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Siemens Signs Deal to Acquire Additive Manufacturing Developer Atlas 3D

November 18, 2019 by Jacob Ramirez

Siemens moves to acquire Atlas 3D’s Sunata software, a cutting-edge DMLS additive manufacturing solution, to its Additive Manufacturing Network.

Industry giant Siemens AG has recently signed a deal to acquire Atlas 3D, a small additive manufacturing company based in Plymouth, Indiana. The acquisition is due to close in November 2019, and marks a clear move from Siemens to extend their grasp on the industrial automation industry. As of writing, the details of the acquisition have not yet been disclosed.

 

Additive Manufacturing and Sunata

Atlas 3D’s additive manufacturing solution is called Sunata—a cloud-based additive manufacturing software utilizing DMLS, and currently compatible with Ti64, 316L stainless steel, AlSi10MG, Ferrium C64 steel, 17-4PH stainless steel, and Inconel alloy 718, as well as other materials.

The program allows designers and engineers to create parts that are more often “right first time,” cutting down on design expenditures and the amount of iterations required for successful builds.

 

Image of Atlas 3D development modeling software from Atlas 3D

 

Chad Barden, Chief Executive Officer of Atlas 3D acknowledged that Siemens already has additive manufacturing solutions and that he expects Sunata to be a good fit.

“The power of Sunata is that it equips designers to more easily design parts that are printable, which helps companies more quickly realize the benefits of additive manufacturing," he said in a statement. He went on to explain that Sunata will be able to offer new levels of efficiency for front-end "design-for-additive" processes.

Barden also, however, pointed out that the acquisition will allow Sunata to also aid those who have yet to introduce additive manufacturing into their existing systems.

 

Part Design Capabilities

Sunata achieves this standard by giving initial part designers an industry-leading level of control over the part design process. The Sunata program automatically considers key factors such as support structure, part orientation, distortion, and heat extraction uniformity without the need to consult additional engineering specialists later in the production stream for testing and new part iterations. 

 

Sunata 3D modeling for industrial additive manufacturing

A screenshot of Sunata, used for 3D modeling for industrial additive manufacturing. Image from Atlas 3D

 

By leveraging these capabilities alongside concurrent GPU/CPU rendering, Atlas 3D has cut down what was previously a 40% failure rate on initial prints in additive metal printing.

 

Siemens: Sunata’s New Home

Siemens AG is one of the largest industrial automation players in the world, and their acquisition of Sunata only cements this position.

Zvi Feuer, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Engineering Software of Siemens Digital Industries Software said, "Our solutions industrialize additive manufacturing for large enterprises, 3D printing service bureaus, design firms, and CAD designers." Feuer explained that the appeal of Sunata is its ease of use in implementing more efficient processes in the industrial space: "The combination of Sunata with the robust CAE additive manufacturing tools in Simcenter enables a ‘right first-time’ approach for industrial 3D printing.”

 

Additive Manufacturing Network

Additionally, Siemens’s acquisition of Sunata will likely see it included in their portfolio of additive manufacturing solutions, the Siemens Additive Manufacturing Network. Sunata’s powerful capabilities will further strengthen the offerings of Siemens’s AMN, giving designers new, powerful tools to utilize during the design process.

Furthermore, this development marks another addition to the additive manufacturing portion of Xcelerator, Siemens’s complete software portfolio.