AMUG Newsletter September 2019

President’s Report

Get out the VOTE! We have worked hard to draft the latest version of the AMUG Bylaws. There have been many revisions (many more than anticipated) leading up to the final version that is awaiting your vote. Details and instructions will be delivered to the email addresseses of all 2019 AMUG members.

Your AMUG Board has been very busy this summer. Beyond the bylaws, there have been an amazing number of things happening, and you will see them put into action very soon. The first will be the opening of AMUG Conference registration on October 1.  Concurrently, we will open the hotel reservation system. Although we have taken over the entire site, your amazing event manager Tom Sorovetz has also secured back-up hotels. Our team has also done an incredible job of working with the facility to accommodate a growing number of attendees. However, hotel rooms are limited, and the conference venue has a maximum occupancy threshold. So, I advise you to make your registration/reservation early!

A key element of the new bylaws, and the supporting policies, is the expansion of AMUG committees. A big motivator for this change is the amazing response we have had from those that would like to volunteer. The committees have assembled an outstanding group of highly skilled professionals from the AM community. This makes for a great AMUG team, and I couldn’t be luckier to have them all helping. If you have submitted your interest to help and have not yet be contacted, please be patient as there is still lots to be done. If you’d like to add your name to our volunteer list, please visit the volunteer submission portal.

Some of you may not be aware of the reach of AMUG. It is international, and we will have a great presence at the TCT Show and Formnext. You are part of an amazing and influential group. If you see us at these events, please stop and say ‘Hi’.  We’d love to see you, get a chance to catch up, and share the exciting new things we have worked so hard to provide.

Bylaws Approval

The AMUG Board has revised the organization’s bylaws to restructure for growth, expand volunteer opportunities, and adhere to best practices for associations. But it is up to you, the AMUG members, to enact the proposed bylaws, and we need to meet the quorum threshold to do so. Therefore, it is very important that you cast your vote.

Voting will be open from September 16 through 30. All AMUG members of record will receive an email with instruction on how to cast a ballot. The voting portal will include a link to the proposed bylaws and a description of the changes.

2020 AMUG Conference

March 22 – 26, 2020

Chicago, Illinois

2020 Conference Agenda

Development of the 2020 AMUG Conference agenda is well underway, and we are excited to kick things off.  Each month leading up to the conference, we will provide you updates on the agenda and programs we are developing for the 2020 event.

2019 AMUG Conference Feedback

First, we would like to thank everyone that contributed to the 2019 speaker evaluations. There is a lot of work that goes into developing the agenda, and understanding what sessions work and don’t work is important.  We use this feedback to redevelop, re-evaluate, and adjust our programs.

In response to your feedback, we are adjusting a few items on the agenda and are working to provide better guidelines to our moderators and speakers.

NEW! We’ve Extended the AMUGexpo Hours

We received many requests to extend the AMUGexpo hours. With the expanded floor plan and increased sponsor and exhibitor spaces available, we have increased the duration of the exposition.

• Sunday, March 22 – 4:00pm to 10:00pm
• Monday, March 23 –10:00am to 2:30pm and 6:00pm to 10:00pm

Additionally, Diamond and Platinum Sponsors will continue to exhibit Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Content is King! Call for Speakers

The 2020 AMUG Call for Speakers is now open. The AMUG agenda is broken into two sections, AMUG tracks and Diamond/Platinum Sponsor tracks.  This call for speakers is specifically for the AMUG tracks.

The tracks for the 2020 program are:

• Aerospace/Transportation/Defense/Military (Ted Anderson, GE)
• AM Metal Technologies (Matthew Duffy, Buffalo Manufacturing Works)
• AM Technologies Non-Metal (Colton Rooney, EMI Corp)
• Casting (Thomas Sorovetz, FCA US LLC; Edward Graham, ProtoCAM; Jack Ziemba, Aristo-Cast)
• Education and Training (Jordan Weston, MSOE)
• Materials (Nate Schumacher, Midwest Prototyping)
• Medical and Dental (Shannon Van Deren, Layered Manufacturing and Consulting)
• Scanning & Metrology (Giles Gaskell, Wenzel America)
• Software (Jordan Weston, MSOE)

We have a great team of track leaders working on developing their programs for 2020. They work very closely with the speakers, panelist, and workshop leaders to ensure the sessions are valuable to the members. However, when responding to the Call for Speakers, we ask interested presenters to contact the Track Leader Committee Chair, Jordan Weston, at trackleader@amug.com. Based on your topic, Jordan will put you in contact with the appropriate track leader.

