Schneider Electric and HP Disrupt Traditional Manufacturing with New Metal Jet S100 Solution for More Resilient Supply Chain

Schneider Electric, the global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, is joining HP Inc. at the 2022 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), to announce the commercial availability of its Metal Jet S100 Solution. Accelerating innovative designs and products and digitally printing mass quantities of quality parts, HP’s Metal Jet S100 Solution is transforming industries and helping scale 3D metals to mass production.

The manufacturing industry has evolved drastically over the past decade and is currently expected to be worth around $12 trillion. We are in the early stages of a fourth industrial revolution, spearheaded by the accelerated growth of 3D printing and its ability to accelerate designs, improve process developments, and now in an industry first, realize true economies of scale.

“We are witnessing entire industries, from industrial to consumer, and healthcare to automotive, looking to digitally transform their manufacturing processes and supply chains in a world where volatility is the new normal,” said Didier Deltort, President of HP’s Personalization and 3D Printing business. “As the promise of additive manufacturing takes hold, HP has become a trusted partner to help speed the path to production. The introduction of our new Metal Jet commercial solution, along with innovative collaboration with market leaders like Schneider Electric, is delivering the blueprint for more sustainable, reliable, and efficient manufacturing.”

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New HP Metal Jet S100

HP’s new Metal Jet S100 Solution is opening the doors for a digital reinvention of the global metals manufacturing sector, with a strong focus on end-to-end supply chain solutions in both software and hardware that are customer-centric and design led.

The Metal Jet S100 Solution provides industrial production capabilities, integrated workflow, subscription and service offerings – an unprecedented level of technical and business advantages for customers, helping them achieve their goals for business transformation. The modular solution enables build units to travel between four different stations, meaning users can continually run production at scale for mass metals production.

“Since announcing the breakthrough Metal Jet technology in 2018, we have been working to develop the industry’s most advanced commercial solution for 3D metals mass production,” said Ramon Pastor, Global Head and General Manager of 3D Metals, HP Inc. “3D printed metal parts are a key driving force behind digital transformation and the new Metal Jet S100 Solution provides a world class metals offering for our customers, from the first designs right through to production, but more importantly helps them to realize the unlimited potential for digital manufacturing.”

HP’s unequaled expertise and IP in Thermal Inkjet technology and Latex chemistry delivers cost, quality, productivity, and reliability advantages. HP’s Thermal Inkjet printhead dramatically improves the printing speed, part quality, and repeatability. The advanced latex chemistries developed by HP lend significant benefits to the binder itself, enabling stronger green parts, eliminating the need for de-binding, and yielding industrial production-grade quality.

Key advantages of HP Metal Jet technology include:

• Innovative New Designs: New geometries, density control and designs to lightweight or consolidate metal parts push the boundaries of what is possible with 3D printing.
• Improved Customer Economics: Process steps needed to create parts are shortened whilst costs due to manual labor or complexity requirements are reduced, driving efficiencies across the supply chain.
• Increased Productivity: Binder jetting can boost productivity tenfold, allowing for processing layer by layer versus point process. Isotropic properties also require no post-processing and no support removal, and the use of metal powders is also more cost-effective than laser-based 3D printing powder.
• Higher Resolution to Drive Part Quality: HP printheads leverage decades of industrial thermal inkjet technology developments, defining geometry and delivering high resolution and system robustness, making mass 3D metal parts a viable option for commercial manufacturing.

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Innovative Collaboration, Breakthrough Applications

Advancements and new production applications highlight the advantages of Metal Jet, including better productivity, low part cost, and outstanding quality.

HP has already built strong momentum with leading partners and customers including GKN, Parmatech, Cobra Golf, Legor Group, and Volkswagen, and more. HP is also collaborating on mass metals production opportunities with new partners and customers around the world, including Domin Digital Motion, an innovative industrial company focused on hydraulic systems and valves, Lumenium, a startup developer of advanced rotational engines, and Schneider Electric.

Schneider Electric is the global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation. Their product portfolio includes products, controls, software and services across residential, commercial, industrial and critical applications.

“We are excited about the new possibilities for our business as a result of this collaboration with HP,” said Michael Lotfy, SVP of Power Products & Systems, North America, Schneider Electric. “We are constantly in pursuit of solutions that will enable more sustainable, agile innovations development.  Leveraging HP Metal Jet our teams have delivered a proven use case showcasing the benefits of digital manufacturing and 3D printing, and we look forward to uncovering many more applications that meet the evolving demands from our customers addressing the challenges around sustainability and Electricity 4.0.”

Together with GKN, a new filter used on Schneider Electric’s NSX breaker was produced using HP Metal Jet technology, which could not be achieved with conventional industrial manufacturing capabilities due to the shape & material complexity. HP Metal Jet technology not only facilitated the design of new power filters shapes that reduce gas, pressure, and heat impact in a more limited space, it also resulted in significant productivity gains and environmental benefits.

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