Nanoscale 3D Printing Company BMF Material Technology Partners with Onshape

As micro- and nanoscale 3D printing become more developed and advanced, more companies are emerging that focus solely on the technology and work to further its development. BMF Material Technology is one of those companies. Founded in 2016, BMF designs, develops and produces micro- and nanoscale 3D printing systems as well as functional composite materials, also on the micro- and nanoscale. The company’s proprietary nanoArch systems, based on its PμLSE (Projection Micro Litho Stereo Exposure) technology, are capable of reaching extremely high printing resolution of (2μm~ 50μm) and printing tolerance (+/- 5um ~ +/- 25um).

BMF Material Technology brings together materials, processes and technology to provide its clients with 3D printing services that encompass the industries of optics, precision connectors, biomedicine and more. With locations in China, Hong Kong and New York City, BMF offers printing services that include optical lenses, microstructural lenses, freeform optics, microlens arrays, complex 3D micro/nano-structure materials, micro-lattice structural materials, shape-memory functional materials, etc. The company offers several materials, including resins designed specifically for optics, high temperatures, casting and health care.

BMF Material Technology has now partnered with Onshape, developer of  CAD software. BMF will use Onshape’s real-time data management platform to speed communication and collaboration with customers and help them optimize their CAD models for the most accurate parts possible.

“On a daily basis, there are companies all over the world – throughout Asia, Europe and the United States – contacting us for printing small parts with our nanoArch® printers,” said BMF CEO Dr. Xiaoning He. “Before using Onshape, we had to email CAD files back and forth with our customers. But now we can have our team in China and our customers overseas work together on the same model at the same time. It has really improved our efficiency and speed, and Onshape is the only CAD system that can deliver this capability.”

As BMF Material Technology works with its customers on their CAD models, Onshape records each edit in a detailed history log. Users can then click on any point in the timeline to go back to previous iterations of the design.

“The edit history log is a huge advantage for us,” said Dr. He. “It speeds up the learning curve for our customers. We’re in the 3D printing business, not the design business. Onshape will help us teach our clients how to deliver better designs the next time.”

The use of Onshape’s software will help BMF Material Technology to do what it does best: produce complex micro- and nanoscale parts at high volume with less cost and less waste than traditional precision manufacturing.

“We’re excited to partner with BMF, which is radically changing the way manufacturers make ultra-high precision parts,” said David Katzman, Vice President of Strategic Accounts and Business Development for Onshape. “It’s gratifying to not only help BMF achieve their goals, but also help their customers produce better products. This partnership demonstrates how Onshape is much more than a modern cloud CAD system – it’s a full data management platform with CAD built in. We look forward to seeing how the BMF team continues to leverage this advantage for their customers.”

Onshape’s software also provides users with extra security, as only one master copy of the CAD file is stored in the cloud. It can be accessed by different levels of permissions, such as edit-only, view-only, commenting, and so on.

“Onshape gives BMF customers the confidence that their intellectual property is safe. You can’t put a price on that,” said Dr. He. “Our customers also appreciate having immediate access to their designs. I just have to add their emails to our account and there is no delay. Onshape helps us collaborate in a very fast and convenient way.”

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