Stratasys Accelerates Airbus Production with Additive Manufacturing
19.01.2026
Airbus is increasingly relying on Stratasys additive manufacturing technologies to support production and maintenance across its global fleet. Using the high-performance ULTEM™ 9085 CG material, more than 25,000 certified aircraft parts are produced each year, reducing downtime, strengthening supply chains and lowering storage costs.
Electronics meets Production: Focus on Plastic Solutions and Systems
24.09.2025
Plastics are indispensable in the electronics industry—as Part 1 of our series has already shown. Whether in housings, insulators, or conductive components, modern plastics enable many applications. But it's not just the materials that count, it's also their precise processing.
“Surface quality in injection molding quality”: Why non-planar slicing software is a game changer for additive manufacturing
27.08.2025
How can 3D printing be made faster, more economical, and with injection molding quality? What role does slicing software play in this? K-Mag got answers to these questions in a chat with Lukas Pelzer from Layer Performance GmbH.
Material Tests for Space
18.06.2025
Materials for space must withstand extreme conditions: Vacuum, strong temperature fluctuations and mechanical loads act simultaneously on components and structures. Conventional test methods quickly reach their limits here. With the NextSpace TestRig, a newly developed test method closes this gap.
K 2025: ENGEL focuses on digitalisation, automation and sustainability
12.06.2025
"ENGEL stands for technologically leading injection moulding solutions that combine maximum efficiency with customised customer orientation."
Bionics in the Plastics Industry
28.05.2025
Bionics is the science that transfers natural principles to technical developments. This principle is also widely applied in the plastics and rubber industry. This is because nature offers fascinating role models when it comes to the challenges of sustainability, resource efficiency and material requirements.
3D Printing: New Recyclable Polymer Enhances Circular Economy
28.03.2025
3D printing enables the precise fabrication of plastic components with minimal material waste. However, there is a lack of high-performance polymers that are also recyclable. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new class of polymers, polythioenones, which are mechanically and chemically recyclable and outperform conventional polyolefins in mechanical properties.
3D Printing Redefined: Manufacturing Plastic Components Faster and More Precisely
06.11.2024
Just a few years ago, 3D printing was still a niche product. Today, it has long been relevant to the market. The market volume for 2024 is estimated at 27.52 billion US dollars. However, despite the rapid increase, there are limits, for example in terms of production speed or printing accuracy. The electrophotographic 3D printing process at TH Köln could overcome these limitations.
Formula Student puts plastics in the fast lane
07.08.2024
Once a year, students from all over the world meet at Germany’s world-famous Hockenheim Ring (Germany) to compete against each other in single-seater race cars made of plastic. In addition to the performance of the cars in various disciplines such as cornering, acceleration and energy consumption, the jury also evaluates the design of the cars, the teams' cost planning and sales presentation.
3D printing: manufacturing eye prostheses from plastic
12.06.2024
Plastic eye prostheses: Lightweight, robust and natural in appearance - and now available via 3D printing. Find out more here!
Customized, 3D-printed bike helmets offer comfort and safety
13.05.2024
The Californian company KAV offers customized headwear in collaboration with Jabil.
BEAD.MACHINE sets new standards in particle foam processing
31.01.2024
Particle foam offers a wide range of applications - from automotive to packaging and lifestyle. The BEAD.MACHINE from Siegfried Hofmann GmbH marks a significant advance in the processing of this versatile class of materials: it enables the efficient production of complex moulded particle foam parts, setting new standards in terms of product quality and environmental friendliness.
From the 3D printer to the dishwasher: researchers develop biodegradable support material
27.09.2023
In the world of additive manufacturing, innovations are constantly revolutionising the possibilities. Despite the progress, there is one major challenge: the need for support structures. They prevent material layers from sagging – but removing them after printing can have environmentally damaging consequences. In the AquaLoes project, the IKT is tackling this challenge.
