Siemens is ramping up its focus on industrialized additive manufacturing in the U.S. Last week, the tech giant announced the opening of the Charlotte Advanced Technology Collaboration Hub (CATCH) in Charlotte, North Carolina. As a joint venture between Siemens Technology, Siemens Energy and Siemens Digital Industries, the Siemens CATCH facility is an R&D innovation hub for manufacturers to streamline industrial additive manufacturing (AM) using automation and digitalization technologies.
While AM continues to evolve rapidly, there is still considerable resistance to its mass adoption—which Siemens plans to offset through a systematic collaboration with OEMs, laboratories, and end users. As an example, Siemens recently partnered with 3D printing OEMs ExOne, Xerox, and Roboze. The aim is to combine Siemens’ digital software with the latest AM equipment, in turn enhancing 3D printing workflows and moving manufacturers closer towards a more resilient supply chain.
As a result of the Xerox Elem Additive Solutions collaboration, one of the printers at Siemens’ CATCH facility is the Xerox ElemX liquid metal 3D printer. The Xerox ElemX is paired with Siemens SINUMERIK 840D sl control platform, which utilizes digital twin technology to refine 3D printing processes and minimize post-processing. Siemens will continue to develop automation, software, materials and processes with ElemX systems.
Siemens is also tapping into Roboze’s polymer, super polymer, and composite 3D printing technology for applications across the energy, aerospace and mobility sectors. The Siemens CATCH facility houses the ARGO 500 3D printer, which the company claims will improve production capacity for manufacturers.
Siemens’ CATCH facility also houses ExOne’s InnoventPro binder jet 3D printer and the X1 160PRO production 3D printer. The InnoventPro will be used for prototyping, while the X1 160PRO will be employed once established processes are scaled up. The Siemens MindSphere IoT operating system and Siemens controls are integrated into the InnoventPro software to further power its monitoring and analysis capabilities.
CATCH is one of seven strategic AM manufacturing hubs that Siemens has created around the world to facilitate Industry 4.0 and 3D printing adoption in the manufacturing ecosystem. As the scope and scale of AM continue to evolve, Siemens seems poised to grow in its collaborative outreach to other OEMs in the 3D printing industry.