Contract manufacturers across the country provide technical capabilities for customers who do not have to invest in machinery or labor. Some of these versatile manufacturers have added advanced additive technologies to their arsenal.

Two recent companies that have added AM capabilities are Wagner Machine Company of Champaign, Illinois, and ADDMAN Engineering of Bonita Springs, Florida. The two companies have invested in Velo^3D's Sapphire AM machinery.

Wagner Machine Co., a second-generation, precision machine shop purchased the AM solution to produce parts out of aluminum F357 metal for a challenging application. The company, a one-stop-shop for advanced manufacturing with capabilities including 3- and 5-axis CNC mill, CNC lathe, CNC Swiss, wire EDM, abrasive waterjet, and a variety of precision grinding and other support processes, added Velo^3D metal AM to be an "innovative source for high-precision manufacturing."

"VELO3D 's real-time monitoring of the 3D printing process from start to finish with their integrated Assure quality assurance software is exactly what metal AM needs to be ready for prime time," said Wagner. "They offer the most advanced capabilities available in metal AM, with process control, traceability, and build monitoring that is second to none. This expands our ability to serve more aerospace and defense customers who need complex, high-value, mission-critical parts."

ADDMAN Engineering, a Florida company with a production center in Westfield, Indiana, near Indianapolis, also wanted to bring these advanced AM capabilities to its customers in the aerospace, defense, energy and manufacturing sectors.

"The full-stack laser powder bed fusion 3D printing solution from Velo^3D gives our customers the freedom they need to design the next generation of spacecraft and turbomachinery without compromising their designs for the sake of manufacturability," said Mark Saberton, CTO and founder, ADDMAN. "The Velo^3D process saves time and avoids waste by removing unnecessary steps, and reduces time to test or go to market, while also ensuring production-ready quality in every build."

The company has plans for future expansion of these capabilities. In addition to owning and operating the first Velo^3D metal AM solution in the Indianapolis area, ADDMAN holds two reservations for the highly anticipated Velo^3D Sapphire XC large format metal AM solution. Each Sapphire XC system will provide up to four times the productivity of ADDMAN's new Sapphire system, positioning the company to keep up with increasing demand for complex, high-performance parts spurred by the booming commercial space industry.

"We have a vision and are looking toward the future not just for our company, but for the entire aerospace industry, where demand for intricate, high-value parts is growing fast," said Saberton. "While the Sapphire system brought net-new capabilities to ADDMAN, we're excited about the Sapphire XCs because they open up a new category of parts, while making impressive increases to capacity and efficiency."

For more information, contact Wagner Machine Company, ADDMAN Engineering, or Velo^3D.