Oqton, a software company that helps manufacturers increase innovation and efficiency by intelligently automating production, and Eplus3D, a leading global supplier of metal 3D printing solutions, with an aim to transform the digital production workflows, have officially announced a strategic partnership. Through this collaboration, both companies hope to increase the productivity of dental laboratory professionals, allowing them to provide better service to their customers.
This will be accomplished by making Oqton’s unique AI-powered Manufacturing OS platform available to Eplus3D’s industry-leading metal 3D printer users. The combination of Oqton’s Manufacturing Operating System, Eplus3D’s print technology, and both organisations’ deep dental expertise will result in dental solutions with full traceability and automation.
Transforming Digital Production Workflows
Dental restorations are an ideal application for additive manufacturing due to their patient-specific nature. However, dental laboratories attempting to integrate additive manufacturing into their digital production workflows are frequently hampered by a lack of qualified personnel and the need for time-consuming, repetitive workflows, as well as regulations and certifications such as the EU Medical Device Regulation and ISO-13485, which require end-to-end traceability of machines, people, and materials at every step of the dental workflow.
Through manufacturing execution system (MES) and machine monitoring (IoT) capabilities, Eplus3D’s customers will have full transparency and traceability across the production workflow, helping to increase efficiencies and provide greater peace of mind.
Oqton’s Manufacturing OS automates the end-to-end digital production workflow, from initial design to preparing files for production, reducing the need for human labour significantly. Oqton’s software also includes high-density layered nesting and interlocking 3D nesting of removable partial denture (RPD) frames, allowing for significantly more parts to be fit, as well as optimised support strategies that require less post-processing time, helping to maximise productivity.
The Manufacturing OS also allows a customer’s workforce, machines, and materials to be scheduled and planned across multiple production sites, with full version history to facilitate regulatory compliance.
“We’re excited to officially recognize Eplus3D as a trusted partner amongst a host of forward-thinking industry leaders. We are impressed with their commercial success based on the metal 3D printing technology they’ve developed, and its ability to help dental labs produce patient-specific devices such as crowns, bridges, and RPD frames. As we move forward, we will continue to deepen our technical collaboration, further helping customers achieve desired results with improved productivity while maintaining regulatory compliance.”
– Kris Wouters, General Manager – Healthcare, Oqton
According to Mary Li, Head of Overseas Division, Eplus3D, “Our collaboration with Oqton first began in 2018, as we set out to fully integrate their innovative Manufacturing OS into our Eplus3D printers. Since that time, we’ve become increasingly acquainted with their expertise and technology, and are impressed by the easy-to-use, smart algorithms they’ve created. We’re looking forward to our continued collaboration to simplify production workflows for our customers – helping them unlock the full potential of AM to accelerate industrialization.”
“Oqton allows us to get the most out of our EPlus3D printer. It significantly simplifies and improves our workflows compared to our previous software solution, and more importantly, for dental parts, it almost completely automates the data preparation. Oqton saves us invaluable time setting up each build.”
– Willem Van Cauwenberge, Head of Engineering, MT3D (a customer reaping the benefits of the new partnership)
For more information on Oqton’s Manufacturing OS and Eplus3D’s metal 3D printers, please visit the companies’ respective websites.
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