Source: Manufacturing Asia

“The potential applications of 3D printing in medicine are vast, from surgical planning and dental restoration to remote patient monitoring and telemedicine,” according to Technavio, quoted by Manufacturing Asia revealed. Meanwhile, a trend towards the field of bioprinting serves as another growth factor.

Additionally, findings from MarketsandMarkets Research revealed the global 3D printing bioprinting market vlued at US$1.3 billion in 2024, is expected to reach US$2.4 billion in 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7%. This growth is driven by advancements in 3D bioprinting technology, increased public-private partnerships, and its integration into pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Key market drivers include adopting 3D bioprinting for precise tissue and organ fabrication, facilitating drug testing and personalised medicine. Opportunities lie in the rising demand for organ transplants, while biocompatibility issues and stringent sterilisation protocols present challenges.

Unlike traditional 3D printers that use plastics or metals, bioprinters utilise a computer-guided pipette to deposit living cells, known as “bioink,” to produce artificial living tissues. This capability has notable implications for organ replacement, potentially addressing donor shortages and reducing rejection risks by creating organs fit for specific needs.

Moreover, the market is also witnessing advances in other areas, including prosthetics, implants, and surgical equipment. Solutions such as stereolithography (SLA) and digital light processing are widely used in the production of customised medical devices, including orthopaedic implants and wearable medical devices. 

Furthermore, the fields of dentistry and orthodontics benefit from 3D printing, which can be utilised for dentures, bone scaffolds, and hearing aids.

“Complex medical procedures, such as implantable and non-implantable medical devices, drug testing, and organ and tissue production, are also being revolutionised by this technology,” the report added.

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In December 2021, the company renewed its commitment, that includes a US$7 billion investment over the course of a decade, bringing the total investment in Malaysia by the US chip giant to US$14 billion as of 2032. The US$7 billion in investments is mainly to increase the size of its operations in Penang and Kulim, Kedah.

As it is, Malaysia is Intel’s largest offshore site, with a workforce exceeding 10,000 employees across two campuses in Penang and Kulim. It is one of the largest assembly and test facilities, and a mature site with multi-functions in manufacturing, design, development, and local and global support services.

It has just been revealed that another factory being built in Penang will be Intel’s first overseas facility for advanced 3D chip packaging, known as Intel’s Foveros technology. Malaysia will eventually become Intel’s largest production base for 3D chip packaging, Robin Martin, Corporate Vice President for Manufacturing Supply Chain and Operations, told the media. 

The company, however, did not specify when the facility would begin mass production. A report by Nikkei Asia quoted Intel saying that Amazon, Cisco, and the US government have committed to using its advanced packaging technology.

The company is also building a chip assembly and testing factory in Kulim for its US$7 billion expansion in Malaysia. For context, Malaysia is currently the world’s sixth-largest exporter of semiconductors, and Intel contributes an average of 20% of its total semiconductor exports annually.

Malaysia alone accounts for 13% of the world’s chip testing and packaging, a critical step in reading semiconductors for cars, phones, and other devices. Penang has emerged as the nation’s electrical and electronics hub.

Over half a million people were employed in the E&E industry as of 2022, working with global chipmakers from STMicroelectronics NV and Infineon Technologies AG to Intel and Renesas Electronics Corp.

Intel In Asia

Since Pat Gelsinger took the helm, Intel has viewed Asia more prominently, while being aware that the US needs to catch up to be on par with its Asian rivals. Even in Vietnam, Intel took a giant step into the country as the first and largest major foreign high-tech investor about a decade ago. 

By the end of 2021, Intel had injected a total of US$1.5 billion in Vietnam, and there had been talks that the US chip giant was planning a significant increase in that existing investment. The aim is to expand its chip testing and packaging plant in the Southeast Asian nation, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The possible move, which one source said could be worth around US$1 billion, would signal a growing role for Vietnam in the global supply chain for semiconductors as companies push to cut reliance on China and Taiwan because of political risks and trade tension with the US. Gelsinger also believes that it is not “palatable” that so many computer chips are made in Asia.

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Five axis machining is increasingly popular in modern metal cutting. It provides significant advantages such as machining complex-shaped parts by use of one set-up without changing the location of the workpiece, high machining accuracy, and reduced cycle time.

A Layer Deeper

Advanced technology of workpiece fabrication has led to increased capabilities of precise forging, casting, and mainstreaming additive manufacturing (AM). This resulted in the increased complexity of workpiece geometry, decreasing machining allowance and material by cutting operations and achieving end results which reflect the final shape of the workpiece.

