EOS Launches New P3 NEXT SLS 3D Printer at Formnext 2004

EOS, the German-US leader in additive manufacturing (AM) solutions, has launched the P3 NEXT selective laser sintering (SLS) printer at Formnext 2024 in Frankfurt, Germany (November 19-22). EOS created the EOS P3 NEXT to respond directly to customer feedback, resulting in a printer that the company claims is more productive than the EOS P396, even as the new machine takes up less floor space, largely thanks to its integrated monitor.

While the EOS P3 NEXT boasts a number of measurable advantages over the P396 — including a productivity increase of as much as 50 percent, and a cost-of-ownership that’s up to 30 percent lower than that of the EOS P396 — the intangibles that went into the new printer’s design may be what really sets it apart. Ahead of Formnext, EOS’ Chief Business Officer for Polymer, Virginia Palacios, explained to me how the development of the EOS P3 NEXT drew upon a greater level of coordination between all of EOS’ various divisions than has been the case for any of the company’s prior releases.

One reason that’s such a big deal is because EOS is far more than just an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), as well as materials supplier that owns the factories and modifies the powders for best quality, and a software provider. It’s also responsible for servicing the uniquely high number of machines across the company’s global install base, and, via the company’s consultancy division, Additive Minds, an indispensable force in AM workforce training and applications development:

”In addition to customer feedback, we also had the Additive Minds team and members of our service staff giving us input during the development process,” Palacios said. “On the customer side, our main focus was to ensure that the EOS P3 NEXT was designed for the right applications, rather than say, for any generic part that users might want to prototype. The EOS P3 NEXT is optimized for the specific, industrial-scale applications that EOS P396 customers were finding the most success with: above all, in-mouth applications for the dental market, and medical devices such as surgical guides.

“Additionally, the EOS P3 NEXT is well-suited for structural industrial components, for anything from robotics to end-of-arm tooling equipment. Finally, because of the quality of the surface finish, it’s also an ideal machine for consumer goods including eyewear.

“With all that in mind, we know that prototyping is still a big source of business for our service bureau customers, and the P3 NEXT also maintains the same level of quality for prototyping that users can always expect from EOS.”

Meanwhile, the participation from Additive Minds and EOS’ customer support team ensured that the EOS P3 NEXT will be able to maximize its performance as soon as it enters the field (the printer will start shipping to customers in Q1 2025):

“In the past, since the bulk of the manufacturing activity being done by our customers was still for R&D, the problem they were trying to figure out with our printers was usually, ‘Will the application work?’” Palacios explained. “Now that we know which applications work, as our customers move more and more to production of end-use parts, the main problems we’re addressing are how to get the machines up-and-running as easily as possible, and how to reach higher scales of production at the fastest rates.

“Additive Minds and our technical staff were instrumental in achieving those goals. They were giving us constant feedback to make sure that the parameters were tuned to customers’ needs in advance, and working with certain customers ahead of time to make sure that the EOS P3 NEXT is ready for the right applications immediately at launch.”

One customer that EOS has already been working with on the EOS P3 NEXT is ADDMAN Group, a Florida-based network of service bureaus across the US with over 500 employees:

Jay Dinsmore, Executive Vice President at ADDMAN Group, said, “Seeing the EOS P3 NEXT in action really solidified it for me — this is exactly the technology we need to meet the high standards of our medical manufacturing solutions. The EOS P3 NEXT allows us to produce applications for the regulated medical market within a fully certified production environment, ensuring we meet both quality and compliance benchmarks.

“ADDMAN and EOS have a well-established partnership in metal 3D printing, and we are excited to expand this collaboration into the realm of SLS polymer. As the workhouse technology for our new Health Excellence Additive Lab (HEAL) Center launching in Florida in January 2025, the EOS P3 NEXT will empower us to deliver unmatched quality and cost-effectiveness for our medical manufacturing partners, reinforcing our commitment to excellence in this critical industry.”

The EOS P3 NEXT’s significance could go far beyond the addition of one new machine to EOS’ hardware portfolio. Assuming that the printer’s full-fledged launch is as successful as the development and beta testing phases have been, EOS may have created a new model for how the company designs new products going forward:

“In the future, I think the process for developing new hardware will be the same as what we did with the EOS P3 NEXT,” Palacios affirmed. “That means we need to understand what the main customer pain points are, and what new features need to be added in order to address those issues. The changes that we’ve made are changes that add value to the customer, and I think the whole industry needs to move in that direction. New customers will only move into AM when we can provide positive business cases from the outset.”

With its singularly extensive experience in the AM market, EOS is in a unique position to deliver on that goal. The EOS P3 NEXT is just one launch, but in the long run, the precedent it establishes may help EOS maintain its market position well into AM’s next generation.

Attendees of Formnext 2024 can learn more about EOS and the EOS P3 NEXT at booth D41 in hall 11.1