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PRESS RELEASE – Desktop Metal Now Shipping the World’s First Office-Friendly Metal 3D Printing System to Companies Throughout Europe

JUN 20 2019—Desktop Metal, the company committed to making metal 3D printing accessible to manufacturers and engineers, today announced it has begun shipping its Studio System™ to customers and resellers throughout Europe. The world’s first office-friendly metal 3D printing system for functional prototyping and low volume production, has met with strong adoption in North America among leading companies, including Ford, Stanley Black and Decker, Google’s ATAP, Goodyear, Owens Corning, and John Zink Hamworthy Combustion. Building on that momentum, the Studio System is now CE certified for international compatibility and being installed at customers throughout Europe, including France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

“When Desktop Metal first launched, we set forth a mission to fundamentally change how the world designs and produces metal additively manufactured parts, from functional prototyping to mass manufacturing,” said Ric Fulop, CEO and co-founder of Desktop Metal. “We have been delivering on that vision throughout the U.S. and Canada, and are now ready to step onto the global stage to further accelerate our business expansion and answer the impressive demand of the European market.”

In anticipation of the international expansion, Desktop Metal has been working for more than a year with a select group of strategic customers as early stage evaluators of its technologies. These strategic partners have been a source of key user feedback on benchmark parts, materials, training and system usage. International customers of the Studio System span multiple industries, including automotive, education and defense, as well as service providers of luxury brands and consumer products. Leading companies, including BMW Group in Germany; Politecnico Di Milano, one of the largest technical universities in Europe and Additive Italia srl (Add+It) in Italy; EGIBIDE and Centro Avanzado de Fabricación (IMH) in Spain; Edalis, Soprofame and MSA in France; Weir Group and the University of Sheffield in the UK; Jade Groupe of Portugal, which specializes in metal parts production for the luxury fashion world; and BAZIGOS of Greece, a manufacturing firm specializing in high precision components, are among the first customers to benefit from the ease of use and accessibility provided by the Studio System.

Studio System for Metal Prototyping and Low Volume Production

The Studio System is designed to make metal 3D printing more accessible, enabling design and engineering teams to print metal parts faster, without the need for special facilities, dedicated operators, or expensive tooling. The three-part solution, including printer, debinder and furnace, automates metal 3D printing by tightly integrating through Desktop Metal’s cloud-based software to deliver a seamless workflow for printing complex metal parts in-house—from digital file to sintered part.

To date, Studio Systems worldwide have fabricated more than 10,000 parts, with applications ranging from functional prototyping of extruder nozzles and shock absorber pistons; to jigs & fixtures, including robotic end effectors and smartphone fixtures; to manufacturing tooling of zipper molds inserts and extrusion dies; and low volume production of gears and motor mounts. Each of these benchmark parts has shown drastic cost reduction – some by as much as 90 percent relative to machining and selective laser melting (SLM) – as well as speed in fabrication, producing parts in days instead of weeks or months.

Early Customer Applications and Highlights

Customer feedback on benefits companies can now achieve include:

• Built to Scale: The Studio System offers a 10 times larger sintering volume than competitive systems, which enables cost-effective, low-volume production of metal parts. One Studio furnace supports up to five printers, allowing for batch processing for high throughput.
• Superior Parts: Mechanical properties, material properties, surface quality, feature fidelity, geometry, size, dimensional accuracy – the Studio System considers each of these critical factors with expertly engineered features to ensure great parts.
• Safe for the Office: A key differentiator of the Studio System is that it prevents exposure of solvents to users and does not require external ventilation. The system is designed for use in a range of environments — office, lab, shop — making it easy for any engineer to make metal parts in-house.

France:

• “Edalis, a unique kind of industrial concierge, is a major player of 3D printing services in France, from project study to production,” said Nicolas Blanchard, Managing Director at Edalis. “Our design office and workshops allow us to deliver final end-use parts.Our choice to invest in the Desktop Metal Studio System is based on our willingness to continue innovating for our customers, complement our quality equipment installed base and be very agile thanks to the easiness and flexibility of this tool.”

