Siemens has opened a production facility for metal 3D printed components in Finspång, Sweden, an investment of around 200 million Swedish Krona (€21.4 million).
According to Siemens, it is the first step in the company’s plans for the mass manufacture and repair of metal parts with additive manufacturing.
The facility features Direct Metal Laser Sintering machines from Electro Optical Systems, and are already being used for the mass production of medical implants and flight critical parts in aerospace, including by GE Aviation.
According to the IDTechEx research report, 3D Printing of Metals 2015-2025, it is predicted that around 1,000 of these types of 3D printers will be sold in 2016, with a total market value of $540M. 3D printing can be used to shorten design and technology validation, reduce manufacturing and repair time, integrate the design and manufacturing process, reduce number of manufacturing steps, allow new materials, reduce quantity of material used, reduce cost, regionalize support and reduce spare part inventory.
The Siemens workshop will employ 20 operators and engineers and will be used for rapid prototyping, manufacturing and repair of components in Siemens’ series of industrial gas turbines, for the power industry.
For more information, see the IDTechEx research report 3D Printing of Metals 2015-2025.
