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With just over 600 exhibitors — about twice as many as the largest 3D printing show in the US — the event is planning to welcome nearly 20,000 attendees this year. Here is what you need to see.
Certainly, every booth will not be relevant to you. Exhibitors — aside from 3D printer makers — include software providers and companies that make metal powders. There are also 3D printing service companies and purveyors of machines to clean and post-process your parts. There are educational and research institutes to help you with R&D and companies offering 3D scanners and filaments. In a nutshell, exhibitors encompass everyone with anything to do with additive manufacturing. There’s so much to see, it’s easy to lose sight of your buying objective.
“About twice as many as the largest 3D printing show in the US — the event is planning to welcome nearly 20,000 attendees this year.”
This guide to printer shopping will help you make the most of your $110 a-day 110-a-day expo pass.
Overview
Industrial Metals
What is especially interesting here is the variety of metal technologies. You can talk to WAAM3D (B81) about their new wire arc additive manufacturing technology for near-net metal pieces and see how it compares to similar technologies, like the interesting metal solid-state technology from Meld Technologies (B41). In this hall, you’ll also find the giants of metal powder bed fusion, including GE Additive Concept Laser, BLT, and Renishaw.
According to the pre-Formnext press releases, there won’t be much being debuted in this hall, but if you’re in the market for a metal production solution, it’s not to be missed. Fortunately, this isn’t the only hall of metal at Formnext.
Accessible Metals
Polymers
Mixed Plastics
Although our focus here has been printers, there is so much more that happens at Formnext — and not just talking about the expo floor happy hours.