SLM Solutions Outfits MacLean Additive for Serial Production

SLM Solutions is equipping MacLean Additive with an SLM 280 3.0 production series system for serial production. MacLean Additive is a startup division of MacLean Fogg Component Solutions, one of the 100 largest automotive suppliers in North America.

MacLean Additive is also the home of the Formetrix L-40 steel  powder, an engineered, patented, high-performance steel alloy designed to provide users with an unparalleled combination of hardness, ductility, toughness and 3D-printability. The investment is designed to scale up MacLean’s additive manufacturing (AM) capabilities using its proprietary, high-durability Formetrix L-40 powder.

Durable tooling manufactured with Formetrix L-40 powder has been serially produced via SLM Solutions machines, and deployed across multiple industries and processes. According to SLM, a key advantage of its technology is the open-architecture system that enables Tier 1 experts like MacLean Additive to supply customers with unique material properties. The installed SLM machine will be used  to produce hundreds of identified Formetrix L-40 3D tools annually, with technical and economic benefits said to far exceed those of traditional tooling.

“Some of the most innovative use cases for Formetrix L-40 powder were developed and printed using SLM machines,” says Greg Rizzo, MacLean Additive vice president and general manager. “This proven performance made SLM machines the perfect fit for our initial production product lines.”

This partnership focuses on MacLean Additive’s industrialization and growth of its 3D metal printing product lines. “Success with another innovative powder like Formetrix L-40 tool steel adds to the already impressive list of materials validated and proven on SLM machines,” says Sam  O’Leary, SLM Solutions CEO. “We look forward to the mutual growth of Formetrix L-40 powder usage and the rapid adoption of SLM Solutions’ technology.”

The machine will be delivered to one of MacLean Additive’s design and manufacturing centers in the  Detroit metropolitan area.