Royal DSM has made another deal with a 3D printing company, this time Ohio-based JuggerBot 3D.

We first encountered JuggerBot 3D a few years ago, and they are one of several 3D printing initiatives to come from the Youngstown, Ohio area. At the time we saw them, they were marketing industrial-capable 3D printers using filament.

It seems quite a bit has changed since our last encounter. Since then they have developed a pellet 3D printer, the Tradesman P3-44. This is a very good move, as the company believes print speed is a strong concern of industry. The pellet design allows much faster 3D printing through the use of sophisticated extrusion systems. JuggerBot says their device should be able to print “200X” faster than conventional 3D printers.

DSM and 3D Printing

DSM is a Dutch chemical company that, along with several other large chemical producers, has been slowly integrating with the 3D print world. They’ve made deals with 3D print companies ranging from startup Fortify to giant Stratasys, as well as investments in the likes of AMT and Voxel8.

It’s a natural thing for a chemical company to do. They, as well as us, see the world of 3D printing expanding rapidly as additive manufacturing takes hold. Manufacturing will require the use of many different materials in their additive processes, and these materials are in fact already in existence having been developed by many chemical companies for decades.

It’s a matter of unleashing them to 3D printing. That’s the purpose of all these deals with 3D printing companies.

Partnership With DSM

Now DSM has inked a deal with JuggerBot to develop pellet-based 3D printers.

Obviously JuggerBot is supplying the machine expertise, having mostly developed a machine already, while DSM will provide materials expertise. It’s likely one of the focus areas could be around ensuring full-speed 3D printing. They call the process fused granulate fabrication (FGF).

DSM explains:

“The company is partnering with Juggerbot 3D, an additive manufacturing machine builder who recently developed a printer equipped with extrusion technology, to explore the untapped potential of FGF printing. Together, the two companies will develop high-performance pellet printers and materials for industrial additive manufacturing.

As 3D printing continues to trend towards industrial manufacturing, a growing number of manufacturers are looking for 3D printing technologies and materials capable of meeting the strength, stiffness, and heat resistance required to create large structural applications. With filler ratios of up to 50%, pellet materials can meet performance requirements while not being bound by the constraints of some other 3D printing technologies.

DSM and JuggerBot 3D are exploring the untapped potential of FGF printing to develop solutions that meet a growing need among manufacturers. JuggerBot 3D’s newest printer is designed specifically to process performance materials, like DSM’s glass-reinforced Arnite AM8527 (G). The company also leveraged DSM’s expertise during the development of its new P3-44 printer. The P3-44 has a build volume of three feet deep, four feet wide, and four feet tall, and is capable of producing parts up to 200 times faster than other machines.

DSM is one of the first partners to purchase JuggerBot 3D’s P3-44 printer. Set to further scale up additive manufacturing to industrial workflows, DSM will continue to add more pellet products to its growing portfolio of 3D printing solutions.”

I believe this is an important step forward, as additive manufacturing will never truly succeed in the manufacturing world until it can achieve much faster throughput. Some companies address this through parallel printing, but JuggerBot 3D is using a pellet approach.

Via JuggerBot 3D