Largix, an Israeli-based startup, curently develops an industrial 3D printer which can produce large industrial storage tanks and other components from common and recycled polymers.
At the heart of this manufacturing process, lies a Cold 3D Printing technology that uses smart sensors with real-time data and machine learning for the production of parts with the required bonding and welding strengths. The solution can therefore erect builds up to 350 cm x 300 cm in size, while depositing materials using a set of nozzles mounted to a moving robotic arm.
The company was founded by Ronen Orr and Amir Sheelo who bring around this table a background of 20 years+ in traditional industries, making traditional products.
‘‘We decided to develop a 3D printing technology that would be able to industrially produce real products reinventing traditional, labor-intensive, design and production of custom-made products made of polymers and composite materials, across diversified industries”, Orr said.
Their technology has already raised the interest of Belgian chemical processing firm, CGK Group that became in 2019 an investor within Largix. Today, the company aims to 3D print an entire 13-foot storage container.
“Nowadays, we produce our made-to-measure vessels out of semi-finished products,” the CGK Group’s CEO Tijl Charle told the Times of Israel. “This needs a lot of manual labor, next to a significant amount of scrap material. The platform will reduce our dependency on labor, increase our productivity and bring new opportunities in terms of shapes and new materials.”
Addressing the industrial tanks market first
With the growing demand from the food, chemicals and cosmetics industries for large polymeric-based tanks, Largix estimates its robotic 3D printing solution can help cut production costs in half while improving overall productivity by 15 times – not to mention that, from a manufacturing standpoint, 3D printed industrial tanks will deliver features and characteristics that cannot be met using conventional manufacturing processes.
“Our next addressable market will be even larger – building and infrastructure construction,” Orr says. “Most custom-made construction is today done manually. We are already engaging with industry leaders to design solutions, based on our proprietary technology, that will deliver major innovation to the construction industry”.
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