Additive Industries says that an independent study concluded that its MetalFAB1 systems combine the lowest system investment with the lowest total cost per part and highest annual capacity.
The study, conducted by additive manufacturing (AM) consultancy Ampower, reportedly included tests on four typical parts from various industries such as medical hip implants, impellors from oil and gas industries, and parts from the automotive and aerospace industry. In all cases the MetalFAB1 ‘won over the 15 other 3D metal systems using laser or electron beam melting technology included in the benchmark,’ Additive Industries says.
‘We have compared the productivity and cost level of the MetalFAB1 to a broad range of 15 peer systems in powder bed fusion, similar in size and number of lasers as well as smaller size 3D metal printing systems,’ said Matthias Schmidt-Lehr, managing partner of Ampower. ‘The conclusion is equally clear and surprising: the MetalFAB1 system has the lowest system investment (as measured by investment per mm2 per laser) and lowest total cost per part for all four typical parts included in the study. Moreover, the system has the highest annual capacity in case of full automation and ability to run the system 24/7, almost twice the output of a single shift operated system.’
This story uses material from Additive Industries, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