• Soprofameis a machining, precision engineering and additive manufacturing expert, for plastic and metal. “We decided to invest in the Desktop Metal Studio System in order to provide our customers a complementary solution to our machining expertise,” said Jean-Baptiste Frenel, Director at Soprofame. “This innovative technology will allow us to answer our customer needs with more effectivity and reactivity, bringing a real value added to our know-how and a differentiating offer in an ever-changing market.”

• Founded in 1985, MSAis a recognized expert of boilerwork, welding and public lighting. “MSA chose to invest in Additive Manufacturing technologies to diversify these offerings and better answer customer solutions,” said Martial Champion, CEO of MSA. “The Studio System will allow us to produce in-house metal parts with a variety of complexities, with more speed and flexibility. Among other AM solutions, the Studio System was the easiest to implement and safer for our operators.”

Greece

• “As a leading molds manufacturing company servicing the largest Greek and multinational customers worldwide that rely on high precision parts, the adoption of the Studio System is a dynamic complement to our expanding plastic and metallic parts production center,” said Mr. Manos Bazigos – Managing Director,  Bazigos SA. “In addition to rapid metal prototyping for customer products that range from domestic appliances, refrigerators, electric cookers, to lighting and locks, we also see tremendous opportunity for creating molds, jigs and fixtures as well as opening up the avenue of low volume replacement parts for our customers.”

Italy

• Politecnico di Milano(POLIMI) is among the largest technical universities in Europe. In the specific area of Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing Engineering, POLIMI is ranked 1st in Italy, 3rd in Europe and 7th worldwide. “The Studio System completes the range of metal Additive Manufacturing solutions in our state-of-the-art AddMe lab,” said Bianca Maria Colosimo, Ph.D. Professor, Deputy Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering for Research. “With the Studio System, we will be carrying out several types of research to explore novel solutions for additive manufacturing, including process modeling and optimization, benchmarking with other existing or newly-developed processes, in-situ monitoring and more.”

• Additive Italiais a company specialized in simulation driven engineering and generative design focused on Additive Manufacturing for metals. “Add-it offers a unique complete consultancy for the analysis, development, prototyping and industrialization of metal components, based on Additive Manufacturing,” said Marco Preziosa, CEO. “We selected Desktop Metal technology as we see in this indirect metal 3D printing process the future of manufacturing, bringing speed, flexibility, cost-effectiveness and wide potential of materials choice. Also, Desktop Metal’s huge competencies on the software side will be a key asset to expand Add-it digital solutions.”

Spain

• The Machine Tool Institute (IMH) is an Advanced Manufacturing Center that offers specialized training in Advanced Manufacturing (AM) and Technological / Organizational Innovation services for companies. “At IMH, we are constantly seeking new advanced manufacturing technologies to foster increased innovation among our students and business professionals in the Basque country,” said Xabier Cearsolo, AM Department Manager, Centro Avanzado De Fabricacion – IMH. “The Desktop Metal Studio System should quickly become a key educational and training tool for those in the IMH community who are looking to expand their metal 3D printing knowledge and remain ahead of the curve.”

• EGIBIDEis a recognized school and training center with 75 years of experience. “Our goal at EGIBIDE is to connect our students with the most advanced tools and know-how of the society of the 21^st century,” said Jon Uriarte, Educator. “We chose to invest in the Desktop Metal Studio System to be at the forefront of metal AM technology. Also, the cost per part and easiness to install and operate – no laser, no powder – will allow improved technology transfer to our region’s companies.”

In addition to shipments now underway in USA, Canada and Europe, the Studio System is available to reserve in 48 countries, including Asia Pacific, EMEA, and Mexico. To provide superior customer service, the company has a growing global network of 85 sales partners and resellers, all experienced in manufacturing equipment distribution. European customers submitting new orders can expect to receive their systems within eight weeks or sooner. Availability of the Studio System will vary by country and interested buyers should visit www.desktopmetal.com/international for more information.

