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Here’s our latest news roundup: we have a lot of tech related news as well as juicy reports and the latest statistics.
KPMG reports provide interesting insights in metal AM market
Two reports issued by KPMG provide useful insights into the manufacturing industry and how 3D printing companies may benefit from opportunities in this area. The latest report reveals that more than 50% of business executives either plan to invest, or have already invested in 3D printing. “Metals executives should have no concerns about their ability to source raw materials — for the time being, at historically low prices,” says Richard Sharman, KPMG’s global head of commodity trading. However, the processing of these raw materials into feedstock for use in 3D printing is an area where activity during 2016 is beginning to heat up.
Read more at 3D Printing Industry.
Nanoscale 3D printing breakthrough in EBM technology
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have produced a process that could finally master Focused Electron Beam Induced Deposition and drive nanoscale 3D printing forward. Their findings were published in the journal ACS Nano in a paper entitled: “Simulation-guided 3-D nanomanufacturing via focused electron beam induced deposition.” FEBID has frustrated the best minds in the business and outside of a lab it has just proved impossible for anything larger than a few nanometers. But the researchers, together with a team from the Graz University of Technology, have developed a simulation to truly harness the process and open up a world of possibilities. One of the best examples that could benefit from this procedure is manufacturing of graphene sheets: a wonder material that could transform the technological world overnight but has yet to be produced reliably on a large, industrial scale.
Read all the techie details here.
BMW talks implementing in-house 3D printing
Throughout its history, the BMW Group has been an early adopter of 3D printing systems, first leveraging early 3D printers for prototyping purposes and, more recently, for serial production. In fact, the Rolls-Royce Phantom features 10,000 additively manufactured parts, demonstrating BMW’s overall confidence in the technology and the ability to wield it. Jens Ertel, head of the BMW Group’s Additive Manufacturing Center, elaborated on the transition from 3D printing as a prototyping process to an actual additive manufacturing technology: “Due to our product portfolio, it was obvious for us to use 3D printing or, better, additive manufacturing for more than just prototyping. Subsequently, we started doing our own research on the materials and technologies. Based on these activities, we are continuously screening possible parts and try to find projects where a positive business case is given and where additive manufacturing fits to the specifications. Due to improvements in machine technologies and materials, we had the chance to do those further steps.”
Read the full article and interview at Engineering.