The past decade has seen additive manufacturing technologies develop from rapid prototyping to short run production and new advancing on full-scale mass production. So, how are industry leaders in additive manufacturing pushing the technology forward into the factory of the future?
Today, HP Inc. opened the doors to its new 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Barcelona, Spain, one of the world’s largest and most advanced research and development facilities for the next-generation technologies powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The new Center brings together hundreds of the world’s leading additive manufacturing experts in more than 150,000 square feet of cutting-edge innovation space – about the size of three football fields – to transform the way the world designs and manufactures.
The 3+ acre facility at HP’s Barcelona campus is dedicated to the development of HP’s industrial 3D printing portfolio and provides a large-scale factory environment to collaborate with customers and partners on the digital manufacturing technologies revolutionizing their industries.
“HP’s new 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing Center of Excellence is one of the largest and most advanced 3D printing and digital manufacturing research and development centers on earth – it truly embodies our mission to transform the world’s biggest industries through sustainable technological innovation,” said Christoph Schell, President of 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing at HP Inc. “We are bringing HP’s substantial resources and peerless industrial 3D printing expertise together with our customers, partners, and community to drive the technologies and skills that will further unleash the benefits of digital manufacturing.”
The new Center of Excellence unites hundreds of 3D printing and digital manufacturing experts in systems engineering, data intelligence, software, materials science, design, and applications in what may be the world’s largest population of additive manufacturing specialists in one location.
Specifically designed for active collaboration across HP engineering and R&D groups, customers, and partners, the new facility integrates flexible and interactive layouts, co-development environments, and fleets of the latest HP plastics and metals 3D production systems to drive more rapid and agile product development and end-to-end solutions for customers. Leaders such as BASF, GKN Metallurgy, Siemens, Volkswagen and others across the automotive, industrial, healthcare, and consumer goods sectors will continue collaborating with HP on new 3D printing and digital manufacturing innovations at the Center.
The 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing Center of Excellence design also reflects HP’s commitment to sustainability by incorporating a photovoltaic canopy to provide 110kW of power, rain water reuse for irrigation and sanitary purposes, HVAC and natural light optimization, and eco-friendly construction materials with a goal of achieving a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification. At a company level, HP’s goal is to use 100% renewable energy in its global operations over time, with a target of 60% by 2025.
HP’s investment in the new Barcelona Center creates one of the largest 3D printing and digital manufacturing research and development facilities in the world. It significantly expands HP’s global 3D printing and digital manufacturing footprint and enhances existing innovation locations in Corvallis, Oregon; Palo Alto, California; San Diego, California; Vancouver, Washington; Barcelona, Spain; and Singapore, where HP recently launched a collaboration with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) to drive 3D printing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, materials and applications, and cybersecurity innovations.
Engineering.com is currently on-site in Barcelona at the HP 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing Event 2019. Stay tuned for an upcoming article on this event.
Check out our article on the new HP 5200 series Multijet Fusion platform in this article: New MJF 3D Printer Series Targets 4th Industrial Revolution