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Users can scale up metal additive manufacturing via licensing service.

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) enables engineers to design and manufacture components that would be impractical or outright impossible using traditional machining and fabricating techniques. However, the technology still has a relatively high barrier to entry in the form of its upfront costs.

Additive Industries has announced a novel solution with the MetalFab 300 Flex 3D printer. The machine comes with a basic build volume of 300 x 300 x 300 mm, but through a monthly or perpetual licensing service, users can upgrade their build volume to 420 x 420 x 420 mm. Additionally, while the base model uses two 500W Yb-fiber lasers, the machine can incorporate two additional lasers through a field upgrade.

Companies today are confronted with a choice when they first enter metal additive, said Kartik Rao, strategic marketing director for Additive Industries in a press conference at RAPID + TCT 2024. Option one is that they buy a small printer to learn, develop some applications, do some material development, but when it comes to scaling, theyre stuck with a medium printer. The second option is to buy a larger printer right from the beginning, but the challenge with this is the increased financial risk.

The launch of the MetalFab 300 Flex is going to pose a profound question to customers want to adopt metal AM, which is, Why choose between the medium or large printer when you can have the best of both worlds on day one?

In addition to its unique architecture, the MetalFab 300 Flex was designed to incorporate several automated features to make it more accessible to new users, including powder handling, storage and laser calibration. Rao claimed the MetalFab 300 Flex is the most cost-affordable access to large-frame prints and with a base price of $730,000 and the option to expand the build volume, he made a compelling case.

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Additive Industries introduces metal 3D printer with adjustable build volume - ENGINEERING.com