About Desktop Metal

Desktop Metal, Inc., based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is accelerating the transformation of manufacturing with end-to-end metal 3D printing solutions. Founded in 2015 by leaders in advanced manufacturing, metallurgy, and robotics, the company is addressing the unmet challenges of speed, cost, and quality to make metal 3D printing an essential tool for engineers and manufacturers around the world. Since its inception, the company has raised $438 million in financing with a portfolio of strategic partners and investors including Ford Motor Company, GV (formerly Google Ventures), GE Ventures, BMW iVentures, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Lowe’s, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and more. Desktop Metal was selected as one of the world’s 30 most promising Technology Pioneers by the World Economic Forum and named to MIT Technology Review’s list of 50 Smartest Companies. For more information, visit www.desktopmetal.com.

Hruby, a business founded in Berlin Kreuzberg back in 1919, celebrated its 100th anniversary in April 2019 and, under its current name of Hruby Werbetechnik GmbH, is one of the most versatile businesses in Berlin, employing 25 people. The strengths of the team, which is led by third-generation managing director Fritz Naumann, include individualized consulting, flexibility, and implementing challenging products. Fritz Naumann started out at Hruby as a vocational trainee, learning the business from scratch and assuming responsibility for the company in 2010.

In 2019, Hruby Werbetechnik GmbH expanded its operations by adding a Durst Rho 512R LED at a second location in Berlin and has been impressed by the quality and printing speed. The intention is to cover new products and larger formats as well as driving the company’s philosophy of high customer satisfaction and diversity.

At the recent RAPID + TCT event, held in Detroit, the 3DPrint.com team saw many new products and innovations and spoke with many companies about what they were currently working on. While at the show, I stopped at the massive Desktop Metal booth to speak with Larry Lyons, the company’s VP of Product. The company was founded four years ago in Massachusetts, and has 3D printed nearly 10,000 parts on its desktop-based DM Studio System, which was launched back in 2017 along with the DM Production System just ahead of that year’s RAPID event.

In the years since it came galloping onto the metal AM scene, Desktop Metal has been busy raising funds, increasing the production and expansion of its Studio System, and expanding its materials portfolio, adding options like 316 stainless steel, 4140 carbon steel, and copper. Lyons explained to me that it’s hard to control the laser melt pool when printing with copper which means that laser based 3D printing methods have struggled to print with the metal. Only some EBM users have made it work while very few (namely Italy’s Beamit) have made it work with DMLS. The issue is that the material is so conductive, but Desktop Metal is able to “print this material as fast as stainless steel,” compared to which it has better thermal conductivity.

Speaking of steel, the company is also offering H13 tool steel. Because this material is so tough, it’s often used for die mold making, but Lyons explained that lead times can be really long when making the molds with laser-based 3D printing systems.

“Desktop Metal can deliver the tool steel that customers want,” Lyons stated.

When I arrived at the Desktop Metal booth, I immediately noticed the metal 3D printed nametag that Lyons was wearing, which he told me was created on the company’s Studio System.

“DMLS is not cost-effective,” he said, noting that “Desktop Metal can show what the technology is really able to do with pieces like this [nametag].”

The company’s big mission at RAPID this year was to give attendees a closer look at some of the main customer applications of the office-friendly Studio System, and how it offers these customers more design freedom, in addition to major cost and speed savings.

First, Lyons told me that the company is installing its second Production System at a Fortune 500 company this month, and that millions of parts for use cases have been completed on the printer, including a drill bit that’s saved Milwaukee Tool a lot of money. Additionally, Desktop Metal announced during RAPID that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Indo-MIM, the world’s largest supplier of Metal Injection Molding (MIM) precision-engineered products. Together, the two plan to accelerate the adoption of metal 3D printing around the world, and Indo-MIM will soon install the DM Production System at its Texas facility.

But, while some Production customers allowed Desktop Metal to showcase some of their parts at the show, they “can be pretty tight-lipped about using their names.” Lyons said that this is not the case with Studio System customers – Desktop Metal has collected data and use cases on over 1,000 customer benchmarks to get a good feel for how these parts made on its machine are being used.

