At this year’s Formnext, 3D printing software and services pioneer Materialise, unveiled a series of software updates designed to enhance customization capabilities in 3D printing for its users. The announcement included improvements to its Magics software suite that enable users to tailor their 3D printing workflows, protect intellectual property, and optimize printing of complex geometries. Materialise has also initiated several partnerships, including a long-term partnership with Chinese manufacturer of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) systems Bright Laser Technology (BLT).

“3D printing is evolving from a focus on technology innovation to becoming an essential tool in industrial applications,” said Udo Eberlein, Vice President of Materialise Software. “The next phase is about empowering users to adapt this technology to their specific manufacturing needs. With our latest updates, we’re providing the tools and flexibility to help them meet these unique requirements. This ‘power to the people’ approach underscores our commitment to enabling manufacturers to achieve precise, impactful results in their production workflows.”

Materialise has expanded access to the Software Development Kit (SDK) for its Magics software, which facilitates data and build preparation. By making it easier for users to create custom workflows using Python and C++ scripts, Materialise aims to enhance efficiency in the 3D printing process.

“We’ve seen tremendous potential for businesses to optimize their workflows with the Magics SDK, enabling enhanced manufacturing processes and substantial improvements in ROI,” said Egwin Bovyn, Product Line Manager, Magics 3D Print Suite. “At Materialise, we’ve customized our SDK to optimize data and build preparation in our own manufacturing operations. By sharing our algorithms via Python code, we enable the automation of data and build preparation at scale. These advanced automation tools empower manufacturing service providers by ensuring our technology meets their individual needs.”

In addition to workflow customization, Materialise introduced the Orientation Comparison capability within e-Stage for Metal+. This new tool allows users to assess and compare various component orientations to optimize factors such as support structure, heat management, and surface quality, thereby minimizing build time and costs.

Further extending its collaborative reach, Materialise has broadened its partnership with nTop. This collaboration integrates nTop Core into Magics, enabling the design and processing of complex, high-performance geometries. The partnership, which includes an Early Access Program initiated in June with industry leaders across various sectors, aims to develop configurable software that optimizes the 3D printing process from design to production.

“nTop’s leading modeling technology enables our customers to design some of the most advanced and complex products on the planet,” said Bradley Rothenberg, CEO and Founder of nTop. “In partnering with Materialise to now be able to 3D print directly from nTop models, our customers have access to the fastest and most reliable design-to-manufacture process, removing the need for a slow and painful conversion from lightweight nTop models to heavy and fragile meshes or boundary representations.”

Sustainability remains a core focus for Materialise. The company has taken significant steps to reduce its carbon footprint, including transitioning to renewable electricity across its production sites and offices and reducing material waste. The company also highlighted its use of “carbon-reduced” PA 12 for its Multi Jet Fusion printers from HP, a technique it will port over to selective laser sintering in early 2025. According to Materialise, this will help the firm reduce its carbon foot print by over 700 tonnes annually.

Adding to the momentum, Materialise hosted the launch of the Leading Minds Consortium at its booth. The consortium brings together industry stalwarts like 3D Systems, Ansys, EOS, HP, Materialise, Nikon, SLM, Renishaw, Stratasys, and Trumpf. Its goal is to address key challenges in 3D printing adoption, such as cost, expertise, and system integration, making large-scale industrial 3D printing more accessible and fostering innovation and adoption in additive manufacturing globally.

Materialise also announced a long-term partnership with BLT, a leader in industrial metal 3D printing solutions. This collaboration is set to integrate Materialise’s software solutions with BLT’s printing systems, enhancing production efficiency and fostering innovation across several industries, including healthcare, aerospace, and automotive.

This is a noteworthy development, given the fact that BLT is said to boast the biggest metal LPBF service fleet in the world and is working with Apple on 3D printing parts for the Apple Watch. BLT represents the largest company in a vanguard of Chinese manufacturers of LPBF systems in the process of dominating the market share for this technology globally, as noted in “The State of Chinese Additive Manufacturing: Market Opportunity Brief” from AM Research.

The 3D printing industry certainly is transforming—and quickly. Always the team player, Materialise is staying ahead of the curve with its successful partnerships. It’s interesting to speculate what the future holds in this regard. It may become integral to BLT’s production of Apple Watch parts, if it isn’t already. Will it also begin integrating artificial intelligence into its software, if it hasn’t already?