3dpbm Pulse Podcast Ep. 10: paperless manufacturing with AM

Immediately’s episode brings collectively two firms that signify on the similar time, the historical past and the way forward for additive manufacturing: the AM workflow automation consultants at AM Stream and the quickly rising US-based AM service supplier Midwest Prototyping.

Midwest Prototyping began in 2001 with the acquisition of a desk and one stereolithography machine. Each of those shared an workplace with founder Steve Grundahl, who is likely one of the friends on this episode of the 3dpbm Pulse Podcast. The opposite visitor, on this first multi-guest episode, is 3D printing companies skilled and pioneer, and AM Stream’s COO, Carlos Zwikker

MIdest Prototyping is likely one of the first purchasers of AM Stream utilizing AM Stream’s imaginative and prescient expertise. This second marks step one to the model new, next-generation VISION and SORT methods. With these manufacturing modules, Midwest Prototyping can now robotically acknowledge, kind and route their every day quantity of SLS, MJF and SLA prints, in solely seconds per half. With the location of the AM-VISION and AM-SORT, totally MES built-in, the manufacturing workflow has turn out to be utterly paperless. Becoming a member of us to inform us what AM Stream can do for AM firms with giant manufacturing necessities is Carlos Zwikker.

Midwest Prototyping has an almost unparalleled expertise in AM. Steve Grundahl received early publicity to speedy prototyping expertise whereas finding out on the College of Milwaukee’s Faculty of Engineering within the early Nineties. Though his publicity to this expertise was throughout its improvement stage, he by no means misplaced his fascination with it. As industries started adopting it as a legitimate possibility for speedy prototyping and product improvement, Steve took the chance to start out his journey as a enterprise proprietor.

Quick ahead to 2006 and the corporate had constructed a brand new 18,000-square-foot facility with anticipation for future progress. In 2008, Midwest Prototyping acquired longtime competitor Manitowoc Prototypes including much more speedy prototyping capability. Extra acquisitions adopted, resulting in the flexibility to supply 6 distinct 3D printing applied sciences on over 40 machines with greater than 40 supplies.

Extra lately, Midwest Prototyping grew to become a part of the Prototek Group additional rising the general AM capabilities and persevering with its acquisition technique with ProtoCAM. Suffice to say that now the corporate has huge manufacturing capabilities and that’s precisely the place AM Stream is available in

Final yr Midwest Prototyping took its subsequent step in the direction of a totally automated additive manufacturing manufacturing plant with end-to-end product monitoring and tracing by putting in the AM-VISION and AM-SORT, within the AM-Stream manufacturing line at their Blue Mounds manufacturing facility.

AM Stream’s Carlos Zwikker has 20 years of expertise as an Worldwide Analysis-Based mostly Marketing consultant and joined Philips as a technique & perception govt within the Philips Way of life Incubator, a company venturing unit of Philips.

Right here, Carlos, entered the Additive Manufacturing market in 2006 as he co-managed a number of start-ups, together with AM service supplier Shapeways. In 2018 he joined the administration of AM-Stream the place he’s chargeable for world gross sales and advertising.