Raphael Gorge, CEO of engineering firm Groupe Gorge, discusses their new Prodways 3D printers and the company's future.
French engineering firm Groupe Gorge is entering the 3D printing industry with their acquisition of Prodways, a private 3D printer OEM founded by former 3D Systems chief scientist, Andre-Luc Allanic. Prodways sold 17 of their industrial 3d printers in the last 3 years, mostly to German customers.
Andre-Luc Allanic on the technology utilized by the new Prodways printers:
Groupe Gorge will debut their latest 3D printers at next week’s EuroMold 2013 in Frankfurt.
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I asked Raphael Gorge, CEO of the Gorge Group a few investment-related questions.
Engineering.com: Why is Groupe Gorge expanding into the 3D
printing industry?
Raphael Gorge:
Groupe Gorgé has always been positioned in leading technologies: (Drones, autonomous
vehicles, simulation, industrial robotics). We believe that 3D Printing will
have a huge impact on the industry during the next 20 years. When I met André
Luc Allanic, I grasped the potential of this technology, based on a LED and a
moving DLP. The company was small but the essential was there. Group Gorgé
immediately provided financial and also human resources (technical, R&D,
commercial network) in order to answer, almost immediately, the entire market
needs and to reveal this technology to the world.
Engineering.com: What industries do your machines currently
target, and what industries might you expand into in the future?
Raphael Gorge:
Due to our high accurate, high resolution and high throughput process, the
medical market and more especially the dental industry came naturally to us. We
are actually developing a large spectrum of materials. We are also in discussion with potential
chemical partners. Thru these solutions we will bring advanced materials with high
mechanical properties simulating engineering plastic properties such as ABS for
example. Then functional parts will be produced from our systems and will answer
the needs of automotive, white goods, electronics, consumer goods… We also
have developed a unique process working with composite materials able to
produce ceramic parts as Zirconia, Alumide, hydoxyapathite which open a brand
new world of application in the medical, jewelry, and luxury industries.
Engineering.com:
Do you have a target goal in terms of machine sales and new revenue for 2014
from 3D printing?
Raphael Gorge: We
will probably announce our mid-term target in January.
Engineering.com: What are the competitive advantages of Prodways
machines?
Raphael Gorge:
Two major competitive advantages are brought to industrial users: unparalleled
perfection of the parts produced and distinctly improved profitability. Prodways technology provides a world record in resolution
and precision even on large parts, and permits the use and development of
premium material.
-
Most detailed parts on the market at high
throughput : hundreds of tiny parts in just a few hours at a resolution of less
than 35-µm -
Unequalled resolution, more than half a billion
pixels per layer -
High precision in the 3 dimensions (horizontal
AND vertical), essential in many applications such as dental -
Very large sized parts while retaining the same
precision required for intricate and exacting parts such as those used in
biomedical -
The technology permits the use and development
of premium innovative composite and hybrid materials with impressive
mechanical, physical, esthetic properties as well as biocompatible materials
for a wide variety of medical applications -
Thanks to Prodways technology, profitability is
significantly improved due to its incredible speed and considerable reductions
in production costs -
Up to 10 times faster than market standards
-
Technology allowing for unequalled production
volumes -
Superior surface quality requiring minimum
finishing -
Minimum operating costs due to lack of expensive
wear and tear on parts -
Replacement of LED light source cheaper than
laser
Engineering.com: A recent article states that your machines are
capable of printing 100 dental models in 5 hours. Are these complete, full-scale models?
Raphael Gorge:
This was a rough estimation. In a simulation for clear aligners application, we
reached 220 full-scale models in 8h30. This figure could be improved with more
reactive materials our R&D Team could develop and also process
optimisation. Regarding full-scale dental pattern to replace gypsum pattern, we
reach 144 models in less than 14 hours, but the design is different from one
company to the other so the time can be different, but this gives a rough idea
of the build time. It is also important to mention that this is produced with
very high resolution (more than 500 million pixels per layer) and high accuracy
without compromising build time.
Engineering.com: Do you have plans to expand into the North
American market in the future?
Raphael Gorge: We have already sold machines in North America. This
market is highly prioritaire. We are actually looking for new commercial
partners to represent Prodways in this region.
Engineering.com: Is there a possibility that Groupe Gorge will
list the stock for trading on a U.S. exchange?
Raphael Gorge: The
potential of 3D printing is almost unknown on European stock market. If this
was to last for long, we could envisage any financial strategy that enables us
to reach the huge financial leverage our competitors have.
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Groupe Gorge trades on the NYSE Euronext under the ticker GOE from 3:00AM-11:30Am EST.
Disclosure: I own shares of Groupe Gorge
