HP Accelerates Digital Reinvention of Manufacturing Industry with Open Platform and 3D Printing Materials Advancements

Chicago, Ill., March 20, 2017 — Today at the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) conference, HP Inc. announced significant milestones to its open platform for 3D printing materials and production-ready applications development. Expanding the development and lowering the cost of advanced 3D printing materials and applications is a critical catalyst for the digital reinvention of the global manufacturing industry. HP’s unique open platform model for 3D printing helps expand the availability of new materials and addresses a broader set of applications. The open platform model also helps lower materials and development costs, drive speed and performance improvements, and create new possibilities for part properties meeting specific industry needs.
“An open ecosystem of industry leaders is critical for greater innovation, breakthrough economics, and faster development of 3D printing materials and applications,” said Tim Weber, global head, 3D Materials and Advanced Applications at HP. “Our growing certified partner network and leading-edge lab facilities are a testament to the progress we are making in spearheading a dynamic community of collaborators focused on delivering the most innovative and production-ready 3D printing solutions.” 
Industry’s First 3D Printing Materials Development Kit (MDK)
HP, in collaboration with SIGMADESIGN, will offer the industry’s first MDK for 3D printing materials, ensuring a robust and expanding array of materials for end-customers and a simplified certification and testing process for partners.
An integral element of HP’s open platform strategy for 3D printing, the MDK will enable companies interested in certifying their materials to quickly test 3D powder spread-ability and compatibility with HP Jet Fusion 3D printers prior to submitting the materials to HP for testing. This greatly simplifies the testing and certification process, leading to faster innovation cycles while achieving strict quality standards. 
“HP is leading the evolution of 3D printing from prototyping to production and SIGMADESIGN understands how important each step of the manufacturing process is in this journey,” said Bill Huseby, president and CEO, SIGMADESIGN. “Materials are at the center of successful manufacturing, and the combination of HP’s open platform and the ability to enable voxel-level control will help expedite the digital transformation of this multi-trillion dollar market.”
Huseby emphasized the importance of enabling materials development and applications design with the right resources, “Many companies, both large and small, do not have the internal capabilities to execute their 3D printing vision as quickly or as broadly as they’d like. We are proud to provide world-class foundational tools such as the MDK and in-depth design expertise for organizations ready to innovate using HP Multi Jet Fusion technology right now.” 
The MDK is expected to ship this spring and partners can pre-order the kit beginning today by contacting mdk@sigmadzn.com.
HP Unveils World’s First 3D Open Materials and Applications Lab
Building on its open platform vision and leveraging more than four decades of print innovation, HP took the wraps off the world’s first state-of-the-art laboratory to help companies develop, test and deliver the next generation of materials and applications for 3D printing. Located in Corvallis, Oregon, the new HP 3D Open Materials and Applications Lab will offer partners a range of equipment and in-house expertise to accelerate materials and applications innovation, which is critical to quickening the evolution and adoption of 3D printing technologies.
In May 2016, HP announced the HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution, a production-ready commercial 3D printing system that delivers superior quality physical parts up to 10 times faster and at half the cost of current 3D print systems. In addition, by printing functional parts at the individual voxel level (a voxel is the 3D equivalent of a 2D pixel in traditional printing), HP offers customers an unprecedented ability to transform part properties and deliver mass customization.
Learn more about the new lab and see images of materials innovation in action.
BASF and Evonik Highlight Materials Development Innovations with HP
Global materials leaders and existing HP partners, BASF and Evonik shared details about new innovations being developed using HP’s open platform and the opportunity to work in the new HP 3D Open Materials and Applications Lab.
“At BASF, our goal is to enable customers to produce resilient and functional parts through the use of innovative material solutions,” said Kara Noack, Head of 3D-Printing North America, BASF. “Using the HP Open Platform and its one-of-a-kind testing lab in Corvallis to accelerate material development is helping to unlock the potential of 3D printing. The open platform gives BASF an opportunity to collaborate with customers, and together with HP, accelerate not only the material market, but also 3D-printing adoption within manufacturing.”
Noack also shared the advantages of working inside HP’s 3D Open Materials and Applications Lab and the progress the company is making on certified materials for HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology.
“Based on BASF’s experience and R&D capabilities, we have been able to accelerate the development of materials with better mechanical properties by leveraging HP’s 3D Open Materials and Applications Lab,” she noted. “We have been able to develop multiple versions of thermoplastic elastomers including TPU, thermoplastic polyurethane, adding to an already comprehensive product portfolio. HP’s 3D Open Materials and Applications Lab is allowing us to provide a wider range of innovative materials to the industry.”
Evonik was the first partner to announce plans to commercialize a certified material for the HP Open Platform. Today, Evonik shared specifics on the upcoming availability of VESTOSINT 3D Z2773, a PA-12 powder material introduced for the HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution and insight into the development process.
“In October, we announced successful certification of VESTOSINT 3D Z2773, and we are now excited to confirm initial availability in May with the full commercial offering available for our customers shortly thereafter,” said Dr. Matthias Kottenhahn, Head of the Business Line High Performance Polymers of Evonik. “In only six months, leveraging the HP Open Materials and Applications Lab, our team has been able to develop, certify and begin selling an innovative new material with significant property advantages.”
“Our collective efforts to reconstruct the way we go about 3D materials development is founded in HP’s investment into its open platform, tools such as the MDK and the 3D Open Materials and Applications Lab,” said Kottenhahn. “The open approach to materials and applications of HP opens a bright future for our industry.”
HP at AMUG
Attendees at AMUG can learn more about HP’s 3D Open Materials and Applications Platform and strategy in a session led by Fabio Annunziata, director of HP 3D materials, on Monday, March 20 from 3:00-4:00 pm in Room 4G at the Hilton Chicago.