The track leaders will be looking for training and educational talks; hands-on training sessions; and panel discussions. Note that these presentations and training sessions cannot be sales pitches…these will be rejected. We are expecting to fill up the speaking slots very quickly so don’t delay.

Thank you all in advance for your interest in being a presenter at AMUG 2020.

Call for Speakers; share your experience at AMUG 2020.

Scholarships

Are you a student or a professor pushing the limits of additive manufacturing?

The Guy E. Bourdeau Scholarship and Randy Stevens Scholarship will be accepting applications from October 1, 2019, to January 27, 2020. These scholarships celebrate the achievements of highly motivated students, high school teachers, and college/university professors in additive manufacturing. Scholarship winners will receive a fully paid AMUG 2020 Conference package, including airline ticket and hotel accommodation.

Students, visit the Guy E. Bourdeau Scholarship page for details on the application process, scholarship benefits, and expectations. Educators, the same information is available on the Randy Stevens Scholarship page.

2019 scholarship winners Victoria Sears and Dr. Wenchao Zhou.

AMUG at TCT Show

In its annual pilgrimage, AMUG will once again be actively involved at the TCT Show (September 24 – 26, Birmingham, UK). We will be located in stand B48 and participating from several of the many stages on the show floor.

One of the many enjoyable aspects of the AMUG Conference is the sheer amount of educational content. With education and sharing experiences within our industry at the heart of AMUG’s core beliefs, when opportunity knocks, AMUG answers. For example, Andrew Allshorn, AMUG VP, was asked to chair the TCT Inspired Minds session (Powered by CREATE Education), and he enthusiastically agreed to fill that role.

The Inspired Minds sessions, which take place over three days, bring together key figures from AM, 3DP, education, and industry whose lives, careers, or backgrounds have been involved with or impacted by the technology. The goal is to inspire students to consider STEAM subjects and careers. Michelle Chatterley, head of CREATE Education, said, “Because the group [AMUG] aims to educate and advance uses and applications of AM, It is important the panel members and the pupils have knowledge of the existence and importance of AMUG within this industry.” And AMUG sees these sessions as critical in developing users of AM/3DP that will be future AMUG members.

AMUG Member Graham Tromans inspiring students in the 2018 Inspired Minds program (photo courtesy of TCT).

Formnext: A Special Offer to AMUG Members

With a wide range of solutions as well as established and completely new special topics, Formnext 2019 will once again be the worldwide focal point for additive manufacturing and modern industrial production. Located in Frankfurt, Germany, Formnext will run from November 19-22, 2019, and will be the destination for solutions in software, digitization, pre-processing, AM manufacturing, post-processing, quality assurance. The complex world of additive manufacturing and its processes are at home at Formnext.

The event organizer, Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH, has graciously offered AMUG members free entrance passes, and it will host an AMUG-sponsored reception. With the AMUG member exclusive discount code, you will tour the exhibition floor (over 600 exhibitors 37,00 square meters of space) for free. This is a €90 ($100) value. On Wednesday, November 20, you can relax, after a long day of show-floor walking, in the AMUG-sponsored reception that will be held in the U.S. pavilion. Our plan is to bring the camaraderie, information sharing, and networking expected of an AMUG Conference to Frankfurt. AMUG members will receive the discount code and additional details by email.

Before and after the reception, the U.S. pavilion will be AMUG’s base station and home to AMT, ASME, and the U.S. Commercial Services. As a partner country (a first for Formnext), the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Services arm is leading a trade mission with a stop at Formnext and cooperating on a standards forum (November 19). With all of the activities and support resources, Formnext has named Wednesday, November 20, as U.S. Day.

