3D Printing News Briefs: October 6, 2017

Happy Friday! In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’ll start off with a little business news, and then move on to filaments and 3D printers. Precision ADM has received an important ISO certification, and German RepRap is now selling DuPont filaments. Cimquest will now be offering HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printers, while SLM Solutions has expanded its dealer program in South Africa. Finally, Ultimaker is providing inventors with some of its 3D printers for a new TV show.

Precision ADM Receives Quality Management System ISO Certification

Engineering and manufacturing solutions provider Precision ADM, headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, recently announced that it is the first Canadian metal additive and subtractive manufacturing services company to receive the ISO 13485:2016 Quality Management System certification, which will allow the company to use the latest digital manufacturing technologies to create medical devices, like orthopaedic implants. The important industry standard represents the full set of requirements for designing and manufacturing medical devices, and Precision ADM will be able to simplify, or eliminate altogether, extra tooling and equipment, which will help lower waste, production costs, and time to market. The company is looking to develop medical devices 3D printed in materials like cobalt-chrome, titanium, and stainless steel alloys.

Martin Petrak, the CEO of Precision ADM, said, “Achieving ISO 13485 Registration and Certification using both metal Additive and Subtractive Manufacturing methods for Medical Devices is a first for any Canadian AM services company. We are proud of our team’s accomplishment in achieving this significant milestone and are excited to work under this quality system with our existing and new clients.”

German RepRap Selling DuPont Filaments

German RepRap is partnering with Dow DuPont Inc. to sell DuPont’s high performance 3D printing materials in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, altogether known as the EMEA. Customers will be able to purchase both DuPont Hytrel thermoplastic elastomers and DuPont Zytel nylon-based filaments, both of which offer high reliability, performance, and quality in multiple industries. Functional parts 3D printed with Hytrel are flexible, strong, and resistant to heat and chemicals, while users can print stiff functional parts with low warpage and sensitivity to moisture with Zytel. Customers will be able to take advantage of the benefits of 3D printing, like better design freedom, now that DuPont’s high-performance materials have expanded in the 3D printing world.

Ernst Poppe, New Business Development Manager EMEA, DuPont, said, “With these new high performance 3D filaments open for all printers and the know-how of industrial 3D printing of German RepRap, Fused Filament Fabrication makes a step forward to become a credible manufacturing option for functional components.”

At the Fakuma Trade Fair in Friedrichshafen later this month, DuPont Performance Materials will showcase the materials with parts 3D printed live during the show on a German RepRap 3D printer.

Cimquest Selling HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printers

HP’s new Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printer.

HP Inc.’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printers will be sold and supported in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states of the US, from Virginia all the way up to Maine, thanks to a new agreement between HP and Cimquest. Interested parties are invited to come see the HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 solution, which uses a unique multi-agent printing process, in action at the Advanced Manufacturing Expo (AME) on October 18th and 19th at Cimquest’s New Jersey headquarters.

“I am excited to combine Cimquest’s award winning customer service with HP’s award-winning 3D printing platform. Our 19 years of 3D printing and 28 years of subtractive manufacturing (Mastercam) experience coupled with HP’s true high volume production technology provides a unique solution to the market,” said Rob Hassold, the Founder and CEO of Cimquest, Inc. “No single manufacturing process stands alone and with our expertise with many manufacturing processes, Cimquest is well suited to support our customers’ selection and implementation of 3D printing.”

SLM Solutions Expanding Dealer Program in South Africa

SLM 280 2.0

German 3D printing hardware manufacturer SLM Solutions is collaborating with a South African agency called Metal Heart, Additive Technology Africa to grow its dealer network of SLM technology resellers. The agency, located in Roodepoort, has been working with the technology for three years, and offers potential customers advice about SLM’s complete portfolio and using its 3D printers. Metal Heart has an SLM 280 that it uses to fulfill orders from various industries and sectors in the local market.

“SLM Solutions was looking for a partner that can provide extensive advice and the best service to the many companies interested in additive manufacturing technology in southern Africa. We are delighted that our current and prospective customers can now benefit from the advantages of additive manufacturing processes in their production process in South Africa,” said Gerrie Lombaard, Executive Director of Metal Heart, Additive Technology Africa. “We place great value on comprehensive consulting. We combine our knowledge of the sector with our expertise in SLM technology. As a result, new solutions will be implemented in Africa that were inconceivable until recently.”

Ultimaker 3D Printers Bringing Inventions to Life on TV

Ultimaker printers available to Make48 participants

Ultimaker has been helping with the Make48 invention contest since it began in 2015 – teams of two to four people have 48 hours to design and present a product and business plan that will solve a problem they’ve been given. During the contest, the teams are able to use multiple Ultimaker 3D printers, like the Ultimaker 2+ and the Ultimaker 3, for prototyping and parts. The process is a good opportunity for teams to learn how to accelerate their production workflows with digital fabrication tools. This is the first year that the contest series is being aired on TV, and the premiere season, with eight episodes, started running nationwide last month on the American Public Television network.

“Having completed five rounds of the competition so far, the team behind Make48 originally decided to document this process as it is a testament to the accelerated education that happens through time restriction.  Make48 aims to promote a learning environment and share the benefits of this competition with people beyond the participants, which is why they recently began documenting the 48-hour event as a show aptly titled Make48,” Luis Rodriguez wrote in an Ultimaker blog post.

The Make48 show is expected to reach approximately 95 million homes in the US by the end of the first season.

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