Horizon Microtechnologies announced today that it is now offering a micro additive manufacturing (micro AM) subcontracting service to its customers. This service is aimed at companies that want to explore the possibilities of AM for precise and small components, but do not have the necessary expertise or infrastructure for in-house production.
Andreas Frölich, CEO at Horizon says, “We understand that there are a large number of companies that have heard of micro-AM but have not as yet experienced just how precise and repeatable it is as a production process today. Therefore, it is a natural step for Horizon to extend its service to produce and design micro-AM parts and components for customers whether they need post-process coating or not. There is a requirement for a significant expertise to operate micro-AM technologies optimally. At Horizon we have this expertise and look forward to using it on behalf of companies looking to take exploit the inherent process advantages that micro-AM can offer.”
The production of extremely precise parts and components with tight tolerances underlines the added value of a vertically integrated development and production partner. The early inclusion of manufacturing considerations along the entire microfabrication process chain in design decisions reduces the number of iterations during the product development phase. This also reduces time-to-market and overall product development costs.
The seamless linking of the various production steps ensures close control and coordination across the different production stages, from raw material sourcing to final assembly. In precision manufacturing, this approach ensures seamless quality control, optimal material selection, improved communication and increased process efficiency. Importantly, the interdependencies of the various process steps are established so that the execution of the manufacturing process can be fully transparent and tightly controlled.
Frölich continues, “At Horizon, we are introducing the use of AM to application areas that have not considered it a viable technology due to its historical lack of precision, and also on the micro level due to its limited palette of materials. However, it needs to be considered that micro-AM is today able routinely to achieve single micron tolerances and surface finishes with 0.4 micron Ra repeatably with 10 micron XY optical resolution. So it is now possible to use micro-AM for exacting production applications where ultra-high resolution, accuracy and precision are critical to part functionality. We look forward to opening up the possibilities that can be achieved through the use of micro-AM to customers moving forward, and showing how this agile production process can be cost-effective, open up design freedom, and stimulate innovation in numerous application areas across an array of industries.”
In addition to offering a subcontractor micro AM service to customers, Horizon also offers a range of proprietary coating processes that enable customers to successfully extend the functionality of parts typically manufactured from plastics on commercially available micro AM platforms. The coatings enable homogeneous and precise coating of 3D substrates, and selective coating of parts is possible. Available coatings include HMT-Metal (copper with more than 25% of the conductivity of solid copper), HMT-Protect (ceramic-like protective coatings that increase resistance to external influences such as chemicals, abrasion or elevated temperatures) and HMT-Conductive (transparent conductive coatings with sheet resistances between a few kOhm/sqm and approx. 100 Ohm/sqm).
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