Industry is asking for the advanced technology for producing technologically complex and innovative products through high levels of design. In the case of additive manufacturing, there is a need to come up with affordable tools and product processes that have not been available before using new materials and digital fabrication.

The ecosystem foundation is illustrated below.  A basic system of additive manufacturing modules can be added onto these foundation systems. This can be further extended to provide and a complete suite of additive manufacturing tools can be added to the system.

Through post processor development and innovative integration design efforts, a single ecosystem can perform the role of several tools that were each designed to do one task only - such as FDM metal printing or CNC machining. 3DFlexible’s tool platform can integrate the following advanced manufacturing tools:

• 5-axis vertical CNC mill
• Flexible electronic printer using a syringe tip dispensing system
• Cartesian X-Y-Z-A-C robot (pick-n-place) for electronic packaging
• 5-Axis ultra-fast laser machining system
• Non-contact video coordinate measurement machine (Video CMM)
• FDM metal 3D printer
  
  

This tool is user-friendly.  One main operating system software suite controls all basic functions and add-on modules. Our technology can print on both planar and complex surfaces and advances the state of the art in additive manufacturing systems.  For example, our system can additively fabricate a dome without any support material or print on a spherical surface. 3DFlexible’s Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM) system can be configured as a 5-axis FDM 3D printing tool for various materials. It also can be used as a 5-axis micro mill.  This hybrid technology can deliver advanced quality digital manufacturing processes.  Once again, all design, programming and manufacturing is done using a single software and single hardware platform.  

3DFlexible’s ecosystem concept involves:
•     Multi-functional platform: Brings as many advanced manufacturing tools into one manufacturing platform as possible—3D-CAD/CAM, simulation, true 3D surface printing, true 3D printed electronics, electronic packaging including pick and place, CNC machining and functionalization.
•     Digital Twin: Builds the virtual digital twin model that is indistinguishable from the physical counterpart including the manufacturing space. The virtual design and manufacturing space models and reflects the requisite aspects of the real manufacturing space.
•     Digital programming: Digitizes and views all manufacturing processes virtually. Every process is programmed using standard software and hardware. Virtual visualization is the best way to make the manufacturing process predictable and reduce the impact of natural, human-induced variation.