Earlier this year, Tel-Aviv based additive manufacturing innovator, Nanofabrica, commercially launched its micro 3D printing technology that reaches micron-level consistency over a build cover of 5cm x 5 cm x 10 cm. This ground-breaking technology now offers a workable mass production alternative to regular manufacturing processes such as micro molding, and its characteristics open up the opportunity for major development in product design and development.
 
It is time for companies associated in the manufacture of micro parts and components or larger parts with micron tolerances to re-assess the possibilities that exist as an additive manufacturing technology enters the micro manufacturing arena.
 
Nanofabrica's technology is letting manufacturers to disrupt the way that a product is fashioned, developed, and manufactured, key among the possibilities being the opportunity to take advantage of the way in which additive manufacturing allows for the design and production of extremely complex geometries at no additional cost.
 
Nanofabrica's technology is also much more agile and flexible than standard alternative manufacturing technologies, the needs for no tooling meaning that designs can be modified with little expense, and the potential for mass choices is now open to players in the micro manufacturing sector.
 
Through the use of a micro additive manufacturing procedure, manufacturers can also optimize workflow, the technology producing less scrap and fewer tools than conventional manufacturing functions. It also promotes the reduction of iterative strategy, assembly, and inventory. This means that important operating cost benefits are now attainable at the micro manufacturing level.
 
While the Nanofabrica micron-level additive manufacturing process can cater for high volume applications (multiple thousands of small parts and components fitting easily in the machine's build envelope), the introduction of a 3D printing solution for micro manufacturers also means that OEMs are able to reduce the reliability on economies of scale, as the technology makes full production runs measured in thousands as inexpensive as producing one. The Nanofabrica technology makes low to medium-volume production runs possible that have previously been uneconomic due to the high tooling and set-up costs linked with traditional manufacturing alternatives.
 
Until now, additive manufacturing has not been able to attain the exacting preciseness and resolution that is involved by manufacturers at the forefront of miniaturization and micro manufacturing.
 
Nanofabrica's micro AM technology appeals to an array of manufacturers that up until now have not been able to cost-effectively or efficiently fulfil design intent using conventional manufacturing processes. In addition, being agnostic to part complication, and therefore helping the manufacture of hollow structures, holes, complicated interior details, and atypical shapes, Nanofabrica's micro AM technology is advertising innovation and therefore is perfectly described a true enabling technology.



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com