Swedish industrial sensor maker Hexagon and US process automation specialist Authentise have partnered to create end-to-end software for additive manufacturing. The new solution will span the additive manufacturing value chain, including design, manufacturing operations and quality assurance. The aim is to make additive manufacturing more predictable, repeatable and traceable.

By connecting data from shopfloor manufacturing operations, engineering data from the design phase, materials properties and quality data from validation and inspection processes, the two companies are seeking to enable the automation of serial production and design improvements in additive manufacturing. 

New solutions delivered through the partnership will apply Statistical Process Control (SPC) with Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to mitigate waste and quality issues during the design phase and improve the repeatability of additive manufacturing processes within a site or between global locations.

In a statement, Hexagon and Authentise said they will build solutions to industrialise additive manufacturing technology by digitising every step of the workflow from part design through production to final product and quality assurance utilising their unique stack of technology capabilities to connect the digital thread of a part and trace its pedigree. Open architectures will be deployed to integrate data and automate workflows between Hexagon´s applications for additive manufacturing and the third-party equipment and software manufacturers chose to use.

Mathieu Pérennou, Global Business Development Director Additive Manufacturing, Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division said, “Together with Authentise, we are building a next-generation framework for our customers to manage flexible, fully digitised production workflows in private cloud environments. For manufacturers, AM is a complex and changing market with many excellent tools, printers and materials to apply. We believe our open and flexible systems will enable us to respond quickly to customers’ needs and integrate with their unique environments. This will connect the data flow and help streamline their workflows in all stages of the AM process – before, during and after production and support their specific standards or compliance needs.”

Andre Wegner, CEO, Authentise said, “Integrating data from Hexagon’s best-of-breed software and sensors helps deliver a seamless experience for users, automation across their process, and unlocks the ability to learn from data. This partnership represents a step change for the industry – together we’re delivering the integrated digital thread for additive manufacturing that customers have sought for so long.”