A tour of the US headquarters for one of the AM industry’s beacons of success.
I love a good factory tour, almost as much as I love lattices.
To my mind, it’s one of the Top 3 Perks of Trade Journalism.
(The other two in no particular order are: trying out new tech and talking to smart people.)
Most of my days are spent sitting behind a desk, so any chance I have to venture out into the wider world and actually see the stuff I write about in person is well worth the time and effort – even when it means having to drive on the I-96 in Michigan.
That’s what I kept telling myself as I (unsuccessfully) dodged potholes on the way from Detroit to Plymouth in my rental car. I’d been invited to visit the North American headquarters of Materialise along with a number of other journalists, customers and users, as part of the company’s 35th anniversary celebration.
Here’s what I saw inside.
A tour of Materialise HQ
With nearly four decades of 3D printing under its belt, Materialise has seen the shift toward additive manufacturing (AM) first hand. As Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, the company’s CEO explained, Materialise has gone from “making it work” from the mid ‘80s to late ‘90s, “making it meaningful” up to the mid oughts, “making it valuable” up to the mid teens and, today, “making it scalable” i.e., working on true AM.
In fact, these milestones are arguably the ones that any business in the AM industry should aim to follow. Imagine setting up a AM service bureau:
- You start with 3D printing as a solution, looking for general applications (making it work);
- Then you expand into the ones that prove to be the best fit for the technology, e.g., medical devices (making it meaningful);
- Then you refine your methods and processes to enhance the business case for those applications (making it valuable);
- Then, finally, you focus on growing your business using what you’ve learned up to this point (making it scalable).
This ethos was felt in virtually every segment of our tour, from example applications to the workflows for checking and distributing products to ensure quality and on-time delivery.
Our tour began with some examples of medical applications: demonstrations of how Materialise takes scans from human patients and turns them into 3D models, resulting in literally life-changing outcomes from patients, such as tracheobronchial splints and even hand and face transplants.
Next was production planning, where Materialise employees use the company’s software tools to set up the builds for 3D printing both polymers and metals on in-house machines. For polymers, the parts are oriented and nested automatically but the metal parts need to be oriented manually by an expert, due to the added complexity of the metal 3D printing process.
From there, we went to polymer production, where we saw both EOS and 3D Systems powder bed fusion (PBF) machines that are used strictly for medical components, producing hundreds of parts each day. The powders are recycled twice before being re-sold, though recycled powders are not used in medical applications.
Verification shipping is where parts undergo a post-quality check and where traceability is assured, again processing hundreds of parts (both polymer and metal) each day. What was surprising but understandable is that this department has “peak seasons” in summer and again at the end of the year. The explanation for this is that, for medical implants, the former is due to school being out (making it a better time for physiotherapy) and the latter is due to insurance claims coming more at the end of the year.
The metal 3D printing section of the facility included GE/Concept Laser/Colibrium laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) machines which – at least on the day I visited – were producing craniomaxillofacial (CMF) implants. This section also included post-processing, which included a band saw for removal along with hand tools for grinding and snipping and a blasting cabinet for surface finish.
Of all the stops on the tour, this was the one where I most wished I could take pictures. There’s a common sentiment that the younger generations aren’t interested in manufacturing because they falsely believe it’s dirty and dangerous. What I saw here demonstrated why that belief is mistaken: young people working in clean, comfortable rooms, doing precise tasks to prepare medical implants that will help improve people’s lives. It’s difficult to imagine a more enticing presentation of modern manufacturing.
After metal AM production, we saw the quality inspection area for metal parts where the tools included go and no-go gauges using 3D printed mimics, an optical scanning arm for CAD comparisons, and equipment for anodizing and laser marking the parts before shipping.
The stereolithography (SLA) room included a large variety of brand new and decades-old machines, with an output about halfway between the polymer PBF and metal L-PBF sections. We were also shown the SLA packing area, where CMF parts are married with other metal implants or surgical guides. This was also where test specimens are built with implants for tensile and bending checks.
There are few companies in the AM industry that have been as successful as Materialise, and after touring the company’s US headquarters, it’s easy to see why. The combination of advanced software, focus on production applications, and emphasis on playing to 3D printing’s strengths as a technology is the key to success for any business in the AM industry.
Stay tuned for Part 2.
