Straddling the additive manufacturing (AM) and micro manufacturing sectors, micro-AM technology developer Nanofabrica is uniquely positioned to have a voice that influences some highly strategic and innovative sectors of industry. Having recently released one in a series of NANOTALKS with the CEO of EOS, Marie Manger, Tovit Neizer, VP Business Development and Marketing at Nanofabrica explains the genesis of the next talk released today.
“As a business, Nanofabrica understands the absolute necessity to reach out and network with our peers throughout industry. We do this primarily so that we can learn from the experience of experts, understand the requirements of customers, and develop technology solutions that absolutely resonate with market needs. But what this also does is give us unique access to some high level professionals operating at the cutting edge of innovation in the highly dynamic areas of 3D printing and micro manufacturing, both of which are proving disruptive as the drive towards digital end-to-end product development and the inexorable push for smaller and smaller parts and features gathers pace,” Neizer says.
“Having talked with Marie Langer at EOS, obviously high profile and fully embedded in the additive manufacturing world, I was delighted to also recently talk with Aaron Johnson (LINK TO TALK) who works at perhaps the world’s most experienced and respected micro molding company, Accumold. Nanofabrica’s AM technology produces miniature plastic parts and components, parts and components that were until recently only viable to manufacture using traditional micro molding technologies. For obvious reasons we have networked with Aaron and members of his team for some time, and it was an honour that he agreed to contribute to the NANOTALKS series.”
There are some synergies between traditional micro molding and Nanofabrica’s micro AM Tera 250 machine. Through developments in the robustness of materials that can be processed on the Tera 250, Nanofabrica does not simply manufacture numerous micro plastic parts in each build, but it is also now able to produce direct rapid soft tools (DRSTs) that stand up well when used in traditional micro molding machines. The reality of an additive manufacturing technology that can produce numerous inexpensive tools in a matter of hours truly opens up the possibility of mass manufacture using AM, and is an exciting coming together of 3D printing and micro manufacturing which has previously been frustrated by the lack of precision possible through AM.
Neizer continues, “Accumold has a reputation for pushing the boundaries of what is possible in micro molding just as Nanofabrica does in the field of micro-AM. In our conversation, Aaron provides some valuable insight into the area of ultra-precise micro molding, and the ways that the company has adapted to remain relevant and visible in these tough COVID times, where the emphasis has to be on agility, responsiveness, adaptability, and thinking out of the box.”
The NANOTALKS series is available on Nanofabrica’s YouTube channel, and the link to the talk with Aaron Johnson is HERE.