HP Releases New Additive Manufacturing Material, Services and Alliances
Ramon Pastor, interim president for HP’s 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing business, hosted a press conference on June 3 about the company’s next steps to push additive and digital manufacturing into the future.
Two of the initiatives for the offerings, Pastor said, were “optimizing our own centralized mass production approach and helping our customers move to a much more on-demand distributed approach.”
HP’s new offerings include a new polypropylene (PP) material, new services, a digital manufacturing network expansion, expanded industrial alliances, and new metal jet customers and applications.
PP Material
HP teamed up with BASF to develop a new PP material for additive manufacturing. Developed and qualified for HP’s Jet Fusion 5200 Series 3D printer, the PP material enables companies across industries to design and produce 3D printed parts faster, more cost-effectively, more sustainably and at higher volumes than before. With the same properties as traditional PP material, the new offering has high chemical resistance and low moisture absorption, which makes it ideal for piping and fluid systems. It is the lowest cost material for HP’s Multi Jet Fusion, and it provides for 100% reuse of surplus materials.
PP’s most ideal industries are automotive, industrial, consumer goods and medical.
“I strongly believe that the introduction of PP today is a massive milestone for our customers and our industries,” said Pastor.
New Services
HP also unveiled new professional services capabilities, including design optimization for breakthrough applications, manufacturing process streamlining to enable mass customization and scale production, and applications identification and discovery services.
Network Expansion
Fast Radius, a manufacturing technology company, was added to the HP Digital Manufacturing Network. This community of HP production partners works to design, produce and deliver both plastic and metal parts at scale-leveraging HP 3D printing solutions. The network includes partners in the United States, Asia and Europe.
Alliances
Oechsler AG, a global engineering solution provider and one of the largest parts manufacturers in the additive industry, has teamed up with HP. The alliance will span the product lifecycle from application design to production of final parts. Oechsler is using its fleet of HP’s Jet Fusion 5200 3D Series printers and an extensive materials portfolio to help leading automakers, global consumer electronics companies, home and commercial appliances and medical device providers produce a variety of new applications.
Cobra Golf, a golf equipment manufacturer, selected HP Metal Jet for its entry into additive manufacturing for product innovation and parts production.
Pastor also mentioned a collaboration with the United States Marine Corps that is aimed at producing 200 replacement parts for USMC Amphibious Assault Vehicles.
Pastor said the COVID-19 pandemic is a watershed moment for the industry, and echoed Ryan Palmer’s presentation from DDC 2020, that after the pandemic is over, a new paradigm will consist of:
- Additive manufacturing forging a new manufacturing supply chain
- Customers investing in a strategic supply chain innovation
- A more distributed manufacturing and assembly