Several leading companies shared their Studio System experiences and applications with Desktop Metal, and the company reports that each one of the parts it’s looked at has shown a major reduction in cost, in addition to time. The top three applications customers are using the DM Studio System for are:

• Functional prototyping – 45%
• Manufacturing jigs, fixtures, & tooling – 40%
• Low-volume manufacturing for end-use parts – 15%

Applications in functional prototyping require parts that meet specific chemical and thermal requirements, and most customers need prototypes to be fabricated in the same materials used for mass production. According to an email from Desktop Metal, John Zink Hamworthy Combustion manufactures the UHT Atomizer fuel nozzle, which is often used in combustion engines for steam propulsion boilers on LNG tankers. This nozzle can only be manufactured with 3D printing, and was redesigned to be more fuel-efficient; it was printed on the DM Studio System out of 316L steel, and then went through surface finishing for final use.

It can be lengthy, difficult, and costly to manufacture tooling like extrusion dies and inserts for injection molding using traditional machining. Jigs and fixtures made up 25% of the early applications on the Studio System, with tooling at 15%, as having the in-house metal 3D printing makes it possible to iterate and replace worn out tooling more quickly, which helps reduce tooling lead times.

Alpha Precision Group (APG), which provides MIM, valve assemblies, highly-engineered components, and powder metal fabrication, uses the DM Studio System to make fixtures that have to be able to continue performing after repeated uses.

Those who use the Studio System say it’s helping to enable low-volume production of pilot runs and custom, aftermarket, and replacement parts, for which methods like CNC machining and casting are not ideal. Mining equipment drilling solutions provider Master Drilling is using the metal 3D printer to produce replacement parts on-demand, and ended up with a 25% cost savings, in addition to reducing the lead time down from eight weeks to just one, for a sun gear made out of stainless steel.

Lyons told me that Desktop Metal is “moving past just medical and aerospace” applications, and is creating more automotive parts, in addition to products like a shower spindle for a hotel bathroom.

“We may not necessarily see these parts, but we touch many of them often,” he said.

Owens Corning normally uses Inconel to 3D print fiberglass insulation so that it can hold up in extreme temperatures, but Lyons explained that this material is costly and difficult to shape. With the DM Studio System, the company is majorly reducing the cost, and making it easier to create, these and other parts, including augers. Caterpillar is using the DM Studio System to help keep its tooling up to code, as it has a 40-year spare parts agreement with its customers; 3D printing parts like housings on-demand helps the company eliminate unnecessary overhead.

Then, Lyons walked me across the booth to meet Senior Software Engineer Andy Roberts, who created the company’s Live Parts generative design software. The Live Parts tool is designed to actually grow parts for AM, as well as integrate with SOLIDWORKS as a plug-in.

Roberts then demonstrated Live Parts, and its ability to optimize the strength-to-weight ratio of a product in real time, with a design for a skateboard truck. He explained how it was easy to increase the forces in order to see real-time part growth.

“A lot of parts, like this skateboard truck, are all cast, and cast parts typically are fairly simple – they don’t have a lot of undercuts and features that would require machining or post-processing,” Roberts explained. “But when you go to 3D print a part like this, there’s no need to adhere to the simplicity of that. You can make it lighter and stronger. The question is, how do you know what to do?”

Answering his own question, Roberts turned to a nearby computer, which had a design for the skateboard truck already pulled up in Live Parts. He later told me that it had only taken three minutes to “grow” the part.

“It’s literally growing this part in real time, as though it’s a living organism.”

He showed me one example of the truck where the team told Live Parts to grow the design inside the existing part, “like a cage,” but said that it wasn’t “very interesting.”

“And then we kind of let it go crazy,” Roberts went on. “We said, well, you can’t grow into the other parts, but when you let it really go and do its own thing, it gets much more organic. And so these become lighter and stronger, depending on the material you’re using, because it generally tries to push the material out far away from the core. It’s more like the way a tree would behave.”

French industrial 3D printer provider Prodways has revealed that the French Armywill be integrating two of its ProMaker P1000 3D printers into its operations.

The systems were ordered by the Integrated Structure for Maintaining Land Equipment in operational condition (SIMMT), a division of the French Army focusing on the operational maintenance of land equipment for all Army units. SIMMT will equip the P1000 3D printers to help validate the advantages of 3D printing for manufacturing spare parts in real conditions. Both systems plan to be delivered to the French Army by summer 2019.

