SMART SOLUTIONS
FOR BIG IDEAS.
THINK BIG – GO BigRep!
René Gurka
CEO & Co-founder
together with his international interdisciplinary team for the
last three years. In the past, he worked among other
positions as CEO for Berlin Partner GmbH which is
responsible for the business development of the German
capital as well as for the German-American Chamber of
Trade in San Francisco.
“We listen carefully when our customers talk about their
wishes and needs. This has also led to the development of
another compact office solution. With the BigRep Studio,
we are opening up a new dimension of 3D printing. The
print volume of 500 x 1000 x 500 mm provides an adequate
area for large-format prints, setting new standards in speed
and precision. The perfect combination of design, size and
functionality allows printing in almost all places such as
office, studio or loft,” explains René Gurka on the current
industry trends.
Developing an End-to-End AM System
Today, BigRep not only builds the largest series-produced
FFF machines in the world but, together with the Dutch
TNO, is developing an end-to-end AM system which aims
to raise the industrial production of additive parts to an
entirely new level. No doubt, the 3D startup has reached the
peak, but the winds and the waves were always on the side
of BigRep which made it happen. Nonetheless, the
challenges are still there, but team BigRep is prepared to
tackle every obstacle.
Painting the Picture of Tomorrow Long Before Anyone
Production time is still one of the greatest challenges faced
| August 2017 |
by additive manufacturing, and BigRep understands this
very well. FDM, SLS or SLM technologies still require up
to three days to complete a 3D printed large product.
However, the industry requires significantly shorter
production times, like those offered by conventional mass-
production. Thus, in the company’s in-house innovation
department, NOWlab, industrial designers, mechanical
engineers, mechatronics and software developers, are
together developing unique machines, materials and
products, and are sketching tomorrow’s application
scenarios. On the one hand, this not only includes entirely
new machine concepts, but also solutions, such as a non-
contact switch, which can be integrated into additively
manufactured components.
On the Verge of Technical Revolution
Undoubtedly, fully-automated 3D printing will
revolutionize industrial manufacturing over the next five
years. An annual growth rate of about 20 percent is
predicted by the year 2030 which represents an increase
from currently 4.1 to about 40 billion US dollars. However,
the ultimate truth is the biggest growth comes from
production, and not from prototyping. “We must master
these challenges as quickly as possible, because one