Efficiency, quality, cost.
Regardless of the reason, entry into additive manufacturing and 3D printing has been a game changer for Elite Mold & Engineering Inc.
About a year ago, with the help of Macomb County’s Department of Planning and Economic Development, Elite applied for and received an Industry 4.0 implementation grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. With the $25,000 matching grant, Elite, based in Shelby Township, purchased a DLS printer and accompanying DLS technology. And on Jan. 1, it opened a 280-square foot DLS printing facility.
With a total $300,000 investment over the life of a three-year leasing period, the DLS technology will allow Elite to get parts into customers’ hands 70% faster and 50% cheaper than conventional mold build processes. And the DLS technology allows them to respond to customer project demands in just days, not weeks or months.
“The county generously put it out there to help small businesses like ours to take that leap into the future with new technology,” Elite CEO Paul Patrash said. “Because sometimes it can be cost prohibitive and might not be in the budget or plan. But this definitely helped open the door for us to get into 3D printing and manufacturing as a new technology for our company.
“We’ve been in business since 1982 doing injection molding and tooling. And we saw the future and we decided to invest into it,” he added.
DLS 3D printing, commonly called Carbon DLS, stands for digital light synthesis. DLS 3D printing is a type of additive manufacturing that utilizes light to map printed parts, which subsequently completes a curing process using heat to achieve the intended material properties DLS is notable for its ability to balance design flexibility and speed of production with desirable plastic material properties not obtainable with other types of 3D printing.
Read the article in full here.
Sign up today for a free Essential Membership to Automation Alley to keep your finger on the pulse of digital transformation in Michigan and beyond.
