3D Printing Webinar and Event Roundup: July 3, 2022

Surprise—it’s a very light lineup of events and webinars this week! First up are two multi-day events in Europe, with the AM Forum Berlin and Plastics Live in Coventry. Then, ASTM is holding a webinar on designing for additive manufacturing, and we’ll finish the week with TriMech’s webinar on tips and tricks to pass SOLIDWORKS certifications. Read on for the details!

July 5 – 6: AM Forum Berlin 2022

From Tuesday to Wednesday, July 5th through the 6th, the 6th Additive Manufacturing Forum Berlin will be held in the city’s Estrel Congress Center. This hybrid event, with both in-person and virtual options, is considered Europe’s leading AM conference, with more than 80 speakers and over 120 exhibitors focusing on industrial additive manufacturing. 800 onsite participants are expected, with another 1,500 projected to participate virtually, and plenty of the industry’s top companies, including Materialise, 3D Systems, and 3YOURMIND, will be attending the event.

“Based on foundation partnerships with Airbus, Deutsche Bahn, MGA, Stratasys and 3YOURMIND, the AM conference brings together the decision-makers and experts of the additive manufacturing value chain in Berlin and online: AM users & AM solution providers such as printer manufacturers, material suppliers and service providers meet in Berlin, every year.”

You can register for the online option, or save your seat for the in-person conference, here.

July 5 – 6: Plastics Live 2022

Also taking place from July 5-6 is Plastics Live, a new annual event for the plastics sector in Ireland and the UK. Co-located with Sustainable Plastics Live, AMPLAS, and Industry 4.0 in Plastics at the Coventry Building Society Arena, the event will show attendees a variety of traditional and additive manufacturing processes, enabling broad business opportunities from all parts of the plastics-based industries. Over 150 leading suppliers will be on-hand to discuss the various technologies, including injection molding and 3D printing, that can be used to help save energy, improve output, and create the ideal factories of the future in plastics.

“It needs to be appreciated from the start, that additive manufacturing is by no means suited to every application. To assess where the best fit is, you need to factor in all the benefits and the constraints,” explained John Jones, Event Manager. “First and foremost, consider how big the proposed part is. Pricing is effectively based on size, and as a rule of thumb, the larger the part, the less viable 3D printing is for production. Small components like jigs, fixtures, housings and fittings, however, are perfectly suited to the process. Next you need to assess the complexity of the proposed design. AM is agnostic to part complexity, where traditional production technologies are not. Again, as a general rule, the more complex the part, the higher the associated tooling or machining costs, and therefore the more viable additive manufacturing becomes. Finally, what sort of run volume do you have in mind? If you are looking for hundreds of thousands or millions, then injection moulding is your only option. If, however, you want hundreds or multiple thousands of small parts, then you are in the sweet spot for 3D printing as a production process.”

You can register for Plastics Live here.

July 7: Understanding Value in AM with ASTM International

On Thursday, July 7th, at 10 am EST, ASTM International’s AM Center of Excellence (AM CoE) will hold “Design for AM: Understanding Value,” the latest in its webinar series. Taught by industry expert Olaf Diegel, a Professor of AM at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and one of the principal authors of the annual Wohlers Report, the webinar is meant for AM managers and process engineers, as well as design, manufacturing, and research engineers. The attendees will learn which AM production factors most affect cost, how to use design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) to decrease costs while also adding functional value, and the thought process that goes into reducing the effect of AM production cost factors.

“AM is one of the most expensive manufacturing methods in the known universe. Therefore, for it to be usable, it must add enough ‘value’ to overcome those high costs. This talk will focus on the main factors that affect AM cost and how these can be transformed into value adding features. It will demonstrate how a basic understanding of the economics of AM can help companies to design parts in a way that truly take advantage of what AM can offer while, at the time, adding enough value to make AM production not only possible, but desirable. It will show real world examples showing how good design for AM practices can transform products that would, otherwise, be uneconomical to produce using AM.”

You can register for the webinar for $49 here.

July 7: TriMech on Passing SOLIDWORKS Certifications

Finally, TriMech will hold a webinar, also at 10 am EST on the 7th, on “Tips & Tricks: Passing SOLIDWORKS Certifications.” During the brief webinar, TriMech Solutions Consultant Neil Brayman will share helpful tips and tricks to help attendees confidently pass their next certifications in SOLIDWORKS and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Attendees will learn about resources, like MySolidWorks, that can help them prepare for these certifications, in addition to the different types of certifications, how SOLIDWORKS subscription holders can access certification vouchers, and more.

“Certifications are a great way to show off your knowledge of the software. They give you a way to stand out among others and can even lead to job opportunities, career advancements, and self-gratitude. Being on subscription services for SOLIDWORKS even provides you the opportunity for 3 certification vouchers twice a year!”

You can register for the webinar here.

Do you have news to share about any future webinars or virtual and live events? Please let us know!