Sirris links 3D-printing to the challenges of SME manufacturing companies

The Belgian research institute Sirris is not only the coordinator for the 3DOP project, it also actively participates in various work packages. Understandable, because 3D printing has been on Sirris’ research agenda for over thirty years. When Materialise founder Fried Vancraen bought his first SLA machine, he officially worked for Sirris’ predecessor.

Additive manufacturing is one of the programs of Sirris, the Belgian research institute for the metal industry whose roots date back to 1948. 3D printing has been on the agenda since the mid-nineties. Of the 120 engineers, about twelve are involved in this program. The others work on advanced manufacturing, digital transformation and green transition, among other things. From the beginning, 3D printing has always been about the adoption of the new technology; projects with a high TRL level. “The topic within the projects is mainly how can we bring AM to the shop floor; how we can encourage manufacturing companies to integrate AM into their production,” outlines Walter Auwers, Business Unit Manager Advanced Manufacturing.

To give a push and accelerate AM, we definitely need automation

Two AM hubs in Belgium

Most of the 3D printing activities are concentrated on the site in Seraing, near Liège, with a second AM hub in Charleroi. Here you find a total of 17 3D printers, both for metal, polymers and ceramic materials. “That has partly grown by coincidence, since there is a strong aviation industry in Wallonia. This is a cluster that is very interested in AM. Lightweight is important for those companies and that is a driver for AM.” This is not to say that the attention paid to additive manufacturing in Flanders is lagging behind. On the contrary. An inventory made by Sirris not so long ago shows that there are about 100 companies in Belgium actively engaged in 3D printing, either as suppliers or as end-users. 70 of them where from the Flemish part. According to Walter Auwers, the companies in Flanders mainly provide the technology, whereas the companies in Wallonia are usually the users.

Supporting project partners

Sirris is involved in the 3DOP project in two ways. It is officially the project lead, a role it took over when co-initiator of the Flam3D project ceased to exist. As a research institute with 2,500 member companies, of which more than 1,000 are manufacturing companies, there is also a strong link to the substantive activities within the 3DOP project. This is the second role, for which Gert Claes, Senior Engineer Additive Manufacturing, has been recruited. He fulfills the Chief Technology Officer role within the project. “Where necessary, I support project partners,” he says about this part of his work. For this, he can rely on his own years of expertise in the AM industry as well as the knowledge and experience of the other Sirris researchers. In addition, Sirris is active in the coordination. Additionally, Gert Claes fulfils the role of trainer and coach for participants (in work package 6), which is about the actual step towards practice. Within work package 7 on knowledge dissemination, he develops creative sessions together with other 3DOP partners to share knowledge and set up new projects. For example, around 3D printing with magnetic materials, a technique that Sirris has tested on a laboratory scale and for which it now wants to develop applications together with companies. “That’s how 3DOP is intended: as a catalyst,” says Walter Auwers. “From the applications that are developed here, we move on to new projects and sustainable investments to shape the industrial applications.”

Satisfied with the progress

Gert Claes is satisfied with the progress made in the project. The goal of optimizing 3D printing for real production is getting closer in several ways. In work package 2 on metal printing, he thinks the progress that Valcun is making with the aluminum printer for SMEs is a good development. The Belgian startup is about to win the first major production order, something that the 3DOP project has certainly contributed to, according to Claes. AddCat and Guaranteed with Valland also make additive manufacturing concrete. And in work package 3, he sees that the 3D printing of lamp designs and LED molds, which Signify is working on, attracted a lot of interest on Formnext. “The technology is not really workable yet because it is technically difficult, but there is a lot of interest in this.” Work packages 4 and 5 include the automation solutions that AM Flow has developed and is being tested by partners such as Oceanz 3D Printing and ZiggZagg. “To give a push and accelerate AM, we definitely need automation,” says Gert Claes. “To do that, you have to be close to the end-user, which has done well by AM-Flow.” The fact that Oceanz 3D Printing has now purchased the automatic QA system shows that the sector really needs such innovations.

Step towards end-users

With 33 organizations and companies participating in the 3DOP project, it is not an easy European project, says Walter Auwers. “Not everyone has the same speed, you have frontrunners, laggers, and followers. However, we are succeeding in taking the step towards the end-user and not getting stuck in hypothetical research,” says the Sirris’ AM business unit manager. Especially in 2025, the third and final year of the 3DOP project, the link must be made to the SME manufacturing companies to implement additive manufacturing. Gert Claes: “We now have to make the real added value clear: what can we offer and what is interesting for the end-user.” That is actually the question that the entire AM industry is currently struggling with. How can you convince SME manufacturing companies of the added value that additive manufacturing offers for numerous applications? Through the local partners of the project, local ecosystems are to be created and addressed, so additive manufacturing will spread across Europe like an oil slick.

Removing risks for SMEs

The bottleneck here is both making the technology tangible in the form of use cases and making the costs manageable. With funding, risks for companies can be lowered, since SME manufacturing companies are hesitant about AM. Gert Claes: “They don’t know what to expect and then stick to traditional techniques.” In addition, the end-users, the customers of SMEs, will also have to be convinced. Gert Claes believes that this ambition will become reality. Certain regions, such as Barcelona and Slovenia, prove this claim with an active AM ecosystem. “Because if you adjust the design, we surpass existing techniques.”