Business
Business activities:
Association
Activity
Origin: Finland
Founded: 2020
Area of activity: Worldwide
Gallery
Overview
3D printing is being nationally promoted, among others, by the Finnish Additive Manufacturing Ecosystem (FAME, operated by DIMECC Ltd). FAME is a consortium of over 50 companies that covers the entire 3D printing value chain and whose vision is to create a competitive advantage for Finland through sustainable additive manufacturing.
Nearly all national 3D printing companies are involved, as well as several manufacturing industry companies that utilize 3D printing. The value chain is also supported by well-known international companies in the field, such as the software company nTop. Through FAME, several publicly funded projects have been launched, such as the AM Campus (shared facilities for PBF-LB/M), and the DREAMS project, which studied 10,000 PBF-LB/M test specimens particularly in terms of fatigue. The FAME consortium also DED manufactured a 300-kilogram pressure vessel, which at the time was the largest DED one in Europe.
Legacy
Finland is, relative to its population, one of the most active countries in the world from the perspective of 3D printing. For example, 3D printing research articles are published proportionally more in Finland than in Germany. One explanation for this may be that the roots of modern laser-based powder bed fusion of metals lie in Finland.
The DMLS process was developed in Finland in the early 1990s by Finnish engineer Olli Nyrhilä of Electrolux Rapid Prototyping, in collaboration with EOS. The development of EOS’s metal materials and processes still takes place in Finland under Mr. Nyrhilä’s leadership (Electro Optical Systems Finland Oy). Before EOS’s acquisition, Electrolux also had Europe’s first SLA system (3D Systems, in 1989), which already then served Finnish industry.
Today, Finland is home to AM system manufacturers and around fifteen industrial 3D printing service providers, about ten of which offer metal 3D printing services with their own equipment. There are around 60 metal 3D printers in total, almost all of which are PBF-LB/M systems. The industry in Finland is expected to grow faster than the global average.