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Stratasys Ltd. and Siemens announced a formal partnership to integrate Siemens’ Digital

Factory solutions with Stratasys’ additive manufacturing solutions. The partnership is intended to lay the foundation for the two companies to fulfill their shared vision of incorporating additive manufacturing into the traditional manufacturing workflow, helping it to become a universally recognized production practice which can benefit multiple industries, including aerospace,

automotive, transportation, energy and industrial tooling. This announcement also builds on Siemens’ recently announced end-to-end solution integrating digital design, simulation and data management with conventional and additive manufacturing.

Siemens and Stratasys have been collaborating on multiple projects including the direct link from Siemens’ NX™ software for CAD/CAM/CAE to Stratasys’ GrabCAD Print platform–enabling a seamless design-to-3D print workflow–and the recently previewed Stratasys Robotic Composite 3D Demonstrator that incorporates Siemens’ product lifecycle management (PLM) software and its motion control and CNC automation technologies, to produce strong, lightweight performance parts.

“Siemens is enthusiastic about this partnership with Stratasys and the opportunity to help our customers adopt a new manufacturing mindset that we believe will result in better products produced more economically and delivered more efficiently,” said Zvi Feuer, SVP manufacturing engineering software, Siemens PLM Software. “We are committed to the industrialization of additive manufacturing with all of its unique advantages, including complex part geometries, on-demand production and mass customization. This relationship helps set the course for continued innovation and leadership through the tight integration of our product lines and through collaboration on comprehensive additive manufacturing solutions.”

“Siemens’ capability and commitment to the digital enterprise vision, along with its close collaboration with Stratasys, can help many industries realize shorter time-to-market, achieve flexibility in operations and improve efficiency in workflows through horizontal (machine-to-machine) and vertical (plant and top-floor to factory floor) integration,” added Arun Jain, VP of motion control, Siemens Digital Factory US.

While additive manufacturing technology has made great strides over the past years, additional criteria are required for it to take its place in volume production environments and become as commonplace as CNC. Ideally, additive manufacturing solutions should deliver robust, repeatable and reliable operational performance with predictable properties across a broad portfolio of materials that are certifiable for specific applications and that are driven by a seamless, digital integration from design to production. Together, Stratasys and Siemens plan to address these challenges.

“With our complete 3D printing ecosystem of customer applications, hardware and software platforms, advanced material offerings and consulting services, Stratasys is uniquely positioned to help manufacturers leverage 3D printing to transform their business models,” said Dan Yalon, executive vice president, products, Stratasys. “Stratasys is excited to formalize our partnership with Siemens, and views it as a major catalyst for the industrialization of additive manufacturing. Together, our companies are joining forces to create a cohesive, best-of-breed technology foundation that enables large-scale manufacturers to enjoy the benefits of additive manufacturing in traditional production environments. We believe that the impact on production practices will begin sooner rather than later with the aerospace, automotive and factory tooling industries expected to benefit first.”

In addition to the partnership with Statasys, Siemens’ product lifecycle management (PLM) business announced a new comprehensive solution with the he burgeoning additive-manufacturing revolution.

The new solution, which rolls out in January, 2017, is comprised of integrated design, simulation, digital manufacturing, data and process-management software. The new set of offerings will help companies fully leverage the benefits of the latest additive-manufacturing technology, also known as 3D printing. The integrated solution will use smart product models through all phases without the need for conversion or translation between applications or processes. The solution, says Siemens, will enable automated generative design using the new topology-optimization capabilities that often result in organic shapes that would be difficult for a human designer to envision, and impractical or impossible to produce with traditional manufacturing techniques.

This technology, combined with Siemens’ new advanced additive manufacturing software, could enable companies to reshape everything for optimal performance at a reduced cost. In addition, the ability to 3D print an optimized part shape could reduce the number of parts in an assembly, thereby decreasing weight and increasing strength. As a result, industries such as automotive, aerospace and medical devices could realize dramatic value.

“Siemens PLM Software is pushing the additive manufacturing envelope by developing solutions to help create functionally optimized geometry that is inconceivable based on conventional design and manufacturing methods,” said Dr. Ken Versprille, executive consultant, CIMdata. “Previously unsolvable design and manufacturing challenges are now quite feasible with these new software and production technologies. Siemens PLM Software has a vision for how the technology fits together from end-to-end and is putting that vision in place to move the industry forward.”

Finally, Siemens is also introducing a new 3D print preparation solution for both metal and plastic parts that will use the same smart product models from the design and simulation phase to help automate design changes and streamline the entire process. The new solution assists operators in preparing parts for powder bed and multi jet-fusion printing

“This is just the beginning of a new generation of manufacturing capabilities, and Siemens is focused on delivering software technology to support an optimized end-to-end process with tools such as Convergent Modeling, topology optimization and 3D print preparation that are developed specifically to industrialize additive manufacturing,” said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO, Siemens PLM Software. “Siemens continues to invest in innovation and work with technology partners to develop new solutions to drive advances in additive manufacturing capabilities to make the 3D printing of production parts a reality.”