Formnext 2023 noticed comparatively few corporations deal with the problem of scaling up additive manufacturing.

In the course of the Frankfurt-based commerce present, 3D Printing Trade spoke with HP’s Vice President and Basic Supervisor Ramon Pastor and Indo-MIM CEO Krishna Chivukula to be taught extra about their partnership and scaling additive manufacturing for serial manufacturing.

“I feel this partnership with Indo-MIM is an inflection level of how we take into consideration scale with binder jetting,” defined Pastor. “I feel it’ll change the trajectory of the adoption of binder jetting within the trade.” 

Indo-MIM has already invested in three HP Steel Jet S100 3D printers as a part of this collaboration, and can work with HP to qualify new supplies comparable to M2 instrument metal. 

Indo-MIM will now be a part of HP’s digital manufacturing community, assembly the manufacturing wants of consumers inside a variety of industries together with aerospace, automotive, client electronics, and healthcare. 

Utilizing steel binder jetting, multinational printing agency HP and Indian steel injection molding (MIM) bureau Indo-MIM introduced a strategic partnership. By means of this collaboration, the 2 corporations will work to scale HP’s binder jetting know-how to serial manufacturing, and increase the functions of steel additive manufacturing.   

HP and Indo-MIM’s partnership 

Two of Indo-MIM’s newly acquired HP Steel Jet S100’s can be positioned on the firm’s Bangalore facility. Right here, one of many 3D S100’s can be utilized for brand new materials growth. The opposite will give attention to utility growth, catering to clients within the Center East, India, and the Asia-Pacific area. 

Indo-MIM’s third Steel Jet 3D printer can be based mostly in Texas, fulfilling the corporate’s dedication to offering localized assist for North American purchasers, and increasing its manufacturing capabilities.    

“In my view, the HP Steel Jet S100 is the primary actual manufacturing scale 3D printer in binder jetting to hit the market,” acknowledged Chivukula. “We’ll be utilizing it to provide. We’ll be engaged on functions that are available in by means of their digital manufacturing community, we’ll be engaged on growing extra powders that can be utilized on the system, and we’ll be supplying powders as effectively.”  

Moreover, Indo-MIM is leveraging HP’s Course of Improvement software program to develop new improvements referring to the pace, scalability, and flexibility of the binder jetting course of. This software program is alleged to supply important  worth in managing utility growth workflows. Furthermore, it’s hoped that HP’s lately launched Digital Sintering software program will enable Indo-MIM to hurry up the sintering course of to provide manufacturing high quality elements in fewer iterations.    

Chivukula outlined Indo-MIM’s preliminary initiatives as being within the medical, automotive, and jewellery sectors. While these initiatives are presently within the design stage, Chivukula is assured that HP know-how will enable these to scale to the manufacturing of end-use elements. “The shoppers actually wish to see what they’ll do with this know-how, and I feel numerous these are going to translate into manufacturing.”    

Scaling steel additive manufacturing to serial manufacturing

Pastor views serial manufacturing as essentially the most precious subsequent step for additive manufacturing. “3D printing in each polymers and metals has been very targeted on both prototyping or very brief runs,” commented Pastor. “The place the actually fascinating half is available in is when you could have the economics, the yield, and the uptime to actually meet serial manufacturing. 

In keeping with Pastor, serial manufacturing doesn’t essentially translate to massive runs of elements with the identical geometries. As a substitute, Pastor believes it may be high-mix high-volume manufacturing. “That is the place issues get very fascinating. You create worth to your clients as a result of you are able to do this high-mix manufacturing, with out buying and selling off the economics.” 

This stage of manufacturing isn’t with out its challenges. Pastor views buyer confidence as being a key hurdle for growing the adoption of additive manufacturing for serial manufacturing. 

“To get essentially the most out of 3D printing, that you must suppose natively on a 3D printing design,” defined Pastor. “You’ll want to have the belief that this know-how could be a full manufacturing workflow.”

Nevertheless, Pastor believes that after these challenges are overcome, 3D printing presents important worth to clients. “I feel that numerous clients have now realized the facility of additive manufacturing. There’s nonetheless numerous work to do, however I feel that a lot of the massive corporations have an interest, and it’s nearly giving them confidence.”

Finally, Pastor views HP’s new partnership with Indo-MIM, one of many largest contract producers utilizing MIM know-how, as a “massive sign that the Steel Jet S100 is prepared for serial manufacturing.”     

HP grows its community at Formnext 2023 

Indo-MIM isn’t the one firm to have introduced a brand new collaboration with HP. Throughout Formnext 2023, HP introduced a collection of partnerships with Sandvik, GKN Additive, and Elnik’s sister enterprise DSH Applied sciences, to advance its Steel Jet know-how. 

By means of these new partnerships, HP hopes to broaden materials availability and improvements for the tooling trade. This consists of the event of latest supplies comparable to superalloys and competitively priced 316L. 

HP’s strategic collaboration with GKN Additive will see the businesses qualify a various vary of supplies for Steel Jet S100 clients. The tip aim of this partnership is to speed up improvements within the tooling trade, reaching elevated productiveness and high quality with out conventional machining. 

HP additionally introduced a strategic partnership with 3D printing service supplier Materialise at Formnext 2023. This partnership sees HP’s Multi Jet Fusion and Steel Jet additive manufacturing know-how built-in into the Materialise CO-AM software program platform. The businesses declare that this integration will enable producers to boost the effectivity and high quality of their 3D printing workflow, driving quantity manufacturing of end-use elements. 

“To scale additive manufacturing, the trade is in want of printers which are designed for top productiveness coupled with an built-in end-to-end workflow answer,” commented Arvind Rangarajan, World Head of Software program and Knowledge of HP Personalization and 3D Printing. “The partnership between HP and Materialise delivers this answer.”  

Subscribe to the 3D Printing Trade e-newsletter to maintain updated with the most recent 3D printing information. You may as well comply with us on Twitter, like our  Fb web page, and subscribe to the 3D Printing Trade Youtube channel to entry extra unique content material.

Are you interested by working within the additive manufacturing trade? Go to 3D Printing Jobs to view a choice of accessible roles and kickstart your profession.