Arcam AB, listed on NASDAQ Stockholm, has received an order for five Arcam Q10 systems from Beijing AK Medical, a present customer in China. The systems will be used for volume production of orthopedic implants.
Note this is medical not aerospace . My previous posts on this company have dealt with aerospace but here is the other main use,
Like the ICE car market the medical prosthetic device market is wide open to innovation.
Instead of selecting from a couple of dozen pre made hip joint replacement prosthetics, have one custom made to fit just you.With the added advantage that they can be porous on some areas (to allow for bone regrowth) and machined soother where needed (the ball) Note that since the ball and socket are lined with a polymer where the actual joint contact takes place this plastic can be very smooth. And instead of heavy solid metal the prosthetic can be both stronger and lighter using complex shapes. Complexity is free with 3DP,
Only Arcam does electron beam and only electron beam can do 3DP of titanium.
Arcam AB Chief Executive Officer Magnus Rene says the Swedish maker of 3-D printers may soon have trouble keeping up with orders as airplane and engine makers start using the technology to make parts. With General Electric Co., Pratt & Whitney Holdings LLC and Rolls Royce Holdings Plc as customers, Arcam is preparing for growth unforeseen when the Molndal, Sweden-based company was focused on the three-dimensional printing of medical implants like knee joints. “Two or three years ago, the question was whether the aerospace industry would start producing in this way,” Rene said in a telephone interview. “Now it’s just a question of when.”
As the industry now races to use 3-D printing in order to make aircraft components lighter, GE Aviation has said it expects to print more than 100,000 parts for its jet engines by 2020. The U.S. engine maker will use Arcam machines for production of light-weight turbine blades by 2018 at the very latest, Rene said.
POF note is that aerospace parts are certified- once approved and tested the manufacturing process can not be changed
While many orthopedic companies are beginning to utilize 3D printing as a manufacturing process, they continue to produce antiquated annular designs that have been on the market for years," said Joseph O’Brien, M.D., Medical Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at The George Washington University Hospital. "4WEB is unique in that they are the only company in the spine implant market to maximize the opportunity that 3D printing affords by producing truss designs with distinct structural mechanics that have considerable potential to accelerate healing for my patients. These patented structures were not even possible to manufacture at this scale until only a few years ago.
pre Arcam, this type design in titanium was impossible
similar complex designs allowing for lighter weight , more strength ,and far more bone to prosthetic growth will make almost all present orthopedic implants obsolete.
I have been reading about the Wright Brothers (aspirational heroes to me) Their biplanes wing was designed using a type of truss. Non truss designs were too heavy and could not get airborne with the limited power available.
The aerospace industry is vastly bigger than the implant industry. But neither are paragons of virtue when it comes to real innovation. Oligopolies are common. Space X is showing that new ideas , new methodology, can really make a difference.
There seems be little interest in Arcam on this board so I will try to resist further posting. Maybe it’s not a Saul type stock. I have never evaluated it that way.
There seems be little interest in Arcam on this board so I will try to resist further posting. Maybe it’s not a Saul type stock. I have never evaluated it that way.
Hi Mauser, I just restarted a small position in Arcam, largely influenced by your posts, so please keep them coming.
Saul