Positive summary of the anniversary Rapid.Tech 3D

Four keynote speeches, around 70 presentations at the specialist congress and almost 100 exhibitor presentations in the hall could be seen and heard in Erfurt from May 14 to 16. They showed that additive manufacturing has taken a further step towards series production and is constantly enabling new applications thanks to material and technology development - both in the classic AM user industries such as aerospace, medical technology and automotive as well as in industries in which AM is still a relatively new technology, such as microelectronics, chemicals and mechanical engineering.

AM on a continuous growth path

In a keynote interview with Rapid.Tech 3D Advisory Board Chairman Prof. Dr. Christian Seidel, AM pioneer Dr. Brent Stucker, technology strategist at Wohlers Associates, explained what developments can be expected over the next ten years. After a phase of overheating, the AM industry has returned to a continuous growth path worldwide. This offers great opportunities for German machine manufacturers and technology providers, for example. According to Stucker, now is a good time to push ahead with new and further developments in AM machines, materials and applications and to generate capital for them. The expert expects to see particular momentum in metallic applications. The standardization process remains a major challenge.

AM boosts performance in the semiconductor industry

Dr. Radu Donose, Competence Lead Additive Manufacturing at Dutch company ASML, gave an insight into the use of AM in the "young" user industries in his keynote speech. The manufacturer of lithography systems for chip production already produces more than 200 machine parts additively from metal, plastic or ceramic in series. He emphasized that AM generally contributes to increasing the performance of ASML machines. In order to ensure quality, the company has developed an internal standard for the entire value chain that enables suppliers to produce parts reliably on a continuous basis.

Platform for the focus topic of mechanical engineering

Other AM applications with and for mechanical engineering were the focus of the AM4industry forum, which was held for the first time and featured contributions from Reintjes, DiManEx, Toolcraft, Hermle, Siemens and Trumpf, among others. The event was initiated and organized by the Additive Manufacturing (AM) working group of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). Rainer Gebhardt, Project Manager Additive Manufacturing at the VDMA, estimates: "The many opportunities that AM offers with and for mechanical engineering are far from being fully known. Events such as Rapid.Tech 3D, where suppliers and users meet, are excellent opportunities to network know-how providers with potential users. At our first AM4industry forum, companies demonstrated how additive manufacturing can contribute to greater efficiency and sustainability, for example in shipbuilding or for low-emission mobility. The speakers also presented the advantages of combining traditional subtractive and new additive processes, particularly in connection with digitalization and intelligent networking of processes."

AM in the process industry

AM applications are also gaining momentum in the process industry. This was demonstrated in the keynote speech by Dr. Jan Brummund, Business Development Manager at the Dutch company InnoSyn. The research and production service provider for the chemical industry plays a pioneering role in the development of 3D-printed flow reactors and also presented its services at the exhibition.

The diverse application possibilities of AM in the process industry were also reflected in the Chemistry & Process Engineering specialist forum, with experts from BASF and Evonik, among others. Dchema, the network for chemical engineering and biotechnology in Germany, was a partner of the forum for the first time. "In our view, the Chemistry and Process Engineering Forum at RapidTech.3D was a complete success. The contributions showed how diverse the possible applications of additive manufacturing are in the process industry and where it is already being used everywhere," says Dr. Kathrin Rübberdt, Head of Science and Industry at Dechema.