ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
“ Additive manufacturing offers the potential for individual customisation , which has obvious benefits for products such as implants .”
PRINTING PROTOTYPES
Above : Additive-manufactured products at Smithstown Light Engineering .
Smithstown Light Engineering in Ireland selected the new TruPrint 2000 3Dprinter to manufacture prototypes and samples for the medical device industry .
Above top : TRUMPF ’ s TruPrint 2000 3D printer .
Smithstown Light Engineering , based in Shannon , Ireland , has invested in a TRUMPF TruPrint 2000 3D printing system to further enhance its support for the country ’ s burgeoning medical device industry . The first machine of its type in Ireland , the TruPrint 2000 is now busy producing prototypes and samples for a variety of customers in 17-4 and 316 stainless steel . Founded in 1974 , Smithstown Light Engineering started out with a workforce of four skilled toolmakers . During the early 1990s , the company moved towards specialising in medical device manufacturing and never looked back . Today , it employs 141 people across three sites , two in Ireland and one in
Poland , focusing on the provision of precisionengineered medical device and orthopaedic instrument / implant solutions , typically for hip and knee replacement procedures and cardiovascular delivery devices .
3D printing in focus
Already offering a range of manufacturing capabilities ( including milling , turning , grinding and EDM ), Smithstown was keen to add 3D printing to its repertoire , and set about creating an Additive Centre within a recently constructed 30,000 ft ² extension .
“ We worked for two years with IMR
[ Irish Manufacturing Research ], a technology and research organisation , to experience 3D printing and get a feel for what it could do in terms of its capabilities , limitations , advantages and disadvantages ,” explained Smithstown managing director , Gerard King .
22 | sheetmetalplus . com | ISMR April 2022