Siemens Advanta to Optimize Morf3D’s Long Beach 3D Printing Facility

Morf3D continues to push towards a digital future that is fully integrated and automated. The El Segundo-based company, best known for creating aerospace components via additive manufacturing, continues to add fresh layers to its new headquarters, the Applied Digital Manufacturing Center (ADMC) in Long Beach, California. In the last year, the company has partnered with pioneering 3D printing companies like SLM Solutions and EOS to equip the facility and help drive the industrialization of digital manufacturing in high-growth markets.

According to the latest announcement, Morf3D has partnered with Siemens Advanta, the IoT consultancy and solutions integration arm of the global technology powerhouse, to develop a scale-up plan and bottleneck analysis, as well as explore novel manufacturing and logistic concepts for the Long Beach center.

The two entities have committed to an ongoing technology development partnership as Morf3D continues to build its new Applied Digital Manufacturing Center in Long Beach. There, the two partners will validate material flow and space demand based on a digital twin in production, an enhanced computer model that acts as a digital representation and uses inputs from a real-world component.

“Siemens Advanta is proud to contribute to the forward-thinking innovation that is transforming the additive manufacturing industry,” said Rani Shea, CEO of Siemens Advanta, North America. “In working with Morf3D and its new ADMC, we look forward to helping optimize additive manufacturing capabilities for the aerospace industry.”

Creating value for AM

Morf3D’s ADMC is a new 90,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility that harnesses applied research, advanced engineering and application development, serial production, and most significantly, new industry partnerships with global leaders to drive the industrialization of digital manufacturing in high-growth markets.

As part of Siemens Advanta’s inaugural project, the consultancy will leverage advanced design and simulation software from Siemens Digital Industries. Furthermore, Siemens Advanta’s work at the new ADMC will transition into additional ongoing software innovations and on-site personnel support.

“We are constantly thinking about how to further our industry, and this partnership with Siemens Advanta gives us a great sense of optimism for the future,” revealed Ivan Madera, CEO of Morf3D. “Morf3D is experiencing growth at a rapid rate. We wanted to make sure that our factory was flexible and that we had a team able to understand the challenges that we might face, not just today, but in the future too.”

The company claims its investment in the new California facility underscores its commitment to developing a strong industrial base that improves the quality of its products, enhances technical capabilities, and enriches customer applications worldwide. The center is projected to be one of the largest aerospace 3D printing solution integrators in the US. Even more so, at its peak, the center will be home to 150 multi-discipline engineers, research staff, and technical teams.

Morf3D facilities. Image courtesy of Morf3D.

Since being founded in 2015, the startup has supplied highly complex 3D printed customized parts for flight to aerospace, defense, and space companies. Many of its products have landed on the Moon, orbited Earth, and helped strengthen applications for customers. This is because Morf3D serves the world’s largest aerospace original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, and Collins Aerospace.

Notably, the startup has maintained a close relationship with one of its main clients, Boeing, producing 3D printed titanium and aluminum components for its satellites and helicopters. The commercial jetliner manufacturer even funded Morf3D on two occasions, once in April 2018 and again in August 2019, through its venture capital arm,  HorizonX Ventures, which identifies late seed through mid-growth stage startup opportunities for investment.

At the new location, Morf3D will be close to some major players in the up-and-coming space industry, like Virgin Orbit and Relativity Space. This closeness could help set the stage to dramatically enhance industry collaboration to further advance and accelerate AM production in the space industry.

In a social media post, Madera pointed out that the ADMC will “bring forth the worlds leading technology companies under one roof to create a fully integrated closed-loop production system. These developments will radically shape how we ultimately industrialize and scale AM (…) This isn’t about more capacity or capability, the ADMC’s mission is to solve the problem by addressing the entire value chain.”

One of the company’s main goals has been to create, build, and optimize its additive manufacturing facility, and so far, it has been doing just that. Eventually, the digital planning for the Long Beach factory will evolve into an ongoing technology development partnership between Morf3D and Siemens Advanta, suggest the two. Notably, they plan to help customers unlock their digital futures by offering end-to-end support for the creation of unique parts.