TRACEam Partners with Renishaw to Improve Management of Metal 3D Printing

Known for their strength in helping other companies manage their 3D processes, TRACEam is a software development firm headquartered in Chicago, IL. Founded in 2018 by Dr. Mike Vasquez, TRACEam is backed up by a team with extensive experience in material design, testing of parts, training, safety, and strategizing for the long-term in manufacturing.

As a member of America Makes, Vasquez continues to speak on additive manufacturing topics, also partnering with 3Degrees—a consulting firm with offices in the US and London too.

(Image: TRACEam)

Now, Vasquez and his team are partnering with Renishaw Inc. Solutions Center USA to establish a comprehensive quality management tool for the Renishaw InfiniAM API ecosystem. The goal is to track the lifecycles of parts being manufactured via AM, improving management for Renishaw 3D printing users in tracking, storing, assessing, and testing data.

Founded in 1973 and centered around engineering and scientific technology, Renishaw is well-known for its metrology products which continue to help industrial businesses expand production.

The Renishaw team also offers guidance in finishing 3D printed parts, some of which may be comprised of complex geometries not previously possible via conventional techniques. So many other benefits are available due to additive manufacturing also—to include savings on the bottom line in production, faster turnaround for clients, decreased requirements for labor in many cases, and less waste in materials.

Renishaw additive manufacturing systems use metal powder bed fusion technology to build complex components direct from digital CAD files (Images: Renishaw)

The solutions centers are meant to assist clientele in solidifying AM processes further, as well as increasing knowledge and confidence regarding the technology and subsequent production.

Renishaw customers must track post-processing for each part, but with the addition of 24 different sensors integrated into the Renishaw metal AM platform, they can now add critical machine data through the TRACE platform. Overall, these new functions should also for better documentation, critical analysis, and improved capability for meeting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements.

Refining of these processes reflects an industry-wide need on the part of many companies for tracking part lifecycles, and TRACEam has now made their software commercially available.

“TRACEam is more than just a series of data streams,” said Dr. Mike Vasquez, founder of TRACEam and consulting firm 3Degrees. “We have worked with dozens of manufacturers to build actionable analytic tools that give users great visibility into their entire 3D Printing process.”

Webinars and tutorials are also available online. Find out more at TRACEam.

Renishaw has continued to maintain an active and impressive presence within the additive manufacturing space, from expanding facilities over the years to engaging in partnerships with a range of other industry leaders, creating new measurement tools, and assisting their customers in dynamic projects like assisting in 3D printing parts for world-class sailboats.

Renishaw AM Solutions Centres offer a multitude of resources for industrial customers (Image: Renishaw).