Boston Micro Fabrication
Boston Micro Fabrication (BMF) has announced new ‘state-of-the-art’ facilities in Greater Boston and Shenzhen, China as it expands its global operations.
This expansion comes after the company reported a successful 2021, which saw it add more than 100 new customers, doubling the instal base of its Projection Micro Stereolithography (PµSL).
With the opening of the two new facilities, BMF has moved its North American headquarters to the new 7,000 square-foot space in Maynard, MA, with the company’s sales, marketing, applications engineering, and customers support teams all located here. There are also multiple PµSL systems for training, testing and customer benchmarking. Similarly, in the 14,000 square-foot facility in Shenzhen, there are more than 40 installed PµSL systems.
BMF launched its PµSL 3D printing technology in the US and Europe back in February 2020 after initially rolling out its MicroArch 3D printers in Asia. Since, more than 200 global customers have adopted the technology, which enables the printing of ultra-high-resolution parts down to 2 µm.
Boston Micro Fabrication
“Micro 3D printing is beginning to catch fire around the world,” commented BMF CEO John Kawola. “For years, this portion of the market was under-served by existing additive manufacturing platforms as the resolution and accuracy needed for micro parts was not possible. Our microArch platform finally brings 3D printing and miniaturisation to these industries that were once left out completely – and our expanded presence helps us support these use cases no matter where our customers are located.”
BMF says that while many customers are using its technology for prototyping and development, more are beginning to deploy PµSL for end-use parts. Applications of PµSL so far include endoscope heads, microneedles, microfluidic chips, lens holders, chip packaging and electrical connectors. Meanwhile, Sonion NL, a leading health technology firm, is using PµSL to develop solutions for hearing instruments and audibles.
“The quality and accuracy of BMF PµSL parts is very unique and truly mimic expensive micro moulded parts, but now we can have parts ready for test within 1-2 days rather than 1-2 months, as well as levitating the huge costs associated with tooling manufacture and reworking as the new products evolve,” offered Sally van der Most, Development Support Services Manager at Sonion NL. “We can also explore designs previously out of reach due to manufacturing limitations. Our main focus is to lift our prototyping capabilities to the highest possible level, both in quality and speed. BMF will help us to accomplish that.”
