Rapid Ready Roundup: 3D Systems, Aluminum 6061, and Doorknobs

In the course of my diligent efforts to keep you good people up to date on the state of additive manufacturing, I come across many interesting news items. I’ll gather them up once every few weeks and present them in a Rapid Ready Roundup (like this one). You can find the last Roundup here.

To anyone who follows additive manufacturing (AM) news, it probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise that 3D Systems has been busy lately. The first bit of news I have to share about the company is its entry into Standard & Poor’s SmallCap 600 index. This resulted in a number of AM manufacturing companies seeing their stock prices rise, possibly just from identification of an expanding market. This should be seen as a positive sign of AM growth, as more investors equal more money available for R&D.

Along with that news, 3D Systems has also opened an innovation center at its headquarters inRock Hill,SC. As well as providing demonstrations of AM technology, the center will be used to host seminars for business leaders to discuss how 3D printing can create new solutions to old problems.

 It’s a real privilege to share our disruptive, affordable and impactful solutions with all who seek to benefit from the emergence of a personal manufacturing revolution. This investment clearly demonstrates our complete ideation-to-manufacturing capabilities and underscores our commitment to democratize access and accelerate the adoption of our 3D content-to-print solutions for the benefit of professionals, consumers and educators the world over.

–Abe Reichental, President and CEO of 3D Systems.

Morris Technologies has been hard at work developing more new materials for use in DMLS. Their newest release is Aluminum 6061. The alloy is intended for use in the aerospace, transportation, consumer goods and medical industries. Aluminum 6061 with T6 heat treatment meets AMS standards. Interested parties can find a full material data sheet here.

Furniture fittings designer Armac Martin has experienced increased sales after procuring an Objet 24 3D printer (Objet company profile here). The Objet 24 has allowed the company to expand its offerings to custom fittings, without disrupting the normal flow of its more mass manufactured products. Just like many other companies, Armac Martine has discovered the power and flexibility of AM prototypes, which allows them to build a new piece and deliver it to potential customers in days, rather than weeks.

“This means samples are with customers up to four weeks faster than before, sometimes in just a couple of days from the initial discussion,” says Paul McGrail, Armac Martin managing director. “We’re also making savings in tooling which would normally be required to produce the samples in metal.”

Below you’ll find a video about the Objet desktop line.

Sources: 3D Systems, Wall Street Journal, PR Newswire, SmallCap Network