France’s Cetim one of first to adopt Desktop Metal Shop System
New collaboration to accelerate adoption of industrial metal AM
Desktop Metal has announced a new collaboration with Cetim, the France-based Technical Centre for Mechanical Industry. The partners will work together to promote and accelerate the global adoption of metal additive manufacturing across industrial sectors by identifying market opportunities for AM and supporting innovation across Cetim’s customer network. As part of the partnership, Cetim has already become, in last August, one of the first adopters of Desktop Metal’s new Shop System metal binder jetting platform.
Cetim was inspired to work with Desktop Metal after successfully installing and utilizing the Studio System at its facility in Cluses, France. The center will continue to leverage this system for rapid prototyping and low-volume production while has also added the Desktop Metal Shop System’s capability for low-volume prototyping or mid-volume runs of complex metal components. These resources will enable Cetim customers from across the aerospace, oil and gas and automotive sectors, to name a few, to explore new AM applications and opportunities.
“As the demand for metal AM continues to grow, it is challenging for many of the mechanical industry companies we work with to identify the right solution that meets their needs and then to implement it in an effective and cost efficient way,” explained Pierre Chalandon, COO at Cetim. “Desktop Metal technologies with both the Studio System and new Shop System completes our additive manufacturing machines park. From a general point of view, Metal Binder Jetting Technology is promising for a large part of our clients. Desktop Metal solutions portfolio covers the full metal product lifecycle, which is complementary to our experience on sintered material and finishing operations.”
The Desktop Metal Shop System, unveiled at Formnext 2019, is a metal binder jetting technology designed specifically for machine shop use and is capable of producing complex metal components with both speed and quality. The solution is also notable for its relative affordability: the Shop System starts at $150,000. Desktop Metal says the system is designed to enable shop manufacturers to “tap into new opportunities to reduce their costs and increase revenue.”
Through the partnership, Desktop Metal and Cetim will also work on a range of research projects involving Desktop Metal’s metal AM technologies, including design for metal AM processes, post-processing and finishing technique qualification, workflow optimization and materials development. Cetim brings to the table its extensive knowledge of metal AM processes (including LPBF, WAAM, MBJ), which it has built up over the past 15 years. In recent years, Cetim has been particularly involved in the development of metal binder jetting, which it believes creates new opportunities for production capacity and material range. The French center is also actively involved in the normalization of metal AM, coordinating the Additive Factory Hub (AFH) with the aim of implementing AM to address industrial and economic challenges.
“When it comes to empowering industrial companies with the additive manufacturing technologies of the future, Cetim is truly one of the leaders in Europe,” concluded Ric Fulop, CEO and Co-Founder of Desktop Metal. “We are excited to partner with Cetim as one of the first customers for our ground-breaking Shop System and are eager to collaborate with Cetim on our shared efforts to change the way that companies manufacture around the globe.”
Please do read the official article by Tess Boissonneault here.