Headquartered in New Mexico, Sigma Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB) is one of the best-known developers of commercial in-process quality assurance (IPQA) software for additive manufacturing of metals. The company’s PrintRite3D brand offers real-time monitoring, and detects and classifies anomalies and defects during the 3D printing process, allowing production manager to learn of any quality issues immediately. Sigma Labs has just introduced its latest product: the PrintRite3D Lite In-Process Quality Assurance system, which was created for compact, smaller, entry-level 3D printers. The company has also already been awarded its first contract for PrintRite3D Lite from laser-based technology provider Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHR).
In addition to being a publicly-traded laser manufacturer with $1.43B in revenues, Coherent is known in the 3D printing industry for its acquisition of O.R. Lasertechnologie (OR Laser), manufacturer of the CREATOR 3D printer. This metal powder bed fusion system was well received by the industry for its comparatively high speed and low cost.
“We are very pleased to announce the launch of our new PrintRite3D Lite product as we begin implementation on the Coherent CREATOR metal 3D printer,” Mark Ruport, President and CEO of Sigma Labs, said in a press release. “PrintRite3D Lite is a great solution for 3D metal printing companies and end-user manufacturers that do not require the full functionality of PrintRite3D and increases our addressable market.”
The new PrintRite3D Lite IPQA offers the company’s patented TED (Thermal Energy Density) metric, to be used only in applications that don’t need the full-featured PrintRite3D system, such as entry-level systems. Companies that offer such printers will appreciate this new, less complex and costly product with a decreased footprint: they can still monitor and validate thermal conditions in the melt pool, which will provide important part design and manufacturing insights.
In fact, Sigma Labs’ latest addition was created especially to provide good melt pool quality monitoring for the kinds of small, compact 3D printers that academia, dental, industrial small production, and R&D teams use, which is why the company is targeting these types of companies right now. Because Coherent is one of the world’s top laser and laser-based technology providers for commercial, industrial, and scientific customers, including those in the dental industry, its new contract with Sigma Labs is an important one.
“Like all companies that serve the additive manufacturing space, our objective is to help our customers improve throughput while reducing costly errors. Because of its ease-of-use and ability to validate thermal models in combination with thermal measurement, the new PrintRite3D Lite system from Sigma Labs gives us valuable insights to part design and manufacturing,” stated Markus Wolf, the R&D Manager at the Coherent site in Dieburg, Germany.
Ruport also said that the new PrintRite3D Lite IPQA system will soon be available for OEM licensing, and third party retrofit installations as well.
“The output from PrintRite3D Lite provides insights and answers, in real time, to what was previously unknown. These insights and enhanced visibility allow companies to quantify, qualify and characterize the metal additive manufacturing (“AM”) process. This strengthens metal AM, adding predictability and control, which are much needed in production processes,” explained industry expert Todd Grimm, President of T.A. Grimm & Associates. “Sigma Labs is a pioneer in AM in-process quality monitoring, and the new addition to their product line will meet user needs and enable further industry advancements.”
Having signed an MoU with Materialise this spring to integrate PrintRite3D with the Materialise Control Platform (MCP) product, it’s clear that Sigma Labs is continuing to improve upon and expand its IPQA software brand.
(Source: Sigma Labs)