As 3D printers become larger, faster, and more accurate, their manufacturers face the next challenge: How do we bring additive manufacturing into an industrial manufacturing chain?

Leiria is centrally located in one of Portugal's tool and mould-making hubs. It is also the place that Knarr, the specialist for standard parts for tool and mould-making, has chosen for opening its first international location. Rainer Knarr explains why the company has decided on Portugal.

Tool and mould-making is a key factor in industrial manufacturing. In addition to machining processes, spark erosion is also used, the electrodes of which are very complex to manufacture. Researchers are now developing a simpler method for this.

A company specialising in industrial rubber injection moulds and cold runner blocks for the automotive sector uses WorkNC to create 3+2 axis toolpath programs across a range of eight CNC machine tools as well as Workplan to consolidate information ranging from sales orders to invoices.

Germany - EDM and HSC specialist OPS Ingersoll hosted an Open House last month which attracted nearly 200 visitors from around 100 companies. The event featured a variety of presentations from long-standing OPS Ingersoll partner companies, covering the whole process chain from design to the finished product.

Whether sand molds for metal casting or plastic melt-off models for investment casting — foundries benefit in both cases from the many advantages offered by additive 3D printing processes.

Great Britain - Manufacturing companies see positives and negatives in what the future holds but are preparing themselves for the worst.

Tebis's advanced simulation technology enables a detailed representation of the actual manufacturing environment in the virtual world.

France/USA – Combining smart methodology and efficient CAM software, die manufacturer MDL Europe has reduced programming and machining times. The France-based company specialises in the manufacture of die sets, blanks of punches and dies, punch retainers and special guiding elements.

The two companies are collaborating on the development of the next generation of touch-based programming technology that enables users to quickly create and simulate CNC programs.