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Mantle Targets $45B Tooling Market with Unique Metal 3D Printing Technology https://ift.tt/YFx1f4D After six years of development, Mantle has finally released its commercial metal 3D printing system, which combines bound metal extrusion with CNC milling to achieve results so far unreached by the rest of the binder jetting segment. What’s more interesting than the technology, however, is Mantle’s business model, as the Bay Area startup is targeting first and foremost the $45 billion market for injection molding tools. To learn more, we spoke to Mantle CEO Ted Sorom, as well as Chief Commercial Officer Paul DiLaura and Director of Marketing Ethan Rejto. The P-200 3D PrinterAhead of IMTS, Mantle announced the commercial release of its P-200 3D printer, designed around a reliable CNC platform outfitted with an extrusion head for metal pastes. With a build volume of 200mm x 200mm x 150mm, the machine first prints a layer that is heated to dry the paste, evaporating some of the binder material. After 10 layers or so have been printed, a high-speed CNC mill trims the part, resulting in higher accuracy and smoother surface finish. Because it is machining dried paste, rather than solid metal, the cutting process is significantly faster. The green part is then placed in Mantle’s F-200 furnace, sintering them to near fully dense tool steel components. Due to the fact that some of the binder has already evaporated during the printing process, shrinkage during sintering is limited to below 10 percent, unlike traditional bound metal parts, which generally shrink around 20 percent. This makes it easier to predict the end result. The use of CNC also enables “best-in-class surface finish” of 1-3µm Ra. Even pre-sintering, the printed objects are extremely smooth. This not only means improved accuracy, but also little to no post-processing. So far, tool steels H13 and P2X (similar to P20) have been developed for Mantle’s TrueShape process. The future material road map features more tool steels because, as it stands, the startup is targeting the injection molding sector. By uniquely meeting the needs of precision tooling, the company is able to access the immense opportunity that lies in that sector. Dental Tooling: the #1 3D Printing ApplicationHighlighting a part on display at IMTS, Rejto noted, “This part from Tessy Plastics molds this piece for a deodorant core. It has been going for 1.4 million cycles and counting. It’s still in production.” The team couldn’t tell me which deodorant companies were using the parts injection molded with Mantle-made tooling, except to say that they were name brand products that could be found in any drug store. That immediately made an impact on me. Typically, additive companies are targeting mass manufacturers, but because they shoot for 3D printing end parts, the throughput and cost savings just aren’t there to see the technology used for all that many items that I might find in my daily life. By applying AM to indirect manufacturing, however, there is a butterfly effect that is undeniable.
Companies like Invisalign have created an entire industry through the use of indirect manufacturing with 3D printing. By 3D printing a model of a patient’s the teeth the way the orthodontist prescribes, it’s possible to thermoform clear aligners using stable, biocompatible materials. While firms are developing materials for the end 3D printing of dental aligners, they have only begun to hit the market. In the meantime, thermoforming models are being printed at a rate of 200 million units annually. Tooling: the $45B 3D Printing ApplicationTypically in the AM sector, machine salespeople are also application engineers and consultants. They don’t just try to unload a 3D printer onto a customer, but also have to co-develop a use case and aid the client in the design and production process. Mantle is trying a completely different approach. The tools presented at IMTS all looked like traditional tools. There were no lattice structures or consolidated assemblies. Instead, they were just as solid and sturdy as tools made with CNC machining. They were tools that a customer could trust, that operated like anything they’ve had their hands on in the past. To get 3D printing’s foot in the door of this legacy sector, which Sorom estimates to be worth $45 billion, Mantle isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. The biggest difference between TrueShape tools and something made conventionally was that they were designed and manufactured in the course of a couple of weeks instead of several months and at half the cost. Mantle doesn’t sell the geometric freedom of additive as a reason for adopting its technology. In many cases, the very mention of “conformal cooling,” which can speed up the heat dissipation of an injection molding tool, can make customers nervous. The fear of mold flow software is enough to send traditional manufacturers running for the door.
Mantle’s strategy raised the possibility that other metal 3D printing companies highlight conformal cooling and other unique design possibilities to justify the extremely high cost for their machines. Typically, a powder bed fusion system can range well over half-a-million dollars. In contrast, the entire Mantle system, including the P-200 printer and F-200 furnace, is $350,000. TrueShape 3D Printing in the Larger MarketWhen looking at the user landscape, there are several routes that Mantle could go and it is apparently pursuing all of them. Specifically, the firm is targeting toolmakers, injection molding providers, and vertically integrated businesses that have toolmaking and manufacturing performed in-house.
The TrueShape process may be complementary to other 3D printing technologies, including those directly targeting tooling, such as those from Addifab and Fortify. While Addifab’s Freeform Injection Molding is meant for temporary tooling for short run injection molding, Fortify’s technology is meant to produce longer-lasting molds using technical ceramic materials. These processes could potentially be used for bridge tooling or prototyping before a manufacturer turns to a final metal mold. Regardless of how they stack up against one another, these firms could all aid in the reshoring of U.S. manufacturing. Sorom estimated that about $8 billion of tooling is made in the United States, while $26 billion is performed in Asia. Because the expertise to make tools has been exported overseas, it’s possible that new digital processes could reverse the process. With students, designers and engineers in the U.S. focusing more on CAD than on traditional toolmaking, 3D printing with technologies like TrueShape could allow domestic production to be digitized. This would be particularly beneficial during supply chain crises the likes of which were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
The post Mantle Targets $45B Tooling Market with Unique Metal 3D Printing Technology appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/5E8zmho September 23, 2022 at 08:41AM
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