Inside Siemens' Materials Solutions 3D printing facility.
Siemens Energy has announced an investment in a new digital platform for on-demand additive manufacturing services.
The platform, named MakerVerse, is a joint venture initiative between ZEISS and financial/venture capital investors including 9.5 Ventures, and is designed to be a ‘one-stop fulfilment platform’ for everything from prototypes to spare parts by connecting industrial clients with a global network of certified additive manufacturing suppliers.
Set to make its public launch towards the middle of 2022, MakerVerse will be based in Berlin and focus on serving customers across Europe. Initially, the service will offer a range of 3D printing technologies but intends to cover the ‘full technological service spectrum’ by adding on-demand methods such as CNC and injection moulding in the near future. The platform will provide instant quoting, automated manufacturability checks, streamlined supplier and quality management, and quality assurance.
An avid adopter of additive manufacturing, Siemens Energy operates its own large global fleet of in-house metal AM systems in Germany and Sweden, alongside Materials Solutions sites in the UK and U.S.. The technology has been applied to the serial production and repair gas turbine parts such as combustion components and turbine vanes, and across the wider Siemens business with companies such as Siemens Mobility using 3D printing as part of its spare parts innovation programme. Citing supply chain optimisation, special tooling, reduced inventories and faster delivery times as key drivers, the company says it believes an industrial-scale digital platform like MakerVerse can help extend the range of additively manufactured parts to new technologies and materials.
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