BLT and PST will jointly promote powdered metal material applications in 3D Printing.
A Person Near 3D printer. Image credit: Rob Wingate/Unsplash
Applications of metal 3D printing have ballooned in the advanced manufacturing industry such as aerospace in recent years, but the variety of standout, stable materials is still not plenitudinous.
Xian Bright Laser Technologies (BLT, 铂力特) is an integrated 3D printing solution supplier in China. BLT was founded in July 2011. Now, it has over 400 employees, 16.1% of whom hold a master or doctor degree; more than 26% work for R&D.
Praxair Surface Technologies (PST) is an American company, which provides high-performance surface coatings, materials and technologies for the aerospace, energy industries.
After signing the cooperation agreement in August, BLT will promote PST product "Truform" in China, and raise customized requirements, further fostering the buildout of nickel-based alloys, cobalt-based alloys, and iron-based alloys substance.
BLT's sales revenue from 2016 to 2018 is CNY 160 million, 220 million, 290 million respectively, customized 3D printing service, equipment sales accounting for about 94% of total revenue.
As the first 3D printing company listed in the STAR market in July 2019, BLT also announced on August 14 that it had received a government subsidy of 20 million RMB.
"Our goal is to make manufacturing easier and smarter. In the traditional casting process, large size product was a bottleneck, and the thin-walled structure has always been a technical barrier. Metal 3D printing is being considered as a possible solution, which can achieve precisely prototyping, based on the multi-beam seamless splicing technology." said Xue Lei (薛蕾), general manager of BLT.
In recent years, China's 3D printing technology has made progress, but it is still in the initial stage of industrialization, in terms of material preparation, process equipment including key components, optimized design, and awareness of the market. There is still spacious room for superior solutions.