Nikon is a renowned name throughout the world, in the Additive world we're used to seeing the company's vast array of metrology solutions at trade shows throughout the globe. However, here in its native Japan its got its eyes more on the making than the inspection.
At 3D Printing 2018, Nikon is demonstrating its Optical Processing Machine, which has a host of manufacturing capabilities including laser marking, welding, etching and importantly metal additive manufacturing.
Nikon's new AM capable machine
The technology is leveraged from its many years perfecting semiconductor fabrication; the additive function is a laser deposition process capable of printing metals in incredibly precise detail.
For now, Nikon is scoping the market's reaction to the technology created by the Semiconductor Lithography Business Unit and has no formal plans to announce or launch the machine to the wider world.
Parts from Nikons technology demonstrator
Nevertheless, a company with the knowledge of Nikon adding metal 3D printing process to an already well-defined technology marks an exciting development in the world of AM.
