MX3D: From 3D Printing a Bridge to a Turnkey Metal AM System – Interview with Gijs van der Velden

MX3D specialises in Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), a sub form of Directed Energy Deposit (DED). The Dutch company is a spinout of Joris Laarman Lab and has its roots in pioneering work with robotic additive manufacturing, which dates back to 2011. Following extensive experimentation with a variety of materials, the team decided to focus on 3D printing with a welding robot. In an interview with 3Druck.com, co-founder Gijs van der Velden, shares his insight into the industry.

Initially showcasing the results with a collection of artworks well documented on YouTube, the business caught the attention of several companies, including Autodesk and ArcelorMittal, wondering if they had any larger projects in mind. Encouraged by this wave of interest MX3D was founded and embarked on an ambitious moonshot project: to 3D print a metal bridge for the city center of Amsterdam. In addition to the companies already mentioned, the project was supported by partners like Arup, Imperial College London, ABB, Air Liquide, The Alan Turing Institute, and many more. Following rigorous material testing, software upgrades, and overcoming design hurdles, the printing of the bridge started in 2017 and was completed in 2018. It made its debut at Dutch Design Week and has since received several awards, among them the prestigious STARTS prize from the European Commission for the best technology project.

As the bridge was subjected to additional testing, MX3D continuously refined its 3D printing software, seamlessly integrating the robot, welding machine, materials, and sensors. Its collaborations expanded to include industrial companies eager to adopt this innovative technology. In 2019, the company successfully printed a topologically optimised robotic arm in partnership with ABB and Altair, demonstrating the significant potential for material savings and replacing outdated components. Numerous other parts and objects, such as bicycles, propeller flanges, and pressure vessels, were also printed to convince engineers of this new technology.

Launch of a Turnkey Solution 

Following the launch of the WAAM software ‘Metal XL’ in 2020, MX3D received a lot of positive feedback, though many interested people did not have a robot. Responding to this, the M1 was unveiled in 2021, a turnkey solution for WAAM, which was a game changer for the company. With the BMW Group as launching customer, the M1 Metal AM System is now acquired by the US Army, the EMPA Institute and Shimoda Flange among others.

In September 2023, MX was launched, a turnkey solution for customers that want to print on a larger scale of 5 tons or more.

MX3D currently has a team of 30 people and uses 12 robots, focusing on the energy sector with components such as pumps, impellers, or flanges tailored for the nuclear, oil and gas industries. The company continues to manufacture extensively within their own facilities for enterprises seeking to undertake a review project, thereby going through a decision-making process regarding the potential acquisition of the WAAM system. The benefit of the in-house production is the continuous improvement of their software with their own printing team.

Interview with Co-founder Gijs van der Velden

In an interview with 3Druck.com, MX3D’s co-founder Gijs van der Velden shares his insight into the industry and comments on the current status as well as future of additive manufacturing.

In your opinion, what significance does metal additive manufacturing have for companies using this technology?

There are a few major improvements companies can achieve. Just needing a few square meters of floorspace they can become autonomous from external casting/forging companies. This ensures shorter lead times and secures supply security. It allows for a big reduction of metal parts they need to keep on stock. Furthermore with this capability they can speed up innovation (which they subsequently own) and offer a much wider area of services. And last, our science partners have repeatedly shown it is possible to significantly reduce the footprint of parts, sometimes more than 80%! On our linkedin page we regularly post on the science articles we collaborate on regarding LCA/Material Optimisation etc.

Additive manufacturing has continuously developed in recent years. Which innovations or technological breakthroughs do you consider to be particularly important for the industry sector?

The big step made is the autonomous monitoring of the printing and improvements made to the process based on this data using ML or AI. Thanks to this MX3D now runs its factory 24/7 with little supervision required, which is essential to become profitable, as we often have to compete with well known processes that have been optimised for over 100 years. Building digital twins, like we did together with the Alan Turing Institute, to model and digitally validate the strength of each item of a potential endless variety of geometries, is another.

First Corona and the now high inflation pose major challenges for the entire industry. In your opinion, how do the multiple crises affect the additive manufacturing industry?

I am a bit ashamed to say that both these crisis are positive for our business and I guess for AM in general in the long term. First of all ‘thanks to’ Corona, every factory in the world that relied on overseas supplies realised how risky that strategy is. Add the notion of strategic autonomy and the desire to reshore such skills back to Europe and the USA has become a big driver for our customers to start working on WAAM. As prizes of materials surged (first caused by Corona, then high inflation), the focus on reducing material waste in the manufacturing process became much higher. Add to this that every company now must seriously consider the environmental footprint they have as well, as preventing global warming is on everybody’s mind.

For inflation, as any company owner can acknowledge, the biggest effect is possibly on wages. It’s by far the biggest ‘cost’ and therefor most effected by a 10% inflation ratio. So having a manufacturing technology that becomes more and more autonomous and less dependent on manpower helps too.

What impact do you think additive manufacturing will have on various industries and possibly society as a whole in the coming years?

I sincerely believe we will find ourselves back in a very innovative era, thanks to additive manufacturing. Obviously we now can make things we could never before with AM. But perhaps even more important, many more companies will have the power to innovate on metal parts. Where before only a limited amount of casting and forging companies held the secrets of manufacturing large metal parts, now everybody with a welding robot can execute on her/his ideas. Add to that the power of AI that will further improve the designs and printing effectiveness and you will have a powerful move towards innovation. In my humble opinion this will change the way our structures, transport vehicles and rockets look like, just as the introduction of steel and concrete radically changed our cities.

Here you can find out more about MX3D and the WAAM technology.