EOS is a pioneer in 3D printing of industrial metals. The German company was founded in 1989 and offers a broad portfolio of products and services including 3D printing systems, software and materials. The key technology for metal 3D printing at EOS is Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) which is able to manufacture metal parts with a high mechanical quality. Many partners of EOS are able to manufacture metal 3D prints of high quality using EOS systems. For example Materialise and IN3DTEC.

SLM SOLUTIONS is a global leading provider of metal-based additive manufacturing technology. The technology used by SLM SOLUTIONS is called selective laser melting (SLM) and is used to produce complex metal parts by layer-wise selective melting of metal powders. SLM SOLUTIONS offers a variety of metal 3D printing systems as well as comprehensive services for its customers. The applications of the metal 3D printing systems of SLM SOLUTIONSolutions are very broad and can be found in the fields of aerospace, automotive as well as in the medical sector.

Founded in 2014, IN3DTEC has an arsenal of over 300 pieces of manufacturing equipment, and utilizes an online digital management system that provides 3D printing quotes in seconds to its customers.

All parts are carefully inspected, then packaged and shipped to our clients within 1-3 business days after production has completed. IN3DTEC can generate and provide you with prices for metal 3D printed parts in seconds and offer the best possible prices for all the required parts and in any required quantities. We are able to meet the highest possible standards as we adhere to the highest ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 quality standards.

No matter the quantity or the application, IN3DTEC is ready to support its customers’ needs using a variety of manufacturing methods, in several facilities around the world and thanks to its online digital management platform.

GE Additive – leading the field in metal 3D printing and production systems GE Additive is a business unit within the General Electric company and was set up to support GE’s ongoing development in the field of 3D metal printing and production systems. Having acquired Concept Laser and Arcam, GE Additive now operates a comprehensive portfolio of metal and sinter 3D printers, which utilize Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF).

In many ways LPBF is the most common form of additive manufacturing and has the capability of producing components of a very high accuracy and a wide range of mechanical properties. The GE Additive team have a massive amount of experience when it comes to 3D metal printing, including designing, improving and developing existing systems as well as new solutions to manufacturing challenges.

Alongside their 3D metal printing solutions the company are also able to offer a variety of services and solutions to businesses. As they believe that when combined with traditional manufacturing techniques it is possible to create end-to-end manufacturing systems which have been optimized. The vast amount of experience GE Additive have, along with the large range of expertise and solutions, available make them an ideal partner to businesses of all sizes.

As a global company, with their head office based in the UK, Renishaw specialize in precision measurement and control solutions which improve product quality, reduce costs and enhance manufacturing performance. In addition to their well-established metrology business, they are also involved in the development of metal 3D printing solutions.

Designing and manufacturing a wide range of metal additive manufacturing machines, all of which utilize Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) technology, the machines produced by Renishaw are able to create a wide variety of complex metal components to exacting tolerances. Their experience in this field has been gained by working with a variety of different industries, including the aerospace, medical and automotive.

Our metal 3D printing was created to challenge current methods of production. Founded in 2015, we are continuously working on solutions to make both metal and plastic 3D printing more accessible and affordable to all customers. Desktop Metal’s products range from rapid prototyping to low volume production for a wide array of industries including automotive, aerospace, and many more. Our end goal is to change the way things are manufactured and open up new opportunities in many fields of work.

Materialise (Headquarters Belgium, 1990) – Software and 3D Printing Service Provider for Industry.

Materialise also offers a full software suite of solutions that enable 3D printing, design optimization and simulation. All solutions on the Materialise platform are designed to prepare, optimize and analyze 3D print jobs for production in order to guarantee the best possible result. Customers from a wide variety of industries including healthcare, automotive, aerospace and consumer products rely on Materialise’ software solutions for their daily work.

Materialise’s Service Bureau produces end-use parts as well as prototypes for companies across many industries, including: healthcare, automotive, aerospace and more.

Protolabs is a global leader in the field of Digital Manufacturing. Their Service provides high-volume production, same-day prototyping and near prototype production in a range of materials such as ABS, nylon, aluminum, steel and many more. The headquarters for Protolabs is found in the USA with many other facilities around the world.

Protolabs is a global leader in providing Quick- Prototype Parts made from a variety of production methods and materials. The goal of Protolabs is to help design products quickly in order to verify designs before entering into a long production run and to get products to market in a timely manner. Clients of Protolabs are typically companies designing and developing new products or production tooling for industries such as Automotive, Aerospace, Medical and many others.

Protolabs have facilities across the world. All are strategically positioned to serve customers globally.

In 2007 ShapeWays was founded and since then the company developed into a leading global 3D printing service and a marketplace for 3D printing where customers can find and order 3D printed products made of a variety of materials.

The website and service offered by Shapeways, allows customers to design 3D printed products or to select from thousands of models and products which can be customized and ordered instantly for delivery by post. The designs can be uploaded to Shapeways in almost any format and then are produced and dispatched by Shapeways on behalf of the customer. For individuals and small businesses or start ups with limited resources and no in house 3D printing facility Shapeways is an extremely cost effective and convenient way to create and distribute 3D printed objects and products.

Velo3D was founded in 2014 in California, USA and is focused on innovative metal 3D printing solutions.

Velo3D metal 3D printing solutions also come with the SupportFree capability, making it unlike other metal 3D printing methods that require support structures during printing. Such structures can make a big difference as they enable designers to manufacture parts and products with minimal to no post-processing required, thus giving them more design flexibility and creating inner structures and outer geometry that are very difficult or even to make with conventional metal manufacturing.

Velo3D machines come equipped with in-situ process monitoring, which allows for real-time monitoring and control of the printing process. This also improves part quality, accuracy and repeatability.

The founder team of BLT is consisted of university professors and with their advanced technology, BLT is now a large metal equipment supplier in China, who devotes to the research and development of advanced 3D printing technologies, explorations of a variety of materials and related software to improve printing performance.

BLT continuously searches for better materials, printing methods and software to enhance its Metal forming 3D Printers. BLT’s R&D efforts are also made in collaboration with many universities and research institutes as well as industry partners. As a result, BLT has grown to be one of the largest metal equipment manufacturer in China and a leading player in the 3D printing industry.

3D printing metal is revolutionizing the way of making metal parts by offering virtually unlimited design possibilities, significantly reduced production time and cost effective production for medium to large sizes of parts.

The 11 companies presented in this article are leading the revolution of 3D metal printing by continually improving their technologies, offering an array of comprehensive services and holding in-depth expertise in respective industries. In the future, these companies are expected to make significant contributions to shaping up the manufacturing sector as well as to the progress of 3D printing technologies.