3D printing company Materialise has announced introducing new features for Magics, its data and build preparation software. From product design to part and build preparation to printing, the digital thread connects the entire manufacturing process. To facilitate this, connectivity and traceability are crucial; that’s why the most recent update of Magics prioritizes connections with other software solutions.
Magics’ integration with CO-AM adds traceability to the 3D printing process with a revision tree that logs every action applied to a part or build, including which user performed it. This connection between data and build preparation software and manufacturing execution systems is critical to track part status from end to end but is often missing due to silos between software.
“Traceability is critical for any 3D printing production,” says Egwin Bovyn, Product Line Manager at Materialise. “It’s not only a requirement for highly regulated industries like aerospace but also plays an important role in quality improvement. Tracking the parameters of past builds gives users insights into what goes right and what goes wrong. It gives them a detailed log to refer to while improving their processes.”
This update also introduces integration between Magics and Materialise Machine Manager, which connects users to their Build Processors to send project information and parameters necessary to make successful builds.
“By connecting Magics to our Machine Manager, we’re offering a new cloud-based solution to manage your AM machine park and connected Build Processors,” explains Brecht Pellens, Product Manager at Materialise. “Cloud-based working is inherently more collaboration friendly — users no longer need to rely on one workstation for all their build preparation work — so sharing files and processing parameters with colleagues is also easier than ever. Plus, all processing parameters and build files are now stored in the cloud, continuing the traceability factor in this stage of your workflow.”
Another spotlight feature from the Magics update is Workflow Automation’s first off-the-shelf script. Workflow Automation is a Magics tool that offers ready-to-use and custom scripts — developed by Materialise or the user — to automate repetitive workflows during data and build preparation. The first off-the-shelf script — smart labeling — was created for use by Protolabs and automatically labels parts in minutes. Additional Workflow Automation scripts will be made available later this year.
“Labeling twenty parts takes just one person maybe five minutes with our new automated workflow. Before, it was an hour and a half, two hours for two people. It wasn’t fun work. And now the team experiences less stress and uses their time for more challenging, interesting work that truly motivates them,” says Christoph Erhardt, Manager of Customer Projects & Additive Design at Protolabs.
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