For information on Formnext, visit formnext.mesago.com.

AMUG members get free access to Formnext.

Renishaw, Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) and nTopology Host Webinar on Additive Manufacturing for Spinal Implants

To strengthen the use of additive manufacturing (AM) for medical devices, global engineering technology company Renishaw ran a webinar alongside manufacturing research organization IMR and software company nTopology. On September 10, the three companies discussed a recent joint project that combined Renishaw’s expertise in AM, IMR’s knowledge of medical device development, and nTopology’s advanced design software to produce a new type of conceptual spinal implant. To register and listen to the recording of the webinar, click here.

During the project, IMR designed a range of implants using software from nTopology and produced them on a RenAM 500 series system. As part of the webinar, Mark Hartnett, research engineer at IMR, explained how AM can be used to manufacture spinal implants with lattice structures. Christopher Cho, senior application engineer from nTopology, discussed how software can enable the rapid creation of complex, performance-driven designs for AM. nTopology’s platform allows users to create custom workflows to meet the exact requirements of a project.

Click here to listen to the recording of the webinar.

Webinar on spinal implants features the work of Renishaw, IMR, and nTopology.

Additive Industries’ Largest Aerospace Customer Expands Installed Base to 10 Systems

Additive Industries’ general manager, Shane Collins, and the team of Additive Industries North America, Inc. have received the largest repeat order in Additive Industries’ history. A prestigious aerospace company located in California has purchased six additional MetalFAB1 systems.

When the order for six machines arrives at the customer site later this year, it will bring their installed base of MetalFAB1 systems to 10, with more possible in 2020. This customer was able to consolidate approximately 700 kilograms of powder in the month of June with the four-laser MetalFAB1 systems currently in operation. The application represents an inflection point in metal powder bed fusion part production where candidate parts were typically limited to fit size volumes to meet ROI calculations. With the MetalFAB1 systems this customer can cost effectively produce over 420 mm diameter by 400 mm tall parts weighing a whopping 180 kilograms.

Interested to find out what it can mean for your productivity? Just let us know!

New order brings aerospace company’s MetalFAB1 system count up to 10.

3YOURMIND Works with DIN on Machine Connectivity Standardization

The only correct way to push “additive” into manufacturing is by creating industry-wide standards. 3YOURMIND is helping drive this work forward in organizations that are developing standards for receiving and sending production data.

Last month, we focused on our partnership with umati (official exhibition at emo), which is developing its  universal machine tool interface to handle complex data exchange in under one second. In October, 3YOURMIND’s Stefan Ritt, an AMUG Dino and chair of AMUG’s international committee, will host the next DIN working group “Software in Additive Manufacturing” (NA 145-04-04) to create the EU standardization benchmark.

3YOURMIND will showcase the output at Formnext—a significant step forward towards automated quality assurance and production in additive manufacturing.

Meet 3YOURMIND at formnext.

GE Additive Opens the Door on New Arcam EBM Center of Excellence in Sweden

We’ve officially opened the doors of our new Arcam EBM Center of Excellence in Gothenburg, Sweden. Situated at the Mölnlycke Business Park in Härryda municipality, southeast of Gothenburg,  the building offers capacity for up to 500 employees. The new 15,000 square meter facility is triple the  space of Arcam EBM’s previous site in Mölndal. The Center of Excellence will focus on R&D and allows us to drive EBM technology further. Having production, R&D, training facilities, and support functions all housed under one roof, lean manufacturing is placed at the center of our operations and  increases our production capacity.

Learn more about us at ge.com/additive.

The new Arcam EBM Center of Excellence.

