#3DStartup: One Click Metal Wants to Make Metal Additive Manufacturing Accessible to All

We first met German startup One Click Metal at Formnext 2019. Its goal is clear: it wants to democratize access to metal additive manufacturing by offering a printing solution that is easier to use, a powder system that is less complex to handle, all at a more affordable price. Its 3D printer is based on the laser powder fusion process, available at today at just over a hundred thousand dollars, which is an affordable cost relative to other offerings on the market. One Click Metal hopes that more companies will be able to access this technology full of possibilities and wishes to participate in the worldwide development of metal additive manufacturing. We met with the team of this Stuttgart-based startup to understand how its products can help with the adoption of 3D metal technologies.

3DN : Can you present yourself and your link with AM?

Our team belongs to the generation that already had their first experience with 3D plastic printers at university. To create a design with the computer, manufacture it with the 3D printer and hold the finished product in your hands the next day without having to rely on external manufacturing is a feeling of great autonomy and independence. This speed and freedom, along with the relatively easy access to FDM and SLS printers, opens up a whole new world of possibilities for businesses, designers and engineers, the potential of which is far from exhausted. And now imagine that all this could also be possible with metals. What ideas could be realised… We really don’t want to miss that and this is why we created One Click Metal.

The One Click Metal team

3DN : How did the idea of creating One Click Metal come up?

Through our previous work, we have often seen that metal 3D printing technologies are potentially interesting for many companies, but that most AM systems are very expensive and complex. Especially newcomers or SMEs then say: I lack the knowledge in the application, I cannot make such a large investment for a technology that is unknown to me and my employees. And that is completely understandable. So, we said to ourselves, that should be easier. We want to bring a metal 3D printing system onto the market that makes it easier to overcome these initial hurdles. That means, above all, improving accessibility to these technologies and thus lowering the barriers. This is how One Click Metal was born. Making. technologies available with one click.