Future of manufacturing Formnext 2024: new developments and world premieres in additive manufacturing

Related Vendors

MESAGO Messe Frankfurt GmbH

HASCO Hasenclever GmbH + Co KG

CUMSA

Renishaw plc

This year's Formnext showcased the latest breakthroughs in Additive Manufacturing, focusing on innovative applications, sustainable practices, and advancements across the production process. Industry leaders presented solutions aimed at addressing evolving manufacturing challenges and opportunities.

Formnext is continuing its success story, once again demonstrating that, even in economically challenging times, the world of Additive Manufacturing offers interesting growth opportunities for users. More than 860 exhibitors from among the international elite of Additive Manufacturing (AM) and modern industrial production showcased their latest products and innovations over a gross exhibition space of over 54,000 m².

AM has found its way into numerous industries and been integral in a raft of innovations. At Formnext 2024, the exhibitors were again presenting an unparalleled range of applications and solutions for different industries. Sascha F. Wenzler, Vice President Formnext, Mesago Messe Frankfurt: “Formnext offers every industrial company the chance to benefit from these opportunities, from getting started with Additive Manufacturing to optimizing the entire process chain.”

At Formnext 2024, the international elite of the AM industry premiered numerous new products and solutions, giving visitors the chance to experience at first hand the latest innovations along the entire process chain, from design, production and materials through to post-processing and quality assurance.

Formnext Awards

The supporting program at Formnext 2024 included both established events and some exciting new additions. The new Formnext Awards, for example, have been launched to recognize the ideas of extraordinary talents. The awards were presented across six different categories, including innovative start-ups, sustainable business ideas, pioneering technologies, and people who have made a valuable contribution to the AM industry. For the first time, the public had also their say. Votes were cast online for the finalists, who also appeared at Formnext. And the winners are:

• Start-up Award supported by AM Ventures: The Start-up Award supported by AM Ventures, which is conferred on young, inspiring companies with viable business models, went to Axolotl Biosciences this year. This Canadian company has developed TissuePrint, a research-grade, xeno-free bioink for 3D-printing human tissue models. It claims that its ink can be used with an array of sensitive cells and is capable of retaining more than 90 percent of its cellular viability after being printed.

• Rookie Award: Oryx Medicals took home this year’s Rookie Award, which honors individuals with promising business ideas who have either not yet founded a company or who launched less than a year ago. The young team at Oryx Medicals has come up with a 3D-printed aortic valve that is designed to revolutionize the treatment of aortic valve stenosis. Their product is a patient-specific mechanical valve that combines the durability of conventional mechanical valves with the advantages of minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve implantation (Tavi).

• Sustainability Award supported by Renishaw: The Sustainability Award supported by Renishaw recognizes AM applications and products based not just on their production processes, but their entire life cycles. Taking home the prize this year was Ceratizit, a company that specializes in cutting tools and solutions for resistant materials, which has developed a unique procedure for additively manufacturing hard metals based on bonding agents and sintering. Ceratizit has calculated that this technique makes it possible to save 91 percent of the raw material typically required for conventional production — while also reducing the corresponding carbon footprint by 95 percent.

• Design Award supported by Cirp: Thanks to its exceptional AM designs, Siemens / 3D-Process research consortium was able to win over the jury and secure the Design Award in 2024. The German giant presented an innovative reactor design for greater sustainability in the chemical industry. According to Siemens, the system — which is designed to synthesize chemicals for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) — consumes up to 50 percent less energy. It also requires around 50 percent less solvent than the conventional process.

• (R)Evolution Award supported by 3D Printing Industry: Coming in first in the running for this year’s (R)Evolution Award supported by 3D Printing Industry was the Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite, and Processing Technology (IGCV). This award is presented to pioneering products, technologies, or services that offer outstanding added value to the user. The IGCV convinced the jury with its project entitled “Three Material Powder Bed Fusion of Battery Cell Cap Housing”. It involves a three-material processing technology (patent pending) that uses powder bed fusion to manufacture battery cell housings from aluminum, copper, and ceramic in a single production step. This innovative approach makes it possible to create enclosures with complex geometries and offers unparalleled flexibility in both design and production. It’s particularly suitable for small-series manufacturing, as cell developers can adjust their designs early on in the development process without having to invest in new tools. This flexibility is key to the rapid development of next-generation battery cells, where the ability to create prototypes and adapt designs quickly is essential.

• Ambassador Award: The Ambassador Award recognizes outstanding individuals or organizations that have had a unique impact on the industry and users through innovative training and education approaches or personal advocacy. This year’s winner: AM of Bones, University of Stuttgart. This university has developed innovative dental bone grafts together with dentists from the Freiburg University Hospital. The project involves the formulation of novel ceramic-filled resins and the design of highly accurate bone implants that are optimized for DLP stereolithography. It also includes the post-processing and cleaning of complex trabecular pores, which are necessary in producing flawless, sterile ceramic implants.

Meeting up with service providers

Another highlight of the supporting program was the Service Provider Marketplace. At the marketplace, visitors had the opportunity to meet AM service providers in person and discover how companies without their own AM facilities can take advantage of the technology. The accompanying showcase presented innovations from the medical technology, dentistry and packaging industries, among others.

This year’s partner country was Australia with its strong AM community, internationally successful system providers, service providers and AM specialists all out in force.

(ID:50245440)