HP Innovation Journal Issue 11: Winter 2018 | Page 14
T
his fall HP launched the world’s most advanced 3D
printing technology for the mass production of metal
parts, HP Metal Jet. It was a giant step forward in our
mission to transform the way the world designs and
manufactures goods, introduced at the International
Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago. In press
coverage and on the show floor, the HP Metal Jet launch
was described as a breakthrough. This echoed the
acclaim garnered by the introduction of Multi Jet Fusion
technology four years earlier. With these 3D printing
advancements, HP has changed the landscape of 3D
printing, bringing speed, quality, and low cost to the
industry. Believing in the transformational nature of this
technology, HP has created an open platform, inviting the
world to participate in realizing its potential.
Additive manufacturing—the space 3D printing is
driving—is a relatively small percentage of the $12 trillion
manufacturing industry today. The majority of goods are
manufactured through a subtractive process—starting
with a block of raw material and shaping it into an end
product. With the shift to additive manufacturing, digital
designs direct the layering and binding of powdered
material to create a physical object. Plastic and metal are
finally ready for mass production, with the arrival of
materials and processes that are used to create lightweight,
industrial-strength parts. HP's 3D print solutions are
delivering the materials choice, cost efficiency, and func-
tionality required to compete with traditional manufac-
turing methods. This offers a profound reinvention of the
way we think about making things.
HP’s path to the Metal Jet breakthrough might be
thought of as “additive innovation”—layering new ideas
and capabilities onto 30 years of accrued expertise in
printhead and chemistry innovation. The implications of
mastering 3D metal printing are huge with the auto, in-
dustrial, and medical sectors alone produce billions of metal
parts each year, the majority from iron and steel. Until now,
metal 3D printing has been mostly used for extremely
expensive specialty applications using exotic metals: tita-
nium prosthetics, for example, in the medical industry.
HP Metal Jet delivers mechanically functional parts at
up to 50 times better productivity over other 3D printing
methods 1 and at significantly lower cost 2 compared to
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HP Innovation Journal Issue 11
other binder jetting systems. The new Metal Jet 3D printing
platform unlocks the speed, quality, and economics to en-
able customers to completely rethink the way they design,
manufacture, and deliver new solutions in the digital age.
It’s no accident that “design” is central to any discussion of
additive manufacturing. Designing differently to an entirely
new set of parameters is a critical first step on the journey.
To share these new capabilities with designers, producers,
and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) before the
Metal Jet systems are commercially available next year, HP
has announced the Metal Jet Production Service. In the
first half of 2019, customers will be able to upload 3D design
files and receive industrial-grade parts in large quantities.
Commercial HP Metal Jet solutions will be offered at under
$399,000 and begin shipping in 2020 to early customers,
with broad availability in 2021.
THE HP METAL JET TECHNOLOGY
ECOSYSTEM EMERGES
HP is partnering with GKN Powder Metallurgy to deploy
HP Metal Jet in their factories to produce functional metal
parts for auto and industrial leaders, including Volkswagen
automotive and Wilo, a leading global manufacturer of
pumps and pump system solutions. GKN Powder Metallurgy
produces more than three billion components per year and
expects to print millions of production-grade HP Metal Jet
parts for its customers across industries as early as next year.
“We’re at the tipping point of an exciting new era from
which there will be no return: the future of mass production
with 3D printing. HP’s new Metal Jet technology enables us
to expand our business by taking on new opportunities that
were previously cost prohibitive,” said Peter Oberparleiter,
CEO of GKN Powder Metallurgy.
Volkswagen's multiyear plan to use HP Metal Jet includes
the production of high-performance functional parts with
significant structural requirements, such as gearshift knobs
and mirror mounts. “A single car consists of 6,000 to 8,000
different parts. A big advantage of an additive technology
like HP Metal Jet is it allows us to produce many of these
parts without first having to build manufacturing tools. By
reducing the cycle time for the production of parts, we can
realize a higher volume of mass production very quickly,”
said Dr. Martin Goede, Head of Technology Planning and
Development, Volkswagen. As new platforms such as
electric vehicles enter mass production, HP Metal Jet is
expected to be leveraged for additional applications such
as the production of fully safety-certified, lighter-weight
metal parts.