The requests for high-performance cutting tools intended for finishing and semi-finishing geometrically complex surfaces are now vitally important. Ball-nose milling cutters are considered traditional tools for machining 3D surfaces.

Ball-nose cutters are the most common tools for semi-finishing and finishing profile in milling operations. Progress in the field of five-axis machining centres, and a significant step forward in modern CAM systems have emerged tools with a different cutting geometry, referred as segment or barrel-shape endmills.

Even though these tools are well known to machinists, they remain ignored. Five-axis machining combined with CNC software and computer modeling of complex tool configurations reemerged the use of circular segment endmill applications.

In All Directions

The cutting edge of these endmills is an arc that represents a segment of a circle with a radius larger than the nominal radius of a tool. For comparison purposes, in ballnose cutters the tool radius is the radius of the cutting edge.

Machining surfaces using ‘passes technique’ segment-type endmills enables a substantially increased step size compared to ball-nose cutters, thus reducing the cutting time. A three-axis CNC controlled cutting process cannot guarantee the correct position of a barrel shaped cutting tool when machining complex surfaces.

The five-axis machining concept allows taking full advantage of segment endmills. Depending on the orientation of the cutting edge relative to the tool axis, segment endmills possess various configurations such as pure barrel, tapered barrel, lens, and oval or parabolic shapes.

The form of the tool cutting edge determines the tool application. For example, lens-shaped tools are suitable for both five and three-axis machines, while endmills with a tapered barrel profile are intended for five-axis machines.

Segment cutter designs appear in multi-flute solid endmills that deliver ultimate tool accuracy and maximise the number of teeth on the cutting tool.

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For example, 6Probe users are now able to program button configurations and then interact with the software through the device in real time. Additionally, Faro Laser Line Probe users can benefit from immediate visual feedback of part quality via live deviation colour scans. Finally, with built-in universal CAD importer, all major CAD file formats can be directly imported into CAM2, thereby improving the workflow by eliminating the need for time consuming ‘double translations.’

CAM2 2019 features a standard set of software instructions that automatically guide the user through specific operations, visually and audibly. This lowers the bar for the technical expertise required to use Faro 3D measurement solutions, shortens the workflow and allows users to direct their primary focus on the measurement results themselves. Additionally, pre-set scanning profiles further streamline the end to end process by enabling users to select the appropriate scan setting for the specific part type with the click of a button.

CAM2 2018 featured the Repeat Part Management (RPM) Control Centre, an integrated, web-based dashboard reporting tool that delivers real time inspection results and insightful trend analysis in a user-friendly set of adaptable visual reports. Additionally, RPM enables a specific inspection process to be designed once and then repeated and executed by anyone on the factory floor. CAM2 2019 evolves this functionality to actionable intelligence by delivering statistically based graphs and results for trend analysis and predictive alerts. These alerts not only highlight that the measurement target is trending beyond tolerances, but also provide advanced intelligence into the process and why the situation is occurring.

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The post Faro Launches Enhanced 3D Measurement Software appeared first on Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News | Manufacturing | Automation | Quality Control.

Looking back at the economic crisis in 2010, the processing machine business has completely recovered by now and is growing even further. The automotive-related sectors in the US and China are once again investing in conventional as well as laser processing systems.

By now, laser cutting is the main market for high power laser applications, especially for the cutting of 2D sheet metal parts for automotive or electronics applications, and there is also a rising need in the processing of 3D parts. Besides metal cutting of car body components, there are other processes like weakening, welding and brazing of plastic and metal parts for body-in-white, interior or exterior applications.

One of the main trends supporting the increase in laser applications is the use of light weight design in the automotive industry. This has led to the introduction of new materials like press hardening steel (PHS) or carbon/glass fibre reinforced materials which are hardly to be processed without a laser. Additionally, these materials enable the industry to cater for more complex designs of automotive parts and car design. Particularly where autonomous driving will lead us to a new approach of cars, the interior might become a second living room with special requests regarding surface quality of the parts.

Numerous Advantages In Laser Technology

Nevertheless, laser technology has to be economical. Though the technology is not cheap, the advantages in productivity, flexibility and quality have the potential to justify for higher machine investments compared to competitive technologies.

A manufacturer of lasers and material processing as well as industrial metrology, Jenoptik is one such company that provides a basic robot technology that is capable of processing 3D shaped parts. The beam in motion (BIM) system is an approach for 3D cutting and the core component of the system is a robot module named BIM.

The technology can be applied in different applications and different machine concepts to support productivity and flexibility in laser processing. Due to its light weight design, the robot system has a high level of accuracy and speed for 3D cutting tasks, with a positioning accuracy down to ±50µm.