3D Systems Showcasing New Plastics Materials at TCT 2019 – Paving the Way for New Applications

At TCT 2019, 3D Systems will showcase the latest additions to its robust, continuously expanding Figure 4 materials portfolio. On display will be parts produced from three newly released materials:

• Figure 4 TOUGH-BLK 20, a strong ABS-like black plastic with industry-leading UV stability for high performance prototyping and production applications where lifecycle stability is critical and mechanical properties fit. It provides high precision, smooth surface finish and exceptional sidewall quality with minimal finishing.
• Figure 4 MED-AMB 10 and Figure 4 MED-WHT 10, biocompatible materials available in transparent amber and a white that are sterilizable and capable of meeting ISO 10993-5 and ISO 10993-10. Suitable for use in general medical applications requiring translucency, sterilization, and/or thermal resistance, as well as consumer high-temperature applications where rigid function are desirable with transparency or white color properties.

The company will also announce and showcase five additional new materials at TCT 2019 with planned general availability for October 1. These industry-leading materials are designed to deliver unparalleled properties for production workflows.

Water nozzle created in Figure 4 MED-AMB 10, a transparent amber, biocompatible material that is sterilizable and capable of meeting ISO 10993-5 and ISO 10993-10.

Essentium Offers Choice of High-Temperature-Tolerant Materials

As 3D printing moves from prototyping to large-scale production, the demand is rising for materials that can withstand the rigors of the factory floor. Specifically, new materials need to deliver extreme heat resistance, chemical resistance and high strength to meet the needs of industrial applications across industries such as aerospace, automotive, medical and oil & gas.

Essentium has developed a line of high-temperature-tolerant materials to meet these needs. With a broader range of materials available, it’s important for manufacturers to distinguish between these materials and their applications in additive manufacturing. The materials fall into two categories: semi-crystalline and amorphous polymers, which differ based on their molecular structure.

Due to their ordered molecular structure, semi-crystalline polymers have a well-defined melting point, better strength, improved fatigue performance, excellent chemical resistance and improved wear resistance compared to amorphous materials. With their randomly ordered molecular structure, amorphous materials lack a sharp melting point, which means they soften gradually as the temperature increases beyond the polymer’s glass transition temperature. They offer excellent ductility and superior impact strength.

At Essentium, we believe material innovation is paramount to unlocking the promise of industrial applications of additive manufacturing, and we will continue to adapt and improve heat-resistant materials to give manufacturers control, choice in materials, lower costs, and ultimately freedom to innovate.

Watch the video.

BASF Partners with TPU Service Bureaus using HP MJF Printers

BASF’s TPU powders for industrial applications are finding new homes at different 3D printing service bureaus. The following is the latest list of BASF partners in additive manufacturing:

• Forecast 3D: First service provider in the U.S. to install TPU01
  • Largest single user of HP printers in the U.S.
  • Using BASF’s TPU to meet demand for flexible materials
  • www.forcast3d.com
• Avid Product Development: Privately held service provider about to install TPU01
  • Adding to their existing fleet of HP machines
  • Using TPU for prototype, production, and tooling applications
  • www.avidpd.com
• Extol Inc.: Privately held premier service provider of plastics equipment
  • New to 3D printing but adding HP machines
  • Support customers all over the world
  • www.extolinc.com

For more information, check out www.basf-3dps.com or contact us at sales@basf-3dps.com.

BASF’s TPU powder for HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printers (video).

Materialise Expands Innovative Work with HP to Advance Industrial-Scale 3D Printing

Materialise and HP Inc. recently announced the integration of a new version of the Materialise Build Processor to support the full range of printers in the HP Jet Fusion 3D printing portfolio, including the newly announced HP Jet Fusion 5200 and HP’s Jet Fusion 500/300 Series of 3D printing solutions. In addition, customers can take advantage of free six-month access to Materialise Magics Essentials software with purchase of an HP Jet Fusion 300/500 Series printer to leverage advanced color and texture handling, in combination with HP’s full spectrum color 3D printing capabilities.

Learn more.

Materialise and HP 3D Printing allow for pre-surgical planning and simulation.

