Siemens
Siemens has kicked off Formnext week by onboarding a number of additive manufacturing partners to its Siemens Xcelerator Marketplace.
The company says these partnerships will demonstrate how additive manufacturing is becoming ‘an innovation enabler for industrial applications’ and described such partnerships as an essential component to ‘facilitating the integration of AM into conventional manufacturing technologies.’
LEAM Technologies, in collaboration with CEAD, is a developer of large-format AM systems based on light-based welding which is now available via the Siemens Xcelerator Marketplace. By using light to heat the material, LEAM is said to enable extreme mechanical strength, even in difficult-to-print materials, and is geared towards applications in industries such as aerospace, defence, and energy.
VLM Robotics, which also builds large-format systems based on autonomous robotics, is also now represented on the Marketplace. The company is launching its new model CALYPSO, a fully automated autonomous mobile robotic solution based on Sinumerik One, Sinumerik CNC Robotics, and Simove in Frankfurt this week, where it is also presenting its existing GEMINI machine for extra-large hybrid additive manufacturing Its presence on the Siemens Xcelerator Marketplace is said to provide customised digital solutions that enable integration and tracking of all relevant data and information throughout the entire production lifecycle.
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Siemens is also highlighting the sustainability impact of additive manufacturing. Reinforcing the stat that 80% of a parts environment footprint is determined in the design phase, the engineering company says it is using AI and the industrial metaverse to deliver optimised designs with reduced environmental impact. It points to Toolcraft, which is said to be improving its design and engineering process by 30% for new designs and 85% for modifications, and furniture manufacturer Haddy which is building a network of microfactories equipped with hybrid Flexbot systems from CEAD and recycling units that shorten the supply chain. Each of its products are made with renewable materials and some are fitted with RFID chips to allow for material tracing and recycling.
Lastly, Siemens has also given an update on AM I Navigator, a collaboration announced at last year’s Formnext alongside DyeMansion, BASF Forward AM, EOS and HP, which is said to provide a structured approach to defining the status and the steps towards industrialising additive manufacturing. The framework has since been updated with application examples, and builds on existing frameworks for digital manufacturing, such as the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI), which helps companies to assess their current level of digitalisation and readiness for Industry 4.0.
