Consultancy on 3D strategy and readiness for upcoming trends, identification of capability and technical gaps using solution-driven approach
Discover the many facets of 3D printing
Let us take you through the exciting journey of 3D printing
End-to-end 3D printing service bureau
From idea to finished product, we are with you every step of the way
Consultancy & Diagnostics
Scanning & Design Capture
Either create fresh designs from 2D drawings, scan from originals or engineer from source files. Storage of digital ready designs in cloud platform.
CAD & Design Optimisation
Optimize and identify improvements to structure or design. Integration with most CAD systems, and ensure end product printability and function.
Material Advisory
Select the most optimal material from our extensive range of resins, sandstone, carbon fibre, nylon, metals and other composite materials, that suit your project budget and requirements.
3D Printing & Finishing
Printer set up and print-bed alignment. Configuration to print in multiple materials as needed. Finishing, polishing and other value-added package options.
Consultancy & Diagnostics
Because we are 3D printers and designers ourselves, we understand the enormous potential (and challenges) that 3D printing is bringing to the global marketplace. Additive manufacturing has started to transform from being a niche industry to becoming a viable, commonplace alternative to conventional manufacturing – leading profound changes in how many things are designed, developed, produced and supported.
Our experience shows us that companies should be preparing for:
Faster product development cycles
often driven from the front line rather than HQ – for example, multiple prototyping cycles can now be achieved in the time that a single cycle used to take
More localised
manufacturing footprint
driven by 100% customisation and virtually flat unit costs
More power to
front line profit centres
The full power of additive printing to unleash local customer centred printing is only just starting to be understood
New requirements for capabilities and training
in new production technologies as well as new ways to serve customers
Preparing for new disruptive competitors
For example, Maersk printing spare parts on board its ships will radically change the traditional port services industry
We offer a full range of consulting and diagnostic services that helps you develop a full-fledged additive printing strategy that not only unravels the status of your 3D printing needs, opportunities and challenges; but also proactively identifies areas of productivity gains for competitive advantage.
Our sales team is highly experienced with decades of top level management consulting and well-versed across specific sector domains. Additionally, we also have other experts in materials supply chain, design and marketing to complement your business development strategy.
Scanning & Design Capture
3D scanning is becoming an ever more important part of the AM toolkit with the growth in demand for reverse engineering, printing of often obsolete spare parts and creating accurate renderings of “real” objects.
The scanning challenge is both hardware and software. The hardware challenge is keeping current with the latest scanning developments from increasing high resolution scanning to green-light scanners. The software challenge is managing and manipulating the scanned image to create a file that is capable of advanced CAD work.
Our team of technicians has the experience to handle large scale 3D scanning jobs as well as manage for high tolerances and accuracies. Specifically, our 3D scanning services cover
- Onsite 3D Scanning
- File Fixing, File Patching or File Conversions
- Editing and Modification of 3D Scanned data
- Scanning and CMM capture
- Geometric Analysis
- 2D to 3D Conversions
CAD & Design Optimization
Additive manufacturing allows for the “redesign” of parts to fully capture the benefits of 3D printing. A real challenge in good 3D printing is the creation of the “print file”. We have extensive experience in creating high-quality print files and focus on key areas such as support structure design, nesting, object orientation, print bed layout, laser setup and other printer performance aspects
Building an accurate three-dimensional (3D) model through the use of computer-aided design (CAD) software is the starting point of the design of a 3D printed project. This CAD model is normally based on either a scanned image from a “real” item or is built up from 2D drawings.
We are skilled in all manners of design optimization including topological, lattice and lightweighting techniques.
Our team of engineers and designers has vast experience in handling a full range of 3D CAD software as well as deep expertise in designing for the benefits of 3D printing. Specifically, we offer a range of CAD services such as 3D Modeling from 2D drawings, 3D Designing and 3D Renderings.
Material Advisory
The range of materials that can be “printed” by additive manufacturing is growing in bewildering ways and now includes materials such as skin, chocolate, circuit boards, ceramics as well as more traditional PLA, nylon, sandstone and an ever-growing range of metals from aluminium, stainless steel and copper.
One of the most exciting opportunities in 3D printing is being able to re-design traditionally manufactured equipment to take maximum advantage of the opportunities presented by additive manufacturing. For example – embedding electronic circuits within the walls of equipment or producing lighter finished products made from more versatile materials.
We offer specialist advice on the following example areas to help customers get the best out of their investment into 3D printing:
Optimal material selection balancing strength, cost, production and durability
Design implications from different types of materials
Printer optimization for different types of material, including avoiding material contamination and structural weaknesses during the printing process
From left to right: White Resin, Nylon, Titanium, ABS/PLA Plastic, Transparent Resin
Choosing the right materials for your project
Choosing the correct material type for your project can have profound implications on cost, delivery time, durability, design options and functionality. One of the most exciting and challenging areas is being able to re-design traditionally manufactured equipment to take maximum advantage of the opportunities presented by additive manufacturing.
| Materials | Typical Applications | Resolution | Strength | Flexibility | Price | Surface Quality |
| Sandstone | • Display pieces • Full colour models • Figurines |
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| Clear Resin | • High accuracy prototypes • Functional parts • Engineering parts |
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| White Resin | • High accuracy prototypes • Functional parts • Engineering parts |
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| Nylon | • Engineering parts • Form fit & functional parts • Live hinges / movable parts • Toys |
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| PLA/ABS Plastic | • Hobby projects • Low quality models • Low quality prototypes |
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| Stainless Steel (PH1, UTS 1300 Mpa) | • Engineering parts • Functional parts • Motor sport • Maritime applications |
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| Titanium | • Medical implants • Surgical tools • Aerospace & defense • Motor sport • Maritime applications |
3D Printing & Finishing
We believe the success of 3D printing is the culmination of good design capture and value-adding design work, so we focus on working closely with our clients to ensure the quality of the original design.
Additive manufacturing is the creation of parts and products one layer at a time. We have experience printing in the full range of materials including resin (coloured and clear), nylon, PLA, ABS, carbon fibre, sandstone as well as various metals. We are constantly adding to our list of quality assured printers to ensure the latest technology is available to us and our clients.
We have deep expertise in areas such as
- Printing: printer calibration, tool path creation, production scheduling and in-print monitoring and adjusting
- Post-production: heat treatment and stress relief, cutting, polishing, blasting and finishing
- Testing & Certification: external certification, reporting standards and machine analytics
Did you know? A little understood fact is that some 3D printed products need a considerable amount of post print finishing such as polishing, grinding and colour coating. 3D Matters has the necessary equipment and expertise to complete such post-processing work immediately after print production.
Our 3D Printers
Cubicon
CubiconMaterial: PLA | ABS |
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Markforged
MarkforgedMaterial: Material: Carbon Fibre | Fibreglass | Kevlar |
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Form 1
Form 1
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Blueprinter and Nylon cleaning and processing
Blueprinter and Nylon cleaning and processingMaterial: Material: Nylon | Tough nylon |
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Projet 660
Projet 660Material: Material: Sandstone |
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ZCorp 450
ZCorp 450
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Renishaw AM 400
Renishaw AM 400
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