Arkema inaugurates Global Center of Excellence for 3D Printing in Normandy

 

 

On Nov. 15, Arkema (King of Prussia, Pa., U.S.) inaugurated a new Global Center of Excellence for 3D Printing within its Cerdato Research & Development Center in Serquigny, Normandy, France. The center is dedicated to additive manufacturing based on high-performance polymers, specifically powder bed fusion, and is intended to benefit companies and training organizations in the region as part of a collaborative initiative striving for swift adoption of these production methods.

The new center reportedly houses collaborative areas and latest-generation 3D printers, as well as access to the product design and analysis resources available at the Cerdato, which is Arkema’s largest research laboratory dedicated to advanced materials.

This new platform dedicated to additive manufacturing is said to help address a dual objective:

• Offering collaborative space for the center’s research teams and a space for developing innovative products on commercial printers from HP, EOS and Prodways, allowing Arkema’s partners to convert new applications to 3D printing; and 
• Establishing an ecosystem of local industries and training organizations by offering various forms of partnerships, such as technical or economic feasibility studies into the additive manufacturing of industrial parts, and demonstrations at awareness sessions on these new forms of part production.

 

In addition to the new center in Serquigny, the Arkema Group’s network consists of a center based in Exton, Pa., U.S. for photocure liquid resins, which was inaugurated in 2018, and another in King of Prussia, Pa., U.S., for filament extrusion.

Thierry Le Hénaff, Arkema’s chairman and CEO, and Hervé Morin, president of the Normandy Region, were present at the center’s inauguration on Nov. 15, as well as customers and local representatives. 

According to Arkema, the center will help open up new prospects by providing market players with its range of solutions and expertise, from identifying the needs up to industrialization. Arkema’s investments in 3D printing innovation represent several tens of millions of euros per year.