New GENBETA car developed by Formula E and its innovation partner SABIC shatters Guinness World Records™ title
19.09.2023
SABIC's materials contributed to the GENBETA car setting an indoor speed record at the 2023 Hankook London E-Prix, with driver Jake Hughes reaching 218.71KPH. These materials, including thermoplastics, enhanced the car's performance, aligning with SABIC's commitment to electrification and sustainability in partnership with Formula E.
Digital meets material: a software transforms additive manufacturing
17.08.2023
ADAM could redefine plastics manufacturing. A big claim, but not without reason: Behind the acronym ADAM is a software called "Advanced Dimension Additive Manufacturing" that caused a real stir at K 2022. The impressive result of this software in action? A high-performance screw extruder controlled by an agile jointed-arm robot.
Additive manufacturing is pioneering for Röchling Industrial
12.04.2023
Röchling Industrial integrated the Röchling Direct Manufacturing Center from Waldachtal into the Röchling Industrial Laupheim at the Burgrieden site. The international plastics processor takes an important step in the industrialization of its 3D printing competencies and continues to focus on additive manufacturing.
Bio-based flame retardants for bioplastics in electrical engineering and electronics
06.02.2023
Fraunhofer researchers, in collab with industrial partners, have achieved initial success in the development of bio-based flame retardants in bioplastics. In the future, it could therefore be possible to utilize plastics in electronics and electrical engineering that consist of 100% bio-based materials. Processing was tested by means of compounding, injection molding and additive manufacturing.
The VR glove from the 3D printer
26.12.2022
In a project called "Manufhaptics", researchers at Empa, together with EPFL and ETH Zurich, want to develop a VR glove that will make virtual worlds tangible. The VR glove is to be created using a 3D printing process and will have three different actuators.
Powered-up plastics
08.12.2022
A research team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA has succeeded inadditively manufacture sensors and other electronic devices in a single operation. As part of this research, the conductivity of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) was tested to find out, for example, how best to incorporate electronic components.
Plastics Shape the Car of the Future – Wonderfully Versatile!
17.11.2022
The versatility of plastic is one of its strongest characteristics, and it makes it particularly popular amongst designers. Plastic is also a favored material for BASF's design team: in collaboration with Citroën, the chemical company rethought the classic car - with plastic as the central building block that made the implementation of the innovative concept possible in the first place.
BASF and THOR GmbH fight fire together
03.08.2022
To improve plastic compounds and meet stringent fire safety requirements, BASF and THOR GmbH are using their joint expertise in flame retardants. The focus is on developing alternatives to halogen-containing additives.
Product development in Alpla's One-Stop Shop
02.08.2022
Those who work meticulously to design a product can hardly await the day they can hold the finished item in their hands. Alpla is a company headquartered in Hard, Austria, that speeds up this process. Customers can convert their ideas into reality and ideally leave Alpla's STUDIOa with a prototype in hand.
Audi: Recycling plastic waste in-house
14.07.2022
For a year now, automobile manufacturer Audi has been running a pilot project for a closed plastic cycle. Assembly aids are produced from packaging material in a 3D printer. We took a closer look at the Neckarsulm plant to find out exactly how this works and what challenges have to be overcome.
Same but different: say hello to the 3D printed trombone
25.03.2022
It looks and sounds like a standard trombone - but is actually lightweight and made of carbon fiber rather than brass metal. To craft the musical instrument using this raw material, additive manufacturing is the right application for success: the process provides great options to manufacture the relevant molds used to build the instrument.
Clean room production of breast implants
14.09.2021
The Fraunhofer IPT has teamed up with BelloSeno GmbH to study biocompatible implants that are made using 3D printing. Kai Janning from the Fraunhofer IPT describes the conditions a medical device production facility must meet and reveals the latest successes of the researchers.
Printed polymers with active ingredient
20.07.2021
3D printing can be used to produce versatile, individual shapes. This type of extrusion process is therefore not only popular in the plastics industry – it is also suitable for medical technology applications. Only the right polymers have to be found first.
A look at the shifting trends in additive manufacturing
22.05.2020