AM Revolutionizes Race Cycling: Innovative, 3D-Printed Pulley Wheels Increase Performance

The global cycle market is driven by innovations and staying at the forefront of the industry. CeramicSpeed, which revolutionized races by introducing ceramic bearings to professional cycling, entered into a partnership with the Danish Technological Institute (DTI). With a quad-laser SLM^®500 and twin SLM^®280 system, the institute has been successfully utilizing selective laser melting for years, making them the perfect partner to optimize development. The results yielded the world’s lightest gear wheel, the so-called titanium pulley wheels, developed by the partners working together for race-condition testing from professional riders racing in this year’s Tour de France. Read the full press release here.

Carbon® Creates the First Digitally Printed Bike Saddles with Specialized® and fizik®

This past month, Carbon announced two exciting partnerships with leading cycling brands, Specialized and fizik, to revolutionize saddle performance.

Carbon DLS™ technology allowed Specialized to develop lattice designs that enable the saddle to rebound quickly, giving riders the experience of having a ‘suspension’ seating. Fizik, like Specialized, designs the saddles to disperse pressure, enabling cyclists to ride longer and faster—ultimately getting the most out of their bike.

In the past, bike saddle designers and manufacturers have struggled to ameliorate cycling enthusiasts’ and professionals’ persistent issues with pressure and discomfort, which can lead to injuries and health issues, including neuralgia, numbness, and urinary problems. The bike saddles are designed to result in less pain and fewer injuries for riders.

In partnering with adidas, Riddell, and now Specialized and fizik, Carbon’s innovations are advancing human performance and protection. For more information on how Carbon is transforming the biking experience, visit www.carbon3d.com.

Completed prints of Specialized’s S-Works Power Saddle with Mirror Technology.

On-Demand Webinar Now Available: Metal 3D Printing for Production Using Binder Jetting Technology

In September, Tim Pierce, VP of metal commercial products at The ExOne Company, hosted a webinar about metal 3D printing for production using binder jetting. The webinar remains available for instant replay here.

ExOne has been the market share leaders in binder jet 3D printing, including of metals, since it was founded in 1995 as the “ProMetal” division of Extrude Hone. The company’s development of metal printers over the past 20+ years, including the new X1 25PRO™, has been informed by the company’s own production facility, which Pierce leads. The facility 3D prints parts in 316L, 17-4PH, 304L and other materials for commercial customers in aerospace, automotive, energy and other industries.

Primary topics covered in the webinar:
• Technical Overview: Binder Jet 3D Printing for Metals
• The Evolution of Metal Materials in Binder Jetting
• How Sintering Exposes the Quality of Your 3D Printed Part
• Workflows in Metal 3D Printing Production

Watch the webinar here.

Tim Pierce, VP of commercial products, hosts a webinar on metal 3D printing.

On-Demand Webinar: How AM Complements Conventional Plastic Production

Demand for custom production is growing rapidly—and not just when we talk about consumers. Manufacturers across all industries are feeling increased market pressure to create and scale production of end-use parts tailored to the individual. But it’s not just the applications that require customization—the production process itself has to be flexible enough to fit the application’s custom needs.

With additive manufacturing, everything from materials and design to process and software can be customized to meet application-specific requirements. This isn’t an out-of-the-box offering; it’s a custom solution built to fit the needs of the manufacturer, that when done correctly, is an excellent complement to conventional manufacturing.

This on-demand webinar covers how organizations today can leverage the unique value of polymer additive manufacturing, highlighting:

• 3D Printing vs. Injection Molding
• Making a Case for AM
• Application Solutions in Key Verticals
• Prototyping vs. Production
• Solution Engineering

Watch on-demand.

Watch on-demand.

Volkswagen Leverages 3D Printing and Electroplating to Create Metal Hubcaps with Formlabs Printers

One of the easiest and highest-quality ways to get metal parts from a polymer 3D printer is through electroplating—an approach that Volkswagen and Autodesk took to produce a set of hubcaps for a futuristic concept vehicle. The hubcaps were printed on a Formlabs desktop SLA 3D printer using Clear Resin. SLA 3D printing is a great match for electroplating, due to its physical and aesthetic characteristics.

