T
problem.”
he cost of post-processing can account for up to 30% of the 3D printed part. If you’ve got this not so little secret at the back end, then you’ve got a big
uses a proprietary algorithm to vary agitation intensities, temperatures and other process factors during the post-processing cycle, while Connect3D links the hardware with the rest of the factory floor.
“Here you are with one of the most exciting technologies in the world but when you scale, you need to put bodies at the end of the line to be able to finish the parts.”
The company has launched these products to address an issue that, Bourguet believes, has not always been among the primary considerations of the AM market.
AMT CEO Joseph Crabtree and PostProcess Technologies Managing Director Bruno Bourguet speak to TCT four weeks apart. Between them, they sum up the frustration that many a manufacturer has had with additive manufacturing (AM) technology.
“When I started, everybody was speaking about printing capabilities, printing resolution, but nobody was talking about the finished part. Nobody knew how you got there,” he told TCT. “It won’t be a massively adopted technology unless it is at least equivalent to the more traditional technologies in terms of traceability, repeatability, also sustainability. When traditional technologies are used in the modern world, companies have got their act together and really optimized that. We need 3D printing at this level.”
The perception of AM is that of a digital technology, where a part is designed in a CAD program, a file uploaded to a printer and the part subsequently built-up layer by layer. What comes after – depowdering, support removal, surface treatment, surface sealing, part identification, transportation, sorting, packaging – is typically anything but digital. “These processes take a significant amount of time, labor and can be harmful to operators’ health,” summarizes Benjamin Hlebec, Addiblast, AM Post-Processing Specialist at FerroEcoBlast. “For these reasons, the automatization of postprocessing is a key factor for higher efficiency, cost reduction and [improving] the health and safety of operators.” FerroEcoBlast is a supplier of AM postprocessing technology, offering solutions like the MARS 03 depowdering station, which is fully automated with an entirely closed loop atmosphere that protects powder from contamination, protects operators from harmful chemicals, and lowers costs while doing so. The company is not alone in seeing the value of such automated products. Bourguet stepped into the AM space in 2018, bringing to PostProcess Technologies his experience from the mapping data sector to help combat the 'dirty little secret' tag. He was recruited to help bring to an international market an automated post-processing portfolio, which includes hardware for resin removal, support removal and surface finishing, and the Automat3D and Connect3D software tools. Automat3D
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Supporting Bourguet’s claim is Rösler UK’s Technical Sales Manager Charles Popp. Rösler, through its AM Solutions brand, is a provider of post-processing solutions built from its traditional automated vibratory finishing technology, as well as of select partners, such as PostProcess Technologies. Popp told TCT how, often, post-processing can be ‘a bit of an afterthought’ when purchasing a 3D printer; Hlebec too noted post-processing is often neglected or underestimated. This lack of consideration, as well as limited technology solutions, is why skilled engineers are pulled away from skilled work and deployed on the manual post-processing of printed parts. AM Flow Commercial Director Carlos Zwikker saw this play out while working at one of the industry’s leading service providers. The oftencumbersome nature of AM post-processing led to the development of AM Flow’s range of connected hardware and software solutions that supplement what the likes of AMT and Rösler offer, tracking and tracing parts throughout the workflow. AM Vision, which uses underlying data to identify parts, is its kernel; AM Logic collects the relevant data that allows users to keep control of their AM process; AM Expert helps to optimize workflows; and there also products for picking, packaging and more.
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ENGINE COMPONENT FINISHED WITH AMT TECHNOLOGY [CREDIT: AMT]
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MITSUBISHI ROBOT LIVE IN ACTION AT FORMNEXT 2019 [CREDIT: AMT]
