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Ricoh AM-S5500P-504_tcm100-12774
As BASF and Ricoh Europe partner, the chemical company will work alongside the technology firm to develop materials for the AM S5500P machine.
BASF, leading chemical company, and Ricoh, a global technology supplier in fields such as laser sintering machines for 3D printing of plastic powders, are evolving their Additive Manufacturing capabilities through a development partnership.
The pair will collaborate on materials, processing and application development as they bid to bring further innovation to the market.
Their partnership is also set to include the development of new materials for the RICOH AM S5500P, which has been installed by BASF in its 3D-P Application Technology Center in Heidelberg. The agreement will increase the capabilities of the high-end plastic sintering production machines.
Greg Plowman, Director of Ricoh Europe’s European Additive Manufacturing Business Group said: “The wider success of the AM market in the coming years rests on the crucial advances made in material sciences. These improvements will pave the way for creative implementations in new verticals and industries. By partnering with BASF as one of the largest material manufacturers in the world, we can jointly enhance our development expertise to meet specific and advanced customer requirements for end-use parts.”
In recent years, BASF has established several partnerships, not least with the likes of HP, Farsoon and Essentium. On September 1st 2017, its own company dedicated to 3D printing was launched - TCT interviewed Dr. Dirk Simon, Global Business Director of BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH, in issue 25.5 of TCT Magazine Europe - and later that month BASF acquired Solvay Polyamide. The alignment with Ricoh Europe will see new materials brought to market, and two manufacturing heavyweights looking to further accelerate additive manufacturing.
As the partnership with Ricoh Europe was revealed, Dr. Simon commented: “This partnership brings together Ricoh’s status as a renowned SLS hardware manufacturer with our expertise on materials and their applications for series production. This collaboration will enable our customers to expand into industrial usage of Additive Manufacturing while enjoying increased productivity and more efficient working.”
Both companies are currently exhibiting at formnext powered by TCT. Ricoh’s AM experts will be at Hall 3.0, Stand D20 throughout the event, while BASF representatives are located at Hall 3.1, Stand F20.
