3DEO is gearing up for growth. The metal additive manufacturing solutions firm, known for its “Intelligent Layering” technology, has just named a new CEO and obtained new funding. It also has a number of technological developments on the horizon.

Scott Dennis, who previously co-founded and served as CEO of D&K Engineering (now Ascential Technologies), has been named 3DEO’s new CEO. Dennis succeeds cofounder Matt Petros, who will now serve as senior advisor. “3DEO has always been about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in manufacturing,” said Petros. “Under Scott’s leadership, I believe the company is well-positioned to accelerate its innovation trajectory and continue setting new industry standards. Scott’s experience in engineering and product realization, coupled with his proven ability to scale operations, makes him the perfect choice to lead 3DEO into the future.” 

At IMTS, Dennis told Design News that 3DEO is “really excited to be rolling out our positioning as both a part and subsystem design solutions provider around our technology, which we believe is a different way of engaging clients and customers than has been offered in the past.”

Additive manufacturing can be used to optimize and enhance the performance of a part, and then subtractive manufacturing methods can be used in post-processing and in producing the full assembly/subassembly, Dennis later explained. “As we’ve added design and engineering services into our core business model, we are significantly increasing the utilization of the additive manufacturing methods with the ultimate intent of optimizing end product performance. We are taking advantage of the design and geometric freedom that AM will add, but also making sure that we're utilizing subtractive methods if that will enhance performance, assembly, function, etc. Our objective is to be very practical and pragmatic about our holistic approach with our customers. At the end of the day, our customers simply want a product that works the way they want it to work, and as a result, they appreciate a partner that can seamlessly integrate and apply additive where it can be beneficial or transformational for their products."

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3DEO

3DEO can partner with engineering teams in a number of ways, offering a range of post-processing and other complementary manufacturing services. “Many, many mechanical engineering teams are not classically trained in additive and, as a result, if a company wants to unlock the power of additive for their products’ performance, they either need to develop that capability internally or partner with someone externally,” Dennis added. “We are set up to be able to engage with those clients in either way. We can either partner with them and [provide] additive manufacturing solutions for them if they already have additive design capability or we can actually provide turnkey part-level or subsystem-level design services and then go on to provide the manufacturing services for those products.”

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New funding for 3DEO's approach to additive manufacturing

3DEO has received a significant investment of $3.5 million from Mizuho Bank, Ltd., a Japan-headquartered financial institution dedicated to advancing manufacturing technologies. The investment follows Mizuho Bank's "Transition Investment Facility," aimed at promoting sustainability and innovation in various sectors, 3DEO reported.

"We are honored to receive this investment from Mizuho Bank, a partner that recognizes the transformative potential of our technology," said Dennis of the funding. "This collaboration will not only accelerate our growth but also enable us to further integrate advanced AM capabilities into critical manufacturing sectors." 

Earlier this year, 3DEO announced investments from IHI Aerospace, the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), and Seiko Epson Corporation. Mizuho Bank’s involvement further enhances 3DEO's capabilities and continues to accelerate collaboration with DBJ and Epson. 

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With this investment, 3DEO aims to expand its reach in sectors such as aerospace, medical, industrial, and semiconductors. 

What is Intelligent Layering?

3DEO’s in-house machines take MIM powder, which the company has “figured out how to make flowable,” and deposit it layer by layer along with a binding agent into a build box. Eight software-guided spindles carve individual part geometries into that powder “cake” as it grows with each layer. Those cuts will also later enable parts to emerge from the cake; those parts are then cleaned, sintered, and further processed as needed.

Production sizes range from softball-sized parts down to millimeter-sized parts. “Our minimum feature size is about 500 microns,” explained Petros. Future plans may include “going smaller and more detailed.” 

A diagram of 3DEO's Intelligent Layering technology.

At IMTS Dennis highlighted some of the complex shapes, structures, and sizes it can produce and told Design News it is introducing copper as another material option.

3DEO was just recognized this year for its production of 6-mm and 8-mm bone and marrow harvesters that were developed in collaboration with a medical device manufacturer. The Metal Powder Industries Federation awarded 3DEO with a grand prize in the Medical/Dental Category for Metal Additive Manufacturing.

The benefits of digital manufacturing 

3DEO’s operation utilizes a “digital thread” concept from part design through final part processing and inspection. Its in-house design team utilizes proprietary computational geometry slicing software to create build instructions that guide the spindles. Since its founding 8 years ago, when 3DEO first started with a single-spindle machine for in-house use, the firm has gathered extensive dimensional data on parts, process parameters and yields, images, sintering runs, powder lots, and other data. It uses an internally developed, cloud-based MES that has enabled the firm to track all processes to further optimize operations and maximize yield. “It’s all queriable,” Petros said. “Everything here is about efficiency and yield, and if any process parameter goes outside of its intended operating band, the line can be paused, and the issue troubleshot.” 

Future plans could entail real-time monitoring “using image processing algorithms to look for part inconsistencies,” Petros explained. “We would feed images to the AI-like algorithm to get a thumbs up or down on quality.”

The company follows rigorous standards for powder quality as well as for finished part hardness, tensile strength, and other properties. “We produce run charts just like traditional manufacturers do on part quality—our intent is to develop a portal for our clients to check run status,” he said. The firm is ISO 9001:2015 certified and is adding additional certifications such as ISO 13485 and AS9100.

Future plans

While 3DEO continues to build out its in-house capabilities and client services, the company is developing “a single-spindle unit that is very powerful for low-volume production as well as the R&D process,” Petros said. “3DEO is also exploring the possibility of installing these systems at selected strategic partner clients for their internal use.”