BASF, Evonik and other material enterprises rush to the 3D printing market

3D printing is a kind of rapid prototyping technology, which is based on the digital model file, using the powder like metal or plastic and other adhesive materials, through the way of layer by layer printing to construct objects. In the era of rapid design iteration, 3D printing can not only optimize the use of materials, but also achieve weight reduction, as well as the convenience and flexibility of printing on demand. All these advantages make 3D printing maintain a two digit high-speed growth. At present, his application fields have expanded to crafts, construction, automobile, aerospace, medical treatment, animation, food manufacturing, clothing and luxury, film and television media and education and other coatings online coatingol.com. In the face of the emerging strong demand, many material companies also use the capital advantage to rush to the market. Evonik, a German specialty chemical company, acquired structured polymers, a manufacturer of polymer powders for 3D printing in early 2019. It is planned to use the new patent technology to help the company further improve its high-performance polymer product portfolio for additive manufacturing market and expand the production scale conveniently and economically. In addition, Evonik also led the investment of a Chinese 3D printing start-up, mcditou, with a total financing of millions of euros. BASF also won't be outdone. It launched a new 3D printing brand, forward am, and officially appeared in formnext 2019. At the same time, BASF also acquired sculpteo, a 3D printing service provider, and said it would further build sculpteo's 3D printing platform into a global network, which would also enable forward am to enter the market faster. Akoma has made a strategic investment of US $20 million in carbon, an advanced 3D printing enterprise. Recently, akoma has also reached cooperation with continuous composites and 9t labs to convert new applications into 3D printing, accelerate the deployment of these technologies in various industries and applications, and promote them to be mature technologies for large-scale industrial production.