AM-Flow, the Amsterdam and Brainport Eindhoven-based industrial automation company for additive manufacturing (AM) factories, has announced the completion of a $4m Series-A investment round. The company will use the investment to accelerate and support the 3D-printing industry by providing step-change automation, heading for the lights-out factory of the future. AM-Flow provides AI-based computer vision, motion and robotics solutions to process 3D-printed parts at high speed and efficiency levels. The Series-A funding round was led by BOM Brabant Ventures.

For further information www.am-flow.com

The Hexagon group is set to present software solutions at the Siane exhibition in Toulouse later this week, enabling aerospace manufacturers to take their businesses to the next level. Visitors to stand B81 at Siane (20-22 October), will see how an aerospace part progresses from reverse engineering through to final programming.

According to Hexagon, it is now even easier to prepare parts in VISI, as recent updates to the software’s ‘Reverse CAD’ module have improved the reverse engineering process. In addition, on-stand demonstrations will show significant savings through improved cycle times for surfacing, contouring and ‘Waveform’ roughing, using the 2021 versions of Hexagon’s CAM software Edgecam, as well as its simulation solution NCSIMUL.

For further information https://is.gd/quboba

The METAV exhibition, which was originally postponed from March 2020, is set to take place on 23-26 March 2021 in Halls 5, 6 and 7a of Messe Düsseldorf.

“The halls are fully booked because ‘METAV 2020 reloaded’ represents the first major machining trade fair in Germany for over a year,” says Dr Wilfried Schäfer, executive director of METAV organiser, the VDW. More than 400 METAV 2020 exhibitors from 25 countries have remained loyal to the event and already decided to attend in 2021. In the run-up to the exhibition, the VDW will be holding monthly ‘theme days’ in the form of the METAV Web Sessions.

For further information www.metav.com

In what is one of its largest single orders to date, Stratasys says that Latvia-based additive manufacturing service provider, AM Craft, has purchased four large-scale production-grade Stratasys F900 3D printers to provide certifiable 3D-printed parts for a wide range of aircraft interior applications, including aircraft seating, panelling and ducting.

“In recent years, we’ve seen ongoing demand for 3D-printed production parts among major aircraft OEMs,” says Jānis Jātnieks, co-founder and CEO of AM Craft. “Although COVID-19 has shocked the industry in the past few months, we’re seeing efforts to restart business by remodelling passenger planes for cargo shipments, as well as projects to increase customer safety measures and improve the in-flight experience. In such cases, additive manufacturing is way ahead of slower and more costly traditional methods.”

For further information www.stratasys.com

Estanc, an Estonia-based family-owned company that specialises in products such as environmentally friendly heat exchangers and pressure vessels, has been relying on solutions from PEMA for the past 10 years.

“We manufacture a lot of pressure vessels, shells and tanks, and they need to be moved around frequently,” says explains Tõnis Tuuder, designer at Estanc. “That’s why PEMA welding turning rolls for heavy workpieces are so crucial for us.” With this in mind, the latest delivery of PEMA solutions included two PEMA welding positioners: PEMA APS 1500 and PEMA APS 3500.

For further information www.pemamek.com