HP has opened a 150,000 square-foot centre of excellence for 3D printing and digital manufacturing in Barcelona.
The new facility has been established to enable collaboration between vendor, customers, and partners in a factory-like environment, actioning further research and development around the company’s portfolio of additive manufacturing technologies.
Pooling together the talent from within its own organisation and those of its partners, HP expects to have hundreds with expertise in systems engineering, data intelligence, software, materials science, design, and applications working within this new facility to ensure the capabilities of its additive manufacturing portfolio are implemented to their full potential.
The new facility boasts ‘fleets’ of the company’s polymer and metal printing systems and interactive layouts, allowing the likes of BASF, Siemens, GKN, Volkswagen, and a host of other industry players to put their heads together and solve problems. HP has an array of partnering companies, some working to optimise materials to its 3D printing platforms, some integrating software tools, some testing its metal technology in the industrial landscape, and plenty more already applying its polymer platforms in design validation and production.
Multi Jet Fusion 5200 machines inside Barcelona’s new 3D printing centre of excellence.
With this new facility, HP has moved to bring those companies together in one location.
“HP’s new 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing Center of Excellence is one of the largest and most advanced 3D printing and digital manufacturing research and development centres on earth,” commented Christoph Schell, President of 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing at HP. “It truly embodies our mission to transform the world’s biggest industries through sustainable technological innovation. We are bringing HP’s substantial resources and peerless industrial 3D printing expertise together with our customers, partners, and community to drive the technologies and skills that will further unleash the benefits of digital manufacturing.”
The company has also sought to emphasise that the 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing Center of Excellence has been designed in accordance with the company’s commitment to a cleaner environment. Across its global operations, HP is aiming to one day be using 100% renewable energy, with a goal of reaching 60% by 2025. With this new facility at Barcelona, HP has incorporated a photovoltaic canopy to provide 110kW of power, rain water reuse for irrigation and sanitary purposes, HVAC and natural light optimisation, and used eco-friendly construction materials in the hope of being LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.
Source: tct magazine
