AM Solutions — 3D post processing technology — a global leader in AM post processing equipment made a series of high profile announcements at Formnext 2023, demonstrating its strength and dominance in automation of the AM process chain. In addition to a number of technology launches, the company also provided details of partnerships with leading AM companies EOS, FKM Additive Manufacturing, and Shapeways.
David Soldan, Head of AM Solutions – 3D post processing technology says, “Alongside some examples of our range of mass finishing, shot blasting and chemical solutions including the S1, the S2, the S1 Wet, and the C1, we introduced the C2 and the M4 at Formnext 2023. The new C2 system allows for the chemical smoothing and dyeing of 3D printed plastic parts in one single process, and the M4 is for surface finishing, such as surface grinding, smoothing, and polishing of small to midsize metal and plastic parts. Sharing the headlines, though, were our partnership announcements which demonstrated that leading AM machine developers such as EOS, and prominent industrial users such as FKM and Shapeways are choosing to work alongside AM Solutions to streamline and automate the entire AM process chain.”
EOS and AM Solutions are united by the goal of establishing 3D printing as a cost-effective, efficient, and top quality production process. Together, the two companies have partnered to take SLS printing to the next level on an industrial scale. The higher the output, the more reliable, faster and more efficient the subsequent steps, such as depowdering, have to be. The key to this lies in automated, cost-effective, and highly efficient post-processing. In this way, quantities can be scaled up as required without compromising quality and reproducibility.
AM Solutions also announced separate partnerships with Shapeways and FKM at Formnext, both involving the new C2 chemical smoothing and dyeing technology (Liquid Color Smoothing).
FKM’s purchase of an S2 system from AM Solutions marks the beginning of the partnership. The S2 will be used to fully automate the post-processing of powder-bed plastic parts in a continuous process with reproducible results at the highest quality level. It was also announced that FKM will become a beta partner for the new C2 system, the company’s interest stimulated by the unique 2-in-1 principle of combining chemical smoothing and dyeing in one process. In addition, both companies are in close contact to address the topic of automated depowdering in the SLS area in the future.
Shapeways will also join the Beta Partner Programme for the C2. This represents a further strengthening of the relationship with Shapeways which invested in AM Solutions S1 and S2 technologies earlier this year after taking part in the Beta Programme for the S2 post processing solution. Shapeways’ involvement as a beta customer contributed significantly to the improvement of the S2 system, underlining the company’s importance as a key and reliable development partner for AM Solutions in the recent past.
Soldan says, “We are delighted to be working in partnership with two high-profile companies like Shapeways and FKM as we establish our new chemical smoothing technology alongside our growing portfolio of AM mass finishing and shot blasting technologies. The C2 from AM Solutions takes the chemical smoothing of 3D printed parts to a new level. With its innovative 2-in-1 Liquid Color Smoothing process, it is capable of smoothing and dyeing parts in a single pass. The result is a streamlining of the process chain with both functions being performed by only one machine. It also reduces the total capital investment required and lowers the cost per finished part. Compared to other solutions, the immersion smoothing technology used reduces the processing time and the specially developed process media operates in a more eco-friendly way.”
AM Solutions is increasingly focused on high volume AM production applications, and is promoting its 2-in-1 solutions which allow the running of two post processing steps in one single machine. This, combined with a higher degree of automation, streamlines the entire process chain and substantially reduces the costs per piece, in some instances by as much as 60%. These impressive savings show that with its unique technological approach AM Solutions is in the perfect place to assist its customers in meeting the additive manufacturing challenges they are facing every day, and is partnering with leading players in the AM space to ensure optimized solutions.
