The Spanish company Aitiip Technology Center maintains one of Europe’s largest development labs for additive manufacturing. For automating the previously conducted manual post processing operation the company purchased a S1 shot blasting machine from AM Solutions – 3D post processing technology. This resulted in higher operational efficiency, better quality and increased production capacity.

The Spanish company Aitiip Technology Center maintains one of Europe's largest development labs for additive manufacturing. For automating the previously conducted manual post processing operation the company purchased a S1 shot blasting machine from AM Solutions - 3D post processing technology. This resulted in higher operational efficiency, better quality and increased production capacity.

As part of a large technology center Aitiip3D, a leader in the field of 3D printing technologies, maintains one of the largest development labs for additive manufacturing in Europe. This company, located in Spain, is known for innovative and custom-engineered solutions for numerous 3D printing applications, ranging from prototyping to individual finished parts. With rapidly increasing production volumes the role of post processing is becoming more important. For, post processing is not only key for high-quality surface finishes but is also a significant cost factor. Pablo Murillo, Chief Development Officer at Aitiip, comments: „Before we installed the S1, all post processing operations had to be performed manually. This caused not only exceptionally high labor costs but also limited our operational flexibility. Thanks to the automatic S1 system we were able to significantly increase our production capacity." The personnel, relieved from tedious manual post processing work, can now be used for other, more productive tasks.

Up to 90 % time savings and expanded application possibilities
The recently installed S1 shot blasting machine from AM Solutions - 3D post processing technology has completely changed the post processing function in the company. After unpacking the components, produced with the powder-bed-based printing technology, are directly loaded into the shot blasting machine. The S1, a true 2-in-1 system, performs not only the cleaning function but also creates the final surface finish in one operation with just one processing medium. The constant rotation of the work pieces during the blast operation ensures gentle processing and absolutely consistent surface finishes. This resulted not only in significant time savings but also allows processing a much larger range of 3D printed parts. Pablo Murillo explains: "Now we can offer the parts contained in various assemblies for products already on the market as 3D printed components. With our manual post processing operation this was unthinkable. Thanks to the excellent and consistent surface finishes created by the S1 our products are now in full compliance with the customer specifications without requiring any additional processing. Overall, the time required for post processing and the associated costs could be drastically reduced. The entire post processing operation has become a lot faster, cleaner and more efficient." Pablo Murillo continues "Bearing in mind that the average size of our parts allows to print approximatively 300 parts in each HP cake, it took between 4 to 6 hours in a manual shot blasting cabinet just to remove the powder. Now, the S1 automatic process takes only 30 minutes to deliver clean and ready to use parts."

Comprehensive knowledge in surface finishing
An additional benefit of the S1 shot blasting machine is that it can be operated in manual as well as automatic mode with a wide range of different blast media. "AM Solutions offers in-depth knowledge in the field of surface refinement and provides professional advice right here in Spain. We appreciate this comprehensive support and, therefore, decided to plan other projects with the same equipment supplier", concludes Pablo Murillo.

For further information please go to: www.solutions-for-am.com


For over 80 years, the privately owned Rösler Oberflächentechnik GmbH has been actively engaged in the field of surface preparation and surface finishing. As global market leader, we offer a comprehensive portfolio of equipment, consumables and services around the mass finishing and shot blasting technologies for a wide spectrum of different industries. Our range of about 15,000 consumables, developed in our Customer Experience Centers and laboratories located all over the world, specifically serves our customers for resolving their individual finishing needs. Under the brand name AM Solutions, we offer numerous equipment solutions and services in the area of additive manufacturing/3D printing. Last-but-not-least, as our central training center the Rösler Academy offers practical, hands-on seminars to the subjects mass finishing, shot blasting and additive manufacturing. The Rösler group has a global network of 15 locations and approx. 150 sales agents.
For more information, please go to: www.rosler.com