Key applications where the performance parameters of the laser machine can be used are mainly car body components—such as hydro-formed tubes and rails as well as PHS parts—or interior and exterior of automotive parts like bumpers or instrument panels.

Highly Productive Robotised Cutting Systems

To close the gap in performance between robot systems and gantry systems, improvements with regard to path accuracies and cutting speeds had to be realised. The laser manufacturing company took up this challenge and together with their partners, developed a system approach based on robots to meet cutting standards in the automotive industry.

To reach accuracies and speeds comparable to a gantry system, it is necessary that the robot maintain its basic dynamic and accuracy. Therefore the mass which has to be moved by the robot needs to be minimised. During the development of the BIM system, this has been reached by reducing the weight of the robot using lightweight structures, as well as by reducing the load of the robot with a small cutting head. Parameters reached for cutting press hardening steel parts of about 2 mm in thickness reach up to 300 mm/s in speed with repeatability in positioning of accuracy down to ±50µm. This performance is capable of fulfilling requirements with accuracies for all OEM specifications in car body design.

To further reduce the load of the robot system, the fibre of the laser source is not coupled into the cutting head. Alternatively, the robot can be modified in a way that the laser beam can be coupled into the base of the robot. This is guided inside the robot by a sealed mirror system which is purged by air to avoid contamination.

This approach results in an almost maintenance-free system as well as highest accessibility to the work piece. Another advantage using this equidistant beam guidance system is the independence of the laser wavelength from 500 nm to 10 µm. This system is an enabling approach to process 3D components of different materials using the most suitable laser source.

Verifying The BIM System’s Performance

The BIM system approach is designed as a modular concept which enables the core component “robot module” to be combined in a multiple robot cutting cell on minimised floor space that works simultaneously on the same work piece. To verify the performance of the system, a feasibility study was done by processing a press hardening steel A-pillar. This is a standard part out of production which has a typical distribution between straight cuts and inner contours like holes or slots.

The part in Figure 1 has been processed in a production-like test run of about 1,800 pieces on a standard machine based on the 3D-laser cutting technology. Out of the test run, 26 parts were extracted and compared to 26 parts being processed in parallel on a gantry system using different fixtures, with all parts analysed after processing on a coordinate measurement system. The results were then compared regarding the variation on the hole location, hole diameter, hole circularity and edge location.

The results revealed that the performance of the processing systems is on a similar level. On the basis of cycle time, the gantry system’s performance was found to have improved by approximately five percent. This difference in performance did result in some quality issues on the 2D contours at maximum speed, and can only be improved by slowing down the movements of the robot. By doing this adaptation, the quality of the features has been in spec and confirmed the results of the processed test structures.

After realising the advantages and disadvantages of the processing systems, a focussed improvement on smaller topics was executed on the robot. By using less joints of the robot moving simultaneously, a shorter cycle time by 50 percent was achieved (depending on the contour) and there was also an improvement in the quality of the geometrical variation of the contours.

Taking into account all these improvements, the BIM processing system is capable to cut parts like press hardening steel parts up to 300mm/s, and with the accuracies of the contour down to 50 µm as well as path contours down to 200 µm. These improvements had been transferred into production trials of more than 20,000 pieces of a different A-pillar and it was shown that the improvements enable this system approach to compete with a gantry system in cycle time at comparable cutting quality.

Cutting Larger Dimensions With Multiple Heads

Within car body applications, tubes and rails represent a fixed portion of the car body. When increasing the degree of freedom in design, the shape of these parts gets more complex and by hydroforming, there are limitations regarding pre-processing of contours and end cuts of the parts.

Figure 2 shows the part with a length of over 2 m, 26 contours distributed over the complete skin surface and two complex end cuts to be processed within 45 s cycle time. Due to the large dimension of the part, the expected cycle time and the limited available floor space, a machine setup with turntable and two cutting robots had been designed. The two robots work simultaneously on the work piece to reach the expected cycle time and the machine successfully integrates into a fully automated process line.

Following the trend of lightweight materials in car body, a way to reduce CO2 emissions include the use of casted aluminium. The main obstacle for further growth of volume is component cost, compared to other technologies that are mainly driven by long cycle times of the different processes to come to a finished part.

Reducing Processing Times

One approach to reduce cycle time and to gain flexibility in tooling is to replace drilling and punching to generate the contours inside the part using laser processing. Material thicknesses of the casted parts are between 3 mm and 6 mm, making them feasible to be cut by laser, producing parts with good geometry and burr.

Compared to drilling or milling operations, processing times can be reduced by up to 50 percent which gives a clear cost reduction and generates higher productivity. Looking at the outer trim, laser cutting shows a higher degree in flexibility and better tooling cost as compared to punching as well as the ability to do undercuts.

