GEMCO, as a prominent provider of engineered solutions for mixing and drying equipment, is dedicated to enhancing and advancing the additive manufacturing (AM) powder industry. At the Rapid + TCT 2023 Conference, GEMCO is presenting its innovative AM technology that has been designed with more than a century of experience in the powdered metal industry. The company's state-of-the-art machinery is cost-effective and boasts superior reliability, service life, and faster productivity, as well as lower maintenance costs.

GEMCO's President/CEO/Owner, Casey Bickhardt, commented that the Rapid + TCT 2023 Conference is an ideal platform to share ideas with industry experts seeking to optimize their production processes and overcome challenges. Casey explained that GEMCO offers two significant solutions for its clients: the blending process, which enables customers to achieve the perfect virgin mix they are looking for, and the ability to recycle excess powders using GEMCO's dryer, which dries excess solvents and blends in another percentage of virgin material to make the material flowable and usable again. This process is particularly beneficial for the industry, given the high upfront capital required for printers and processing plans.

According to Casey, the biggest concern for customers is controlling explosions, as many of the materials used in the closed environment of AM powder production, such as titanium and aluminum, can be highly explosive. However, GEMCO has special grounding systems for its blenders, dryers, and recycling skids for powders. Additionally, the company has a monitoring system to ensure a safe environment for customers.
Casey emphasized the importance of using quality machines, such as those provided by GEMCO, as vacuum tumble drying maintains an inert atmosphere, which is better for the powder since it reduces the boiling point. Furthermore, GEMCO can work with potentially explosive dust and set different temperature ranges, as required by clients.
Finally, Casey noted that GEMCO is proud of its recycling abilities. The company's simple skid can repurpose powder, saving customers money by screening and blending waste material, possibly heat-treating it, and blending virgin material back in to make a new product.