SLA 3D printing works well for electroplating, compared to fused deposition modeling (FDM) and selective laser sintering (SLS) that produce rough parts that aren’t watertight. SLA offers extremely smooth surface finish, fine detail, and watertight geometries.

If you’re interested in the process, talk with your electroplating service provider about special finishing requirements before preparing your prints. For more details on this project and how to electroplate 3D printed parts, check out the blog.

For information on Formlabs’ lineup, vistit Formlabs 3D printers.

3D-printed hubcap before electroplating.

How Large-Format Additive Helped Reshape a 130-year-old Company’s Sand Casting Process

J.C. Steele & Sons, Inc. has been a global leader in the design and manufacturing of stiff extrusion equipment for brick making machinery for over 130 years. By implementing large-format additive manufacturing and streamlining their workflow, JC Steele eliminated the longest (designing a pattern by hand), most prone to human error (interpreting design drawings), and expensive (managing reductive waste) parts of the design process. After they printed just their first pattern, they saw a positive ROI on their printer.

“Pattern making is pretty much a lost art,” said JC Steele’s pattern shop supervisor, Chris Watts. “With 3D printing we can just design our parts in CAD and go straight from that to a pattern.”

Read the full case study to learn how JC Steele reduced cost by 75% and increased annual productivity by 50%.

JC Steel reduced costs (75%) and increased productivity (50%); read how in the case study.

Farsoon Technologies – 10 Years of Innovation

Farsoon Technologies is proud to announce its 10-Year Anniversary Celebration and AM Innovation Forum on Thursday, October 24, 2019, at our Changsha Headquarters, in recognition of our 10 Years of Innovation in Industrial Additive Manufacturing. At this special moment, Farsoon would like to thank all our industrial customers and partners for their continuous trust and support. We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to all Farsooners over the globe; we would not have been able to come this far without all your diligence and hard work.

Founded in 2009 with only 5 members in a warehouse, we could hardly have foreseen Farsoon’s growth today—number 1 additive manufacturing OEM in China with more than 300 employees and direct global operation in Stuttgart, Germany, and Austin (Texas), U.S. Everything started with a simple and clear idea—“Open for Industry”. Our goal is to keep pushing the boundaries of true additive manufacturing by offer the user the full access and freedom of material selection and parameters, to suit the needs of specialized applications and additive production.

Farsoon Technologies celebrates 10 years of innovation.

Changing Perceptions Through Awareness

Last month, we focused on helping sponsor the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition, which gives STEM students a taste of real-world problem solving using additive technology. We’re continuing on a similar theme with our support of Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) coming up in early October. MFG Day gives students an opportunity to see firsthand what modern manufacturing looks like.

What’s often termed the “skills gap” might also be called the “interest gap” because of the lack of interest in manufacturing among young individuals. One of the problems is the notion that manufacturing is a dirty job, a passé occupation borne by past generations. But as AMUG members well know, that’s not the reality anymore.

On October 4, Stratasys, and other manufacturers around the country, will open its doors to students, showing them today’s modern manufacturing and the opportunities it presents. You can read more about this interesting partnership between industry and education at the Stratasys Blog.

Students will experience AM at the MFG Day in October.

See 3DMP at FABTECH and Formnext

3D Metal Printing, seeking the latest developments in metal additive manufacturing (AM), will be on hand at both FABTECH—in booth A3944, from November 11 to 14 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois—and Formnext the following week in Frankfurt, Germany. Visit with our editors on the show floors and see our Fall 2019 issue, featuring previews of FABTECH and Formnext and much more, including challenges faced when using multiple lasers in AM builds, and how they can be overcome.

www.3dmpmag.com

Visit with 3D Metal Printing at FABTECH and Formnext; witness the ever-increasing capabilities, such as shown in this print sample from 3D Systems.

Production AM Is Arriving

Manufacturers once talked about 3D printing only in terms of rapid prototyping. Then, it was a useful technique for tooling. More recently it has become accepted as an option for production, though usually with the caveat that production be restricted to low and medium volumes.