The BIM system is capable of fulfilling the specifications in quality and speed which is necessary to run this application, and gantry systems are suitable for cutting tasks. Compared to these systems, robotised solutions are offering the possibility to work more closely and with multiple tools within one work piece.

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The post Multi-Robot Solutions Enable High Performance 3D Metal Cutting appeared first on Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News | Manufacturing | Automation | Quality Control.

A CAD drawing file is imported into the module via simple “drag and drop”. Once imported, the file is converted to OSM (Open Sheet Metal) format and stored in the central Cadman database.

Stored OSM files are immediately accessible for all other modules of the Cadman suite for efficient generation of laser, punching, bending programmes and jobs scheduling. All data is visible at a glance on the control screen.

It features the integrated BrisCAD, a robust 3D direct modelling CAD package. BrisCAD allows the 3D drawing to be reviewed in detail, modified or corrected as required.

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Nesting is a computer-aided manufacturing application (CAD) application where cut profiles are laid out in the most optimal way to minimise raw material wastage. Nesting software commercially available today also can also be integrated with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and material requirements planning (MRP) software, allowing for even greater flexibility.

Q: What are the benefits of using nesting software, and how do they translate into the shop floor?

Amey Save (AS):Nesting software comes with unique and smart nesting algorithms that optimise the cutting sheet with parts. For instance, it can allow the end user to optimise the metal sheet with different cut parts, while keeping sufficient gaps between each part for good cut quality and heat affected zone, so that all parts nested will have good cut dimensions and cut quality.

In general, the benefits can be translated to the shop floor in the following ways:

• Optimisation of metal sheet with cutting parts:Saving of scrap material results in cost savings for the company.
• Users can select from a series of tested and verified parameters within the software:This results in faster cutting with good cut quality: Saving time and money on secondary work.
• Users can apply machine and process defined for lead-ins and lead-outs:This helps to achieve good cut quality and also reduces machine maintenance. Ultimately, this leads to less downtime and higher production.
• Compatibility with ERP/MRP software:Provides integration with the entire operating process.

Certain software comes with proprietary technologies that have additional benefits. For example, Hypertherm’s nesting software includes True Bevel technology that reduces trial and error in bevel-cutting jobs for mild steel.

Q: Are there any overlooked features that manufacturers can do with nesting technology that turns into improved productivity?

AS: In addition to its core function, advanced nesting software usually comes equipped with certain optional modules, some of which are specific to improving productivity. Some optional modules include:

• Productivity modules.
• Enterprise modules.
• 3D process modules.
• Machine interface modules.

Our productivity modules contain auto nesting, common line, chain, and bridge cutting functions, which enable users to optimise the nesting layout.

A common problem that many companies encounter is having to keep track of remnant (leftover) metal sheet. With an inventory module, this information will be stored in the database and can be used when required.

Q: Nesting software is not “magic”; physical limitations of the machine have to be taken into account. Is there any common consideration and advice that you’d like to give to users?

AS: I would encourage all users to explore and utilise the optional modules that come with the nesting software. With these optional modules, users have the flexibility to create a customised nesting software (by adding modules as per their requirements) that is suited to their unique needs.

Q: Any common misconceptions about nesting software that you would like to clear up?

AS: We have encountered many nesting CAM software users who think that they can perform plate optimisation manually better than utilising auto nesting. In a way they are right, as nesting software cannot be compared with the human brain nesting logic. That said, nesting software is capable of generating layouts in a much shorter time, as opposed to manual nesting by a user, which helps to save time and increase productivity.

Q: At its heart, nesting software is driven by algorithms in order to reduce material wastage. With technology advancing at a breakneck pace, has there been any advancement in that respect, or to nesting software in general?

AS: Definitely, there’s still room for innovation and improvement in nesting software. For instance, nesting software can come with different modes: Auto Nesting, Manual Nesting, and Hybrid nesting which allows auto and manual nesting both can be used by user. This gives users more control over their nesting layout.

Q: Any other thoughts you would like to share with our readers?

AS: In today’s world, having a powerful vehicle is not sufficient. The vehicle needs to come with features that can be adapted to different road conditions, and offer users flexibility and ease of use.

The same applies to cutting machines as well. Having a big cutting machine alone is not enough. It needs to be complemented by powerful nesting CAM software for optimisation of metal sheet, machine space, shop floor, and human resources, in order for users to reap the most benefits and achieve maximum efficiency and productivity.

The post A Nested Interest: What Are The Benefits OF Nesting Software? appeared first on Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News | Manufacturing | Automation | Quality Control.