Materialise, one of the largest 3D printing companies in the world and a leader in additive manufacturing (AM) software announced that it has entered into a partnership with HCL Technologies – a leading IT services company in the world to develop a platform for increased integration for hybrid manufacturing – a technology that bridges the benefits of subtractive and additive processes to produce parts of complex design and close tolerance..
With this partnership, CAMWorks software from HCL Technologies will be powered by Materialise’s AM technology to facilitate the production of metal parts and combining the benefits of AM freedom of design with the speed and accuracy of CNC machining. The partnership is the first-of-its-kind initiative that presents an integrated CAD/CAM solution for hybrid manufacturing in a SOLIDWORKS environment.
Above: Heat exchanger produced at the Materialise Metal AM factory in Bremen using Titanium (TiAl6V4), with a glass-bead-blasted finish. The threads are milled/Image Credit: Materialise
In addition, the integration of AM and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) software in one platform will also facilitate the traceability of the production process and help reduce redundant manual work. As result of this partnership, users of the new CAMWorks AM module Powered by Materialise, will now be able to create support structures directly in CAMWorks and interface with the main metal printers via the Materialise Build Processor.
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Offering details of how the integration of systems will help unlock the digital transformations in manufacturing, Stefaan Motte, Vice President of Software at Materialise said, “The market space and applicability of the Additive Manufacturing technology has been growing dramatically in the past 5 years. Integration with current manufacturing systems is the next step to unlock digital transformations in manufacturing.”
“This requires in-depth understanding of both subtractive and additive processes. We are certain that companies adopting hybrid manufacturing will benefit greatly from this collaboration, which combines our 30 years of experience in AM with the CAM expertise of HCL,” Motte added.
Providing more details about the partnership, GH Rao, President of Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) at HCL Technologies said, “We are very excited with the new partnership and the potential hybrid manufacturing offers to the future of computer-aided design and manufacturing. By combining advanced integrated CAM technology from HCL with the innovative 3D printing technology from Materialise, we look forward to enabling companies to create innovative products which can be brought to the market faster and at a lower cost.”
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