Authentise, a leader in data-driven workflow tools for additive manufacturing, and Solukon, a developer of automated depowdering systems for metal and polymer additive manufacturing, agreed to integrate the Solukon Digital Factory Tool into the advanced Manufacturing Execution System (aMES).

The removal of powder from 3D printed components, is a central step in postprocessing in additive manufacturing. Solukon Maschinenbau GmbH offers a full range of industrial powder removal systems and has recently added advanced analytics capabilities into their postprocessing systems through the Digital Factory Tool, a sensor and interface management solution. The Solukon Digital Factory Tool allows easy integration of automated powder removal into an overall digital AM process by providing continuous documentation and real time monitoring.

The integration of the Solukon powder removal environment will enable users to continue the powder to part genealogy using Authentise’s material traceability module. This will increase opportunities for improved post-process inspection recording and recycling of recovered materials. In addition, real-time alerts generated by the Solukon system inside aMES will help the user address any deviations during the process and improve powder recovery. Since aMES already captures data from AM machines and manages the printable geometry, the system passes this information on to Solukon automatically, saving the user from locating and uploading this information separately. The insight generated is appended to the existing aMES part report to ensure end-to-end traceability. In the future, both companies aim to integrate Solukon’s automatic toolpath creation into the Authentise aMES to help users identify the optimum automated powder removal process for their specific application.

Authentise
www.authentise.com

Solukon
www.solukon.de