Formnext 2019: industrial additive manufacturing in full boom

This year again, Formnext was a big success: bringing together more than 850 exhibitors and 34,500 participants (compared to 27,000 last year), the 5th edition focused on the industrialization of additive manufacturing technologies. It must be said that this year the machines were larger, more industrial, and capable of supporting greater production needs. The 4 halls of Formnext 2019 were full of equipment and innovative applications, 3Dnatives was able to attend the world’s largest trade fair on additive manufacturing to report on the latest innovations! Among all the exhibitors present, we noted a strong presence of the actors of metal AM, large format machines, a more pronounced interest in ceramics and finally, a strong presence of visitors from the professional sectors, going to Formnext with their specifications and their project already in mind.

Over 800 exhibitors were presenting their solutions this year | Credits: 3Dnatives

Metal additive manufacturing continues to rise

This year, many exhibitors were specialized in metal additive manufacturing, whether they were already well established market players such as EOS, Trumpf, Renishaw, HP, 3D Systems but also new entrants such as Meltio, One Click Metal, and growing companies – Aurora Labs, Velo3D, Xerox… There were more than 185 companies focused on metal technologies, clearly showing a strong position for this 5th edition. This was already the case in the last two years, but in 2019, AM technology showed its willingness to industrialize, gradually turning to mass production. In discussions with Jordan Zacha, Marketing and Business Development Specialist at Aurora Labs, he revealed that more and more participants are familiar with the technology and are seeing the benefits: “It is quite surprising to see the number of players in this sector but even more so the proportion of visitors who are interested, especially American companies. They are looking for a fast and efficient production solution. I think that’s where the future of additive metal manufacturing lies.“

Our favorite is surely the American company 6K, formerly Amastran, which developed a plasma system to create metallic powders from used powders, waste or worn or defective metal parts. It is part of a real circular economy approach and can above all create metal alloys that were previously impossible to obtain. A project that we will follow closely!