The French Army has ordered two ProMaker P1000 3D printers from Prodways. Image via Prodways.

3D printing for on-site manufacturing of spare parts

Both P1000 3D printers will be utilized by the French Army to different ends, with Prodways supplying the materials, as well as training the operators on how to use the two systems.

The first ProMaker P1000 3D printer will be packed into a container and transported on missions for deployment in external operations. The 3D printer will specifically be used to produce spare parts on demand in full autonomy, enabling the French Army to determine the benefits as well as the drawbacks of using additive manufacturing on site.

On the other hand, the second P1000 3D printer will be fixed in France at the Tulle detachment of the 13th Material Support Base (BSMAT) for the ‘Matériel’ arm of the French Army, which specializes in maintenance and repair of equipment or hardware. The Material Support Base will work towards ensuring operational support of the deployed additive manufacturing chain.

French minesweeper during external operation of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. Image via Ministry of the Armed Forces

Increasing military implementation of additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing is now being employed in a growing number of applications in defence sectors around the world. The U.S. Army has demonstrated a strong advocacy for using the technology, where it has been implemented for inventory reductions as well as ensuring the availability of certain spare parts, amongst other specific case studies.

With the French Armed Forces now following suit, additive manufacturing could present various opportunities for manufacturing parts within the French Army, Navy and Air Force similar to those within the U.S. Army.

For example, the U.S. Army has recently engaged in a project launched by additive manufacturing accelerator America Makes to integrate 3D printing into its supply chains. 3D printing is significantly providing a number of inroads to on-demand and on-site production of parts within the military and civil aerospace sectors as well, with the U.S. Air Force utilizing the technology to print low-cost replacement parts for legacy aircraft.

Five Benefits of Digital Label Printing

Pyrotec, April 2019:

In March this year, with a clear vision for the future to drive growth, Pyrotec PackMedia announced a ground-breaking first for Africa – the purchase of a Durst Tau 330 RSC eight-colour digital label press.

‘We chose the Tau 330 RSC digital label press to drive our new market growth and maintain high customer service levels,’ explains Timothy Beattie, Pyrotec PackMedia’s general manager. ‘Importantly, we wanted a digital label press that would reduce turnaround times and provide customers with short print runs,’ he adds.

So, what are the benefits of digital label printing that Pyrotec PackMedia now offers customers?

Fast turnaround times
Unlike flexographic printing, digital printing doesn’t require plates. And, because set-up time is significantly reduced, this means customers receive their orders faster.

Attention-grabbing high quality
Because brand owners are constantly working to ensure their products have the most shelf shout possible, a product label carrying high-quality graphics and colours is essential. ‘Durst offers the most advanced technology, the best print resolution (1200 x 1200dpi), printing speed (78m/min), and printhead design (continuous ink circulation) of all the presses we investigated,’ Timothy explains.

The Durst Tau 330 RSC digital label press offers eight colours, achieving between 95% and 98% of the Pantone colour gamut, and, when the same substrate is used for consecutive jobs, set-up time and material waste are almost zero.

Short-runs
For digital printing, the DTP department prepares the electronic file to be printed. Consistency between reprints is guaranteed because there’s no opportunity for human and set-up errors.

Cost saving
Customers order only the number of labels they need, saving on storage space and ensuring that changes to on-pack product information can be made quickly and with very little waste.

Design flexibility
Digital presses offer great flexibility, especially for variable or personalised data printing. For customers who need to change text, graphics or images, digital technology enables operators to make changes on-the-fly without losing valuable time. This is also very beneficial for on-pack changes that need to be made quickly, or for promotional campaigns or seasonal changes.

‘We expect the Durst Tau 330 RSC high-speed label press to increase efficiencies and enhance our product and service offerings. With this latest digital technology, we can enter entirely new markets because we can print on a variety of materials including unsupported film,’ Timothy concludes.

Contact Pyrotec today to discover the benefits of digital label printing for your business.