Serial production
INDUSTRIAL Production organized for the first time a competition to choose the best products from the industrial sector. The winners were voted for in a total of 6 categories.
INDUSTRIAL Production’s first award ceremony for the products of the year
In the Additive Manufacturing category of INDUSTRIAL Production’s 2023 Product of the Year voting, iFactory3D came in second place with its One Pro 3D conveyor belt printer. Participation in the online voting was extremely satisfactory for the magazine, which covers the entire production process chain with its articles. Last fall, the specialist journal had asked its readers to submit their suggestions for the best products from the world of manufacturing processes. At the end of the year, there were 38 finalists to choose from for the categories “Drive Technology & Automation,” “Robotics,” “Handling, Assembly & Production,” “Design, Simulation, Digital Twin,” “Metalworking” and “Additive Manufacturing,” with places 1-3 awarded in each category.
Belt printer awarded together with large machines in one category
The 3D conveyor belt printer was able to place between the winning product from Arburg and the granule printer from AIM3D. Both products, which also received awards, are large machines with weights in the ton range. As a result, the devices have a particularly secure stand that enables high printing speeds. In addition, both Arburg’s freeformer 750-3X and AIM3D’s ExAM 510 each have 3 extruders, with the ExAM 510 supplying two of them with granules as material and an optional third filament extruder. Both AM industrial machines were praised, among other things, for their larger installation space compared to their predecessors.
Similarities and differences between the award winners
Despite its fighting weight of just 18 kilograms and a footprint that fits on any table, the One Pro can certainly keep up with the large-caliber machines in terms of build space. With a width of 280 mm and a height of 170 mm, it has more than 70% of the installation space of the winner and still just under half the room of the ExAM 510. When it comes to length, however, no one can beat iFactory3D’s continuous printer; the continuous conveyor belt enables both extra-long prints and the automated production of object series.
Award recipient’s assessment
“We are very proud to be in a category with these versatile high-performance devices and even to place. The nomination came as a surprise, and it’s even nicer that we were nominated here by our satisfied customers. The fact that the One Pro is receiving so much attention reinforces our conviction that series production with additive manufacturing is also feasible for smaller budgets. Every technology has its advantages and its justification, and so the 3D conveyor belt printer can also be mentioned in the same breath as the freeformer or the ExAM.” – Artur Steffen, CEO and co-founder of iFactory3D
Award ceremony in Munich
The organizers invited all winners to the award ceremony in Munich, and many participants followed the invitation. The CEO of iFactory3D found the exchange between the different specialist companies very informative and enriching. The tour of the WEKA Group’s testing laboratories was particularly interesting. The laboratory is unique in Europe in terms of its equipment and is used, among other things, for the detailed execution of test series for technological products such as smartphones, flat screens or even record players. The test reports are then presented in detail in Connect magazine, among other publications.
Meanwhile, INDUSTRIAL Production is already planning next year’s event, which will give a stage to the best products in 2024. The magazine will call for product submissions in one of its monthly online editions or in the print version published every 3 months soon.