In this industry, it makes sense to see 3D printer manufacturers or software providers have material producers as key partners but it’s quite unusual to see a developer of a digital distributed manufacturing platform create a network of material producers like Replique just did.
The venture of BASF incubator that turned stealth mode off by announcing its partnership with household appliances company Miele has a clear objective in mind: “make its 3D printing platform accessible to more OEMs and provide best-in-class and tailored materials to industrial customers.”
Leading material brands of the industry have already joined the newly created partner. They include LEHVOSS Group, Evonik Industries, Forward AM and igus GmbH. Their first role will be to make sure that will ensure that the required standards pertaining to the development, manufacture and certification of advanced materials, are met in order to qualify industrial production in 3D printing of spare parts.
As part of an automated quality documentation process, a certificate of analysis, stating that the supplied materials meet the required specifications, is provided and linked to each part, and then saved on Replique’s digital inventory platform.
So, what’s the process for joining Replique’s platform?
In a press communication, Replique explains that the first step consists in customer business cases and requirements in order to assess where adjustments or improvements of current materials or the development of new options are required. The ultimate goal being to meet customer business objectives, in terms of application specific material tests for example.
Once they join the platform, the new partners are given an anonymized overview of used legacy materials from screening activities in customer onboarding phases. With this knowledge, the partners benefit from an accelerated and more targeted material development process, tailored to the needs of Replique’s customers, a press communication explains.
This intelligent strategy happens to be a win-win one for both material partners and Replique’s customers. Indeed, thanks to exclusive beta tests, material producers receive a first business case, while Replique’s customers enjoy a head start by receiving early access to the latest developments. If necessary, individualized materials can be developed for specific use cases.
“With our trusted material network, we have created a solution to provide our customers with industrial grade material systems. Overall, the cooperation will transform the usability of 3D printing beyond prototyping towards serial production and industrialization, e. g. by achieving a faster part qualification through close iterations with material development, certifications and replacement of legacy materials. Our aim is to find the best solution for our clients,” says Dr. Max Siebert, CEO and Co-Founder of Replique.
LEHVOSS Group, Evonik Industries, Forward AM and igus GmbH might be the first partners of this network but they will definitely not be the only ones.
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