participates in TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2016’s Startup Alley

This week, innovative and revolutionary startups from around the world gathered at TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2016, the premier event for tech startups to share and potentially gain funding for their ideas. One of the most celebrated parts of TechCrunch Disrupt is “Startup Alley,” which is where hundreds of startups gather to present their talent and technology to general attendees, investors, and the press. The professional and industrial 3D printing services marketplace 3Diligent participated in this exhibition, bringing their innovative 3D printing service platform to the “Startup Alley” expo floor. With 3Diligent, customers are able to request a quote for 3D printing, machining, molding, or casting, and receive bids from vendors that offer professional manufacturing services. Essentially, 3Diligent connects customers directly with these vendors, allowing them to seek out the most affordable options for industrial manufacturing services. Aside from Startup Alley, TechCrunch Disrupt also featured the Startup Battlefield competition, a 24-hour Hackathon, Hardware Alley, and a number of on-stage interviews.

“TechCrunch Disrupt is an amazing opportunity for entrepreneurs and we’re thrilled at the opportunity to be in the company of such amazing companies and innovators,” said Cullen Hilkene, CEO of 3Diligent. “3D Printing at the highest levels of appearance, accuracy, and performance is something few providers can achieve and is prohibitively expensive for most businesses to attempt in-house. We hope to solve this problem through our marketplace by providing customers seamless access to our carefully vetted partners and an unmatched range of industrial-grade materials, machines, and expert engineers.”

Nano Dimension Makes First Delivery of DragonFly 2020 3D Printer to the United States

The Israel-based electronic 3D printing company Nano Dimension recently made a major breakthrough when they announced that their DragonFly 2020 3D Printer was delivered to an undisclosed Israeli defense company. This past week, they officially shipped their highly anticipated electronic 3D printer to the advanced additive manufacturing company FATHOM, marking Nano Dimension’s first-ever delivery of the DragonFly 2020 within the United States. FATHOM will install the electronic 3D printer in their Oakland, California-based headquarters over the coming week, and will use the machine for evaluations and demonstrations throughout the next year. This recent announcement certainly makes sense, as Nano Dimension and FATHOM decided to partner up earlier this year to introduce the DragonFly 2020 to the US market, particularly in Silicon Valley and the greater West Coast area.

“Both FATHOM and Nano Dimension share the same vision of changing the way products are designed and manufactured,” said Rich Stump, Co-Founder and Principal at FATHOM. “We are excited to receive this system because it builds on FATHOM’s focus to augment conventional methods with cutting-edge technologies and advanced processes.”

Essentium Materials Launches Online Store for High-Performance Filaments

The College Station, Texas-based 3D printing filament producer Essentium Materials has announced that they will now be taking online orders for a variety of their high-performance filaments. Best known for their thermal welding technology, which is their process to improve the strength of materials on the Z axis, Essentium Materials will initially offer customers three filaments in their new online store, with more to come later on in the year. The Essentium High Performance PLA contains enhanced tensile strength, elastic modulus, impact resistance, and thermal stability. According to Essentium, their PLA provides users with engineering-grade material performance with standard printability. Their Essentium Copolyester PCTG is an easy-to-use material with an impeccable surface finish and exceptional impact resistance. The material is able to achieve the same strength and stiffness as PETG, and is equipped with superior impact strength and chemical resistance. Lastly, the Essentium PC/CF is a carbon fiber-reinforced polycarbonate with high-performance mechanical properties, including high impact strength, heat resistance, and an excellent strength-to-weight ratio. Their filaments are now available online in both 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm, and can be purchased in spool sizes of 1 kg, 2 kg, 10 kg, or 25 kg.

“At Essentium we believe additive manufacturing is the next industrial revolution. We make high-performance filament that allows you to create stronger, tougher, and more resilient 3D printed parts,” said Blake Teipel, President and Chief Technology Officer.

Altem Introduces Objet Series Dental 3D Printers to India

Altem Technologies, the solidified leading partner for Stratasys and SLM in India, has just introduced their newest line of dental 3D printers to the country. The new line of Objet Series dental 3D printers will enable Indian dental professionals to produce stone models, delivery and positioning trays, models for clear aligners, retainers, and surgical guides all from their desktop. Along with their proprietary 3D printing materials, Altem will now offer four dental solutions throughout India. The Objet 30 OrthoDesk provides dental clinics and small labs a compact and efficient printing system, while the Objet 30 Dental Prime offers faster and more accurate model preparations. Altem will also bring the Eden 260VS to the Indian market, which is the first PolyJet 3D printer with a soluble support option, as well as the Eden 500V, perfect for mass production in more sizable labs. All in all, the newly introduced dental 3D printers stand to help dental professionals in India to innovate and create at a faster and more efficient rate than ever before.

“Altem is leading the way in helping to advance patient care by introducing solutions that enable personalized surgical planning and mass customization. No more guessing or no more figuring-it-out as we go only digital precision,” said Prasad Rodagi, the Founder-Director of Altem Technologies.

PSA Group and Divergent 3D Partner Up for More Efficient Automobile Manufacturing

This past week, the automotive and mobility solutions provider PSA Group struck up a strategic partnership with the Los Angeles-based Divergent 3D, a company dedicated to revolutionizing the car manufacturing process with 3D printing technology and other new production tools. PSA Group will develop a long-standing relationship with Divergent 3D, and will make use of their proprietary software-hardware platform engineered for metal 3D printing. Although 3D printing technology has been utilized in the automotive industry in the past, both companies plan to transform the design and manufacture of vehicle structures, building lighter and more structurally safe, cost-efficient, and environmentally responsible vehicles.

“We are very impressed by the promising new opportunities in Divergent 3D’s technology. We’re convinced that these spectacular advances in 3D printing will help position PSA Group as a leader in automobile manufacturing. This has the potential to dramatically scale down the size and scope of our manufacturing footprint, reduce overall vehicle weight and build complexity, while also giving us almost limitless flexibility in design output. We are talking about a radical change for our industry,” said Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the Managing Board at PSA Group.

Discuss further over in the Week’s 3D Printing News forum at 3DPB.com.