Objective3D | BLOG

Today, a majority of consumer products and production parts are made from thermoplastics. Thermoplastics are typically used in manufacturing techniques like injection moulding, compression molding and machining, but with the invention of 3D printing, they became available for additive extrusion and sintering processes. A new door to advanced manufacturing has opened with 3D printing materials similar to the conventional thermoplastics familiar to engineers and designers. Thermoplastics are plastic materials, or polymers, that become pliable when heated to a specific temperature and solidify upon cooling. Types of thermoplastics include acrylic, ABS, Nylon, PLA, polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene and other specialty, high performance materials. If your part requires strength, rigidity or high temperature tolerance, then thermoplastics are a great option to fabricate your production component or prototype. Using 3D printing, engineers can make parts with the most commonly used the...

Dutch company - Marinebedrijf Koninklijke Marine responsible for the maintenance of all naval vessels and submarines of the Dutch Royal Navy, as well as M-class frigates of the Belgian Navy. The company also creates new parts for those ships and makes modifications of everything from the hull to weapon systems and engines. “The use of the 3D scan technique is becoming more and more important because all ships of the Navy are coming to us for maintenance on a regular basis,” says Ben Jansen, CNC coordinator at Marinebedrijf Koninklijke Marine. “A lot of times we don’t have drawings or 3D CAD files of the things that need to be repaired or where we need to make new parts for existing systems.” When they have no 3D data or drawings of the part, Marinebedrijf Koninklijke Marine uses the Artec Eva and Artec Spider 3D scanners to create a 3D image of the object, and the scan is used to reverse engineer the object. The part is then replicated using 3D printing techniques, 3-5 ...

Due to a shift in corporate understand of 3D printing’s business value, more and more industries have embraced the technology. From a recently expanded understanding of the benefits of additive manufacturing (AM), industry 4.0 smart, connected manufacturing has emerged. AM is understood as a powerful technology capable of being used throughout the value chain and as a compliment to traditional manufacturing. Operations and logistics see significant improvement from AM adoption in subtle, yet powerful ways. Reduced Inventory & On-Demand Manufacturing Transitioning to on-demand manufacturing leads to cost savings by eliminating or significantly reducing inventory requirements. The benefits of digital files also provide the ability to quickly produce new iterations quickly at little to no additional cost. Supplier Consolidation With a single source for a variety of parts, businesses that use 3D printing contract manufacturers deal with less risk, more control and ad...