Siemens and Materialise have integrated additive manufacturing (AM) technology from Materialise into Siemens' NX™ software, streamlining the design to manufacturing process for the rapidly growing universe of products being produced using AM (a.k.a. 3D printing). The new solution leverages proven Materialise technology to enable NX computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering (CAD/CAM/CAE) software to accurately and completely prepare CAD models for powder bed fusion and material jetting 3D printing processes. As a result, the time necessary to go from a completed product design to a fully 3D-printed part could be reduced by 30 percent or more. A partnership agreement between the two companies, announced by Materialise on January 6, 2017, enables Siemens' product lifecycle management (PLM) software business to sell the integrated solution through its global sales channels. 

"Today's announcement represents a huge leap forward in making additive manufacturing a mainstream production practice for our customers," said Zvi Feuer, senior vice president of Manufacturing Engineering Software for Siemens PLM Software. "Until now, the additive manufacturing process required manufacturers to work with two separate systems - one for product design, and another to prepare that design for 3D printing. The data translation issues and lack of associativity between these two systems created a process that was time consuming and subject to errors. By eliminating these issues, we are helping to expand the adoption of additive manufacturing as a universally accepted production tool." 

As one of the world's most widely used digital product development applications, NX is used throughout multiple industries to design some of the world's most sophisticated products, from automobiles, aircraft and marine vessels, to consumer products, medical devices and machinery. Likewise, technology from the Materialise Magics 3D Print Suite enables all commonly-adopted AM processes for end-part manufacturing, including powder bed fusion, as well as material jetting, which promises to further accelerate AM‘s evolution from a prototyping to a full-scale manufacturing technology. 

The solution being announced today seamlessly and associatively links NX with Materialise lattice technology, support structures design, 3D nesting, build tray preparation, and build processors framework technology for additive manufacturing. This eliminates data translation, conversions and ensures that changes to digital product design models, are automatically and associatively reflected in the 3D print jobs. The result is greater model accuracy, higher quality and a much faster design to production process. 

"Additive manufacturing is a reality now, even in highly regulated markets like aerospace and healthcare," says Johan Pauwels, Executive Vice President at Materialise. "By bringing together solutions from Siemens and Materialise, we are optimizing and simplifying the workflow for design, engineering and manufacturing of components. For the past 25 years, our neutral backbone of solutions has pushed the boundaries of additive manufacturing technologies. We're pleased to partner with Siemens, who truly understands large-scale industrial manufacturing environments and shares our belief that designers and engineers can create better products if additive manufacturing is embedded into their mainstream business processes." 

An initial set of technology is available in the most current version of NX (NX 11.0.1) via new modules targeted for additive manufacturing. 

Learn more about today's announcement and how AM is impacting the manufacturing industry during the keynote talk by Andreas Saar, VP Manufacturing Engineering Solutions at Siemens, at the Materialise World Summit in Brussels: April 20, 2017. For more information visit: worldsummit.materialise.com 

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 165 years. The company is active in more than 200 countries, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the world's largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of efficient power generation and power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions as well as automation, drive and software solutions for industry. The company is also a leading provider of medical imaging equipment - such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems - and a leader in laboratory diagnostics as well as clinical IT. In fiscal 2016, which ended on September 30, 2016, Siemens generated revenue of €79.6 billion and net income of €5.6 billion. At the end of September 2016, the company had around 351,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com. 

Materialise incorporates more than 25 years of 3D printing experience into a range of software solutions and 3D printing services, which together form a backbone for the 3D printing industry. Materialise's open and flexible solutions enable players in a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, automotive, aerospace, art and design, and consumer goods, to build innovative 3D printing applications that aim to make the world a better and healthier place. Headquartered in Belgium, with branches worldwide, Materialise combines the largest group of software developers in the industry with one of the largest 3D printing facilities in the world. 

Note: Siemens and the Siemens logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens AG. NX is a trademark or registered trademark of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.