3D Printing News Briefs, September 12, 2020: DSM, MakerOS, Evolve Additive Solutions, & Print Parts Inc.

3D Printing News Briefs runs the gamut today from materials and software to business. First, DSM is announcing a new food-safe 3D printing material, and MakerOS has a new software release. Evolve Additive is welcoming a new member to its board of directors. Finally, Print Parts announced that it has delivered over one million 3D printed nasal swabs to be used in COVID-19 test kits.

DSM Introduces New Food-Safe Polypropylene Powder

Science-based company Royal DSM has released its newest AM powder material: Arnilene® AM6002 (P). The polypropylene has food contact approval in Europe and a good balance of properties, which should make it useful for making slides, sprockets, dosing blocks, and conveyor belt guides in the nutrition or food and beverage industries, and also end-use parts, interiors, and dashboard components in the automotive sector. This hydrophobic material is easy to process, with strong chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties, and even though it’s meant for powder bed fusion (PBF) 3D printing, it can also be run on existing selective laser sintering (SLS) platforms.

“We are pleased to further extend material choices for 3D printing with this engineering-grade Arnilene® AM6002 (P) powder,” said Geoff Gardner, the Innovations Director Additive Manufacturing at DSM. “This sustainable material is the type of material that manufacturers across many industries are looking for as they move from traditional manufacturing to additive manufacturing, saving production time and cost, as well as maintaining supply chain performance stability year-round.”

MakerOS New Software Release

With its latest collaboration software release, web-based software platform MakerOS is making it easier for digital fabrication and 3D printing teams to work with each other, and with their clients. The release includes major updates to the Client Portal, automated quoting system, and 3D CAD file viewer, along with a new project board system and a new integrated online 3D viewing and inspection tool. It also includes a Communication Hub, which gives businesses and clients a different way to communicate: instead of sending emails, this Hub is specific to particular projects. 3D CAD files can be attached to the messages, which are then stored inside the project file repository, for easy viewing.

“MakerOS has really streamlined our project management for our 3D services. The biggest benefit we have seen is the ability to have all communication, CAD/reference files, and invoices accessible in one easy to use online portal,” stated MakerOS user John Kray, Founder and CEO of Hydra Research in Portland, Oregon. “This is miles better than having all this information scattered through multiple email threads with our clients.”

LEGO Group COO Named to Evolve Board of Directors

Stratasys spinout company Evolve Additive Solutions, creator of the high-speed Selective Toner Electrophotographic Process (STEP) technology, announced that Carsten Rasmussen, the COO of the LEGO Group, has been appointed to its board of directors. Rasmussen spent 18 years with LEGO, and has been the COO since 2017, holding several other leadership roles in America, Asia, and Europe throughout his tenure. His skills will be put to good use helping to support and drive Evolve’s mission of full-scale volume production in AM, with commercial sales of its STEP technology slated to begin later this year.

“Carsten is a wonderful additional to our board, his background in additive manufacturing technology and supply chain management as well as his experience with high-quality ABS plastic parts brings years of expertise to our board,” said Steve Chillscyzn, the CEO of Evolve Additive Solutions.

Print Parts Delivers Over One Million 3D Printed Nasal Swabs

New York City additive manufacturing service Print Parts Inc. announced a major milestone—it has delivered more than one million 3D printed nasopharyngeal (NP), or nasal, swabs in order to support the local COVID-19 test kit supply chain. The company first began working with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to strengthen the supply chain in April, and, in collaboration with the NYCEDC, NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H), the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, and Brooklyn fab lab Collab, opened a dedicated ISO 13485-compliant medical manufacturing lab in Manhattan to manufacture NP swabs with eight industrial Envision One cDLM 3D printers purchased from EnvisionTEC. The swab is based on a validated design from EnvisionTEC and Boston’s Harvard Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

“We are proud that we were able to quickly scale from our core business of production parts for industrial clients to producing NP swabs for NYC during this crisis. Additive Manufacturing has been given a chance to prove its value by rapidly adapting and providing on-demand production to serve as a solution for an unexpected supply chain disruption,” stated Robert Haleluk, the Founder and CEO of Print Parts.

“The response to COVID-19 has been a truly collaborative effort and we thank our partners for accomplishing in a few weeks what would have taken many months using conventional methods. NYCEDC did an amazing job pulling together a group of innovative companies to make these test kits and our own NP swab operation was made possible by a network of overflow partners, logistics and sterilization providers, and equipment vendors who mobilized to support our efforts.”