SAP, Apworks and Heraeus have joined forces. The companies recently announced their support of the innovative application known as SAP Distributed Manufacturing, a collaborative platform that uses new customer tools to accelerate the introduction of additive manufacturing into production and supply chains.
Apworks, a subsidiary of Premium AEROTEC, introduced the integration of this unique platform, titled AMXpert, into the SAP software landscape at the last Hannover Messe trade fair.
The Apworks tool mainly helps users in solving one of the central issues of additive manufacturing, namely, how to identify components with potential for metallic 3D printing.
“Through this collaboration, we—together with SAP and the Manufacturing Network—have taken the next logical step towards industrialising metallic 3D printing,” said Sven Lauxmann from Apworks.
“By working as a team, we have developed a way for customers to test mass data for printability and to bring together the experts and the customers on the virtual platform. Worth noting here is a self-learning database, which is used primarily to intelligently assess printability, orientation, and thus costs,” he added.
He also points out that this results in a significant savings in both costs and resources. The new, integrated tool should be available online for numerous materials in a few weeks.
Heraeus Additive Manufacturing is the new sales and cooperation partner to Apworks GmbH in the further development of Scalmalloy.
Scalmalloy is the first material in the world developed specifically for additive manufacturing and the highest-strength printable aluminum alloys available on the market today.
As a materials specialist in the production and validation of metal powders for additive manufacturing, Heraeus is a leading partner in the development of new metal alloys.
Tobias Caspari, Head of Heraeus Additive Manufacturing, is confident about the advantages of the new cooperation.
“Together with Apworks, our goal is to commercialise Scalmalloy, to find new potential uses, and to generate interest for the product in various different industries.
“We aim to show everything that is possible with a material like Scalmalloy and with 3D printing in general. The cooperation with SAP Distributed Manufacturing is an important element in achieving this goal.”