Today production additive manufacturing is no longer on the horizon; it is already here. The use of 3D printing for production at scale was a clear theme at last month’s Additive Manufacturing Conference (watch a recap here), and it’s been evident in our recent reporting. Learn how real manufacturers in the aerospace, automotive, consumer, defense, industrial, and medical spaces are now producing with 3D printing in this special report.

Special report on AM for production.

Latest Issue Covers United Technologies: Pioneering New Possibilities for Additive Manufacturing in Aerospace

United Technologies Corp (UTC), through its Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace businesses, has a long history of innovation in aerospace engineering. In the latest issue of Metal AM magazine, Venkat Vedula, executive director of UTC’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Expertise (AMCoE), and Vijay Jagdale, the centre’s principal engineer, explain how this tradition is today being continued through the corporation’s cutting-edge additive manufacturing activities.

Our report highlights, with the support of an in-depth case study, the centre’s core areas of activity and UTC’s vision for the future of additive manufacturing. View the Summer 2019 issue of Metal AM online or download today.

Summer 2019 issue of Metal AM provides insights into UTC’s innovation with AM.

AM Event Season Gets Underway

As the days begin to shorten and temperatures start to fall, it can mean only one thing—AM expo and conference season is beginning.

The 3D Printing Industry team will be hitting the road for all the essential events in these final months of the year. TCT in Birmingham is our first destination; where we’re looking forward to seeing new products from several major companies. Following this, we’ll be in Munich for the MTC and then Singapore for the NAMIC Global AM Summit. If you can’t be there in person, our social media feeds will be full of the latest news.

The 3D Printing Industry events guide is a useful resource for keeping up with the busy schedule. Are you hosting an event? You can add it for free.

You can also pick up a copy of our new magazine at AM events across the world this autumn. The magazine is a fantastic milestone for our publication, so let us know how we’re doing.

Volume 1 Issue 1 of the 3D Printing Industry magazine.

TCT Show – 5 Days to Go!

­The autumn trade show calendar kicks off in a big way next week as our flagship TCT Show opens its doors over three days (September 24-26).

With a number of product launches and UK firsts teased for this year’s show from the likes of 3D Systems, Matsuura and Zortrax, Birmingham’s NEC is the only place to be next week to see the latest in design-to-manufacturing innovation.

In addition to over 250 exhibitors on the show floor, visitors will find a wealth of insight across four stages, including user-led keynotes at the TCT Summit and panel sessions run by leading UK organisations and universities over on the TCT Tech Stage. Best of all? It’s all completely free.

The inspiration continues into the evening on day two as the annual TCT Awards gala recognises the most ground-breaking technologies and applications shaping the industry today and welcomes a new member into the TCT Hall of Fame.

Register here for you FREE TCT Show ticket.

A busy, active show floor at TCT Show 2018.

Exhibit at RAPID + TCT 2020

RAPID + TCT is accepting exhibit space requests for the 2020 event. The 30^th annual RAPID + TCT event will be held at the Anaheim (CA) Convention Center from April 21-23. It is where you can interact with key 3D technology influencers: 74% of attendees influence equipment purchase decision in their companies and 33% of attendees have equipment budgets that exceed $200,000.

To learn more, visit rapid3Devent.com.

Preparing to Switch from Traditional to Additive Manufacturing

The manufacturing world’s mindset is shifting with the news of 3D-printed, certified-for-flight components and FDA-approved human joint replacements. Additive manufacturing has shown signs it can produce end-use parts, but making metal additive manufacturing (AM) dependable enough for serial manufacturing remains an accomplishment of few companies.

Why is AM still falling short? After all, it offers the promise of less tooling, shorter lead times, and fewer supply chain issues. Not to mention the enticing vision of consolidating multiple parts, and even the magic of “innovative designs that can’t be manufactured any other way.” The short answer is, while the technology has dramatically advanced in recent years, there are still many less-visible technology issues to be overcome.

Get the story here.