Siemens to Advance Industrialized AM

By on May 6th, 2022 in news, Service

Tags: , , , , ,

Siemens’ CATCH facility will reportedly offer a wide range of AM products and services. (Image courtesy of Siemens.)

The company recently opened its CATCH facility in efforts to streamline industrial additive manufacturing.

Siemens is ramping up its focus on industrialized additive manufacturing in the U.S. Last week, the tech giant announced the opening of the Charlotte Advanced Technology Collaboration Hub (CATCH) in Charlotte, North Carolina. As a joint venture between Siemens Technology, Siemens Energy and Siemens Digital Industries, the Siemens CATCH facility is an R&D innovation hub for manufacturers to streamline industrial additive manufacturing (AM) using automation and digitalization technologies.

While AM continues to evolve rapidly, there is still considerable resistance to its mass adoption—which Siemens plans to offset through a systematic collaboration with OEMs, laboratories, and end users. As an example, Siemens recently partnered with 3D printing OEMs ExOne, Xerox, and Roboze. The aim is to combine Siemens’ digital software with the latest AM equipment, in turn enhancing 3D printing workflows and moving manufacturers closer towards a more resilient supply chain.

As a result of the Xerox Elem Additive Solutions collaboration, one of the printers at Siemens’ CATCH facility is the Xerox ElemX liquid metal 3D printer. The Xerox ElemX is paired with Siemens SINUMERIK 840D sl control platform, which utilizes digital twin technology to refine 3D printing processes and minimize post-processing. Siemens will continue to develop automation, software, materials and processes with ElemX systems.

Siemens is also tapping into Roboze’s polymer, super polymer, and composite 3D printing technology for applications across the energy, aerospace and mobility sectors. The Siemens CATCH facility houses the ARGO 500 3D printer, which the company claims will improve production capacity for manufacturers.

Siemens’ CATCH facility also houses ExOne’s InnoventPro binder jet 3D printer and the X1 160PRO production 3D printer. The InnoventPro will be used for prototyping, while the X1 160PRO will be employed once established processes are scaled up. The Siemens MindSphere IoT operating system and Siemens controls are integrated into the InnoventPro software to further power its monitoring and analysis capabilities.

Read more at ENGINEERING.com

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!

1 comment

  1. Having read this I believed it was extremely informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this content together. I once again find myself personally spending way too much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!

Leave a comment