by Industrial Print Staff
A leading industry platform for additive manufacturing (AM) and industrial three-dimensional (3D) printing, Formnext 2021 takes place November 16 to 19, 2021 in Frankfurt, Germany. At press time the Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH team, who presents the show, was excited to take part and host one of the first international in-person events since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold back in early 2020.
Above: Big Metal Additive showcases full-scale functional prototypes made from its unique metal hybrid AM process.
Under one roof, visitors from all backgrounds can take part in the entire world of AM as well as both upstream and downstream processes. Toted as a “the international meeting point” for suppliers and users of industrial 3D printing by Mesago Messe Frankfurt, the show includes over 50,000 square meters of floor space with over 400 exhibitors, contests, special areas, and pavilions.
With plenty to see in person, Formnext also has devised a way to accommodate those attendees unable to travel. Formnext Digital Days is a new digital format that will be available from November 30 to December 1, 2021. The digital event platform offers product information and company profiles for all exhibitors, networking and communication between participants, and various streaming programs.
U.S. on the Floor
We’ve complied some of the companies with U.S.-based operations participating in Formnext and asked them to share announcements taking place during the event and what to expect when there.
As a leading AM solutions partner, 3D Systems, hall/stand 12.1-D101, defies limitations by advancing AM performance and productivity in healthcare and industrial markets. It showcases how its unique offering of hardware, software, materials, and services enables customers to create products and business models never before possible.
Big Metal Additive, hall/stand 12.0-A125, showcases full-scale functional prototypes made from its unique metal hybrid AM process. The booth has several parts on display demonstrating the capabilities of the hybrid process—where additive and subtractive technologies work together to improve quality, dimensional tolerance, and finish machined surfaces. Coupled with its engineering services, Big Metal Additive produces a range of products for customers. This includes traditional designs that are rapidly reconfigurable, as well as new designs that are fully optimized.
Lubrizol 3D Printing Solutions, hall/stand 121-G84, combines expertise and AM capabilities to transform customers’ visions into new innovations. Serving as an end-to-end solutions provider, it is committed to bringing designs, technologies, and products that make a positive impact on everyday lives. The booth features an extensive portfolio of materials for 3D printing, including its portfolio of ESTANE 3D TPU, which can be used in powder bed fusion or fused filament fabrication 3D printers. ESTANE 3D TPU is a highly versatile elastomer with unique properties like exceptional abrasion resistance, high elasticity, and excellent flexibility over a wide temperature range.
Massivit 3D, hall/stand 121-C119, invites attendees to witness the latest in large-scale 3D printing for custom parts, molds, and prototypes. The speed of the Massivit 5000 is designed to shorten lead times for manufacturers and service bureaus in the automotive, rail, marine, and scenic fabrication industries. The Massivit 5000 features a build volume of 145x180x111 centimeters. The company’s large-scale 3D printers leverage Gel Dispensing Printing technology based on an advanced thermoset photo polymer gel that cures on the fly, enabling production speeds of up to 30 times that of other technologies.
Meteor Inkjet, hall/stand 11.0-E59, presents its industrial inkjet printhead drive electronics, software, tools, and services, shining a spotlight on its partnership with Xaar and Dyndrite, which was formed to help customers harness the power of inkjet for binder jet AM. With scalable, production-ready electronics designed to take advantage of all that Xaar printheads have to offer, and application-specific digital front end software carefully integrated with Dyndrite’s accelerated computation engine, Meteor plays a fundamental role in reducing time-to-market and development risk for AM print system OEMs.
Roboze, hall/stand 12.1-C101, aims to reshape global supply chains through cutting-edge 3D printing and a Manufacturing as a Service marketplace. Roboze provides live printing demonstrations of industrial end-use parts made from super polymers and composites like PEEK and Carbon PEEK through the use of ARGO 1000, one of the world’s largest 3D printers equipped with a heated chamber for fast production of strong super polymer and composite parts; ARGO 500; and Roboze One+400 Xtreme 3D printers.
Sharebot, hall/stand hall/stand 121-A139, presents metalONE, a direct metal laser sintering 3D printer. Thanks to the small print area of 65x65x100 millimeters and completely open parameters, it is ideal for research and development and education. In addition, the printer uses Gcode files and provides a wide choice of logs for both reports and images for further analysis. Special features offer the ability to print different objects with different process parameters in one time in order to reduce powder characterization.
Xact Metal, hall/stand 120-C102, is dedicated to supporting the next generation’s access to innovative manufacturing solutions powered by 3D printing. By taking the essential specifications for metal 3D printing and combining them with breakthrough technology, it establishes a new level of price and performance for AM.
Maximum Exposure
Formnext 2021 aims to be one for the record books. Its organizational team is dedicated to providing both in-person and virtual attendees with the best tools to maximize every minute spent at the show.
Nov2021, Industrial Print Magazine