Sales were boosted by multiple customer orders for the recently announced LENS Print Engine, a unique modular approach that allows metal 3D printing capabilities to be installed into existing machine tools. Its open architecture enables integration with either new or pre-owned CNC tools, so customers in the industrial base can leverage existing equipment assets to realize the benefits of 3D printing in a less disruptive manner. Optomec is working to establish distributor partnerships with select machine tool OEMs to accelerate the adoption of this solution.
Optomec also reported continued strong growth for its Aerosol Jet printed electronics systems, which can print conductive metals and a variety of other functional materials directly onto 3D surfaces. In particular, the introduction of an Aerosol Jet high volume production solution, capable of printing approximately 2 million 3D printed antenna units per year, is driving demand throughout the mobile device manufacturing base. Additionally Aerosol Jet printers are now being used in the manufacture of 3D printed sensors, a high growth segment driven by the Industrial Internet and interest in the Internet of Things (IoT).
“The substantial increase in bookings across both our core product lines puts us well ahead of our plan for the year, and confirms that Optomec 3D Printing solutions are being accepted for industrial production applications,” said Dave Ramahi, Optomec president and CEO. “The rapid adoption of the LENS Print Engine verifies our open architecture approach and the metal working industry’s readiness to implement cost effective, hybrid additive manufacturing solutions. With millions of CNC machine tools already installed, the upgrade potential represents a substantial market opportunity. Likewise, on the printed electronics side, we are seeing strong demand for high volume production implementations of our 3D printed antenna and 3D printed sensor solutions, both of which leverage our unique ability to print electronics onto existing 3D structures. These successes underscore our motivating belief that to be successful in the long term, 3D printing must meet the cost, efficiency and quality requirements for production scale applications.”
Source: Optomec