GKN Powder Metallurgy and HP to bring 3D printing to mass production

GKN Powder Metallurgy has announced a strategic collaboration with Hewlett Packard (HP) in which the company will be the first to deploy the just-launched HP Metal Jet, with binder jetting technology, into its factories to produce functional metal parts for auto and industrial leaders, including Volkswagen, and for companies around the world.

According to GKN, it is working (along with HP) towards a vision of driving the global industrialisation of additive manufacturing. The HP Metal Jet printer increases users’ productivity up to 50-fold, compared to other 3D printing methods, at nearly half the cost of other binder jetting systems. The technology will enable GKN Powder Metallurgy to transform future product thinking and traditional manufacturing on behalf of its customers by reducing the time to market for mass-produced parts from months to weeks, lowering development costs, and providing greater design and manufacturing flexibility.

“Our vision for additive manufacturing in the enterprise moves beyond prototypes and small-series production and into mass production,” said Peter Oberparleiter, CEO of GKN. “We see a future where every modern digital company will have a cutting-edge 3D printer in their facilities, enabled by GKN technology, design and support, to produce metal parts in 24 hours. This strategic partnership with HP is the tipping point to accelerate that vision.

“Powder production and metal part processing are part of our DNA, and we have a long history of collaborating with customers and industrialising solutions that bring great benefits to the entire industry. As we join forces with HP, we want our customers to challenge us to break design barriers and accelerate the adoption of binder jetting technology as it is a wonderful complement to our existing additive manufacturing technology offerings.”

As the world’s largest producer of metal parts, GKN Powder Metallurgy believes it is well positioned to advance the development of the binder jetting industry. By integrating the HP Metal Jet into the workflow across its plants worldwide, GKN Powder Metallurgy will leverage its metal expertise to engineer new powders based on customer needs and help them design parts they did not realise were possible. The company will build on its foundation of sintering 13 million metal parts per day and continue on the path to Industry 4.0, since binder jetting is a highly digital process and GKN Powder Metallurgy has already digitised its factory floors.

“HP is proud to partner with GKN Powder Metallurgy to bring the power of 3D mass production to the largest industries on earth, such as the auto and industrial sectors,” said Stephen Nigro, President of 3D Printing, HP Inc. “The combination of HP’s breakthrough Metal Jet technology and GKN’s engineering and manufacturing leadership promises to enable the production of millions of high-quality, low-cost, 3D-printed final parts.”

In the first half of 2019, customers will be able to receive industrial-grade parts in higher quantities. GKN will produce parts using HP Metal Jet to ensure the highest standards of engineering and production quality. GKN Powder Metallurgy will be the only partner using the HP Metal Jet within the automotive and industrial market until the machine becomes generally available in 2020.

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