Thales deploys AddUp 350 in Morocco metal 3D printing facility

AddUp has installed a FormUp 350 quad laser machine at Thales 3D Morocco’s Casablanca-based facility.

The machine has been qualified under the European space protocol ECSS-Q-ST-70-80 C and is said to have met the technical requirements for some of the most challenging applications in the Thales ecosystem.

AddUp’s FormUp 350, launched in 2021, has been designed to be modular and scalable with four lasers each covering 100% of the build volume, and the machine equipped with advanced traceability and production control options to ensure it meets the ‘highest expectations in terms of productivity.’

As part of the dynamic between the two companies, AddUp will provide production assistance to Thales, with twin machines located at an AddUp facility. These twin machines are currently undergoing the same validation process, helping to ensure business continuity when demand increases above Thales’ capacity.

Thales opened its metal additive manufacturing facility in Casablanca in 2017, strategically basing its Thales 3D Morocco business in the heart of the local aerospace ecosystem. Since then, it has used metal 3D printing to deliver parts for heat sinks, radio frequency components and antenna supports in industries such as space, aviation and security.

With the addition of the FormUp 350 capacity, Thales 3D Morocco expects to expand its application opportunities, while also achieving an increase in productivity and reduction in costs…

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Through the Southern African Innovation Support (SAIS) initiative, funded from Finland through its Project Management office in Windhoek, Namibia a successful bid was made under the SAIS2 programme, to establish an Additive Manufacturing (AM) Ecosystem in Botswana, in collaboration with the University of Botswana (UB) and the Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI)…

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