The MiningNewsWire Podcast

The full promise of 3D metal printing is imminent as long-sought quality-control systems provide newfound ability to scale additive metal manufacturing.

From its inception by scientists at Los Alamos, Sigma Labs Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB) has led the world in developing software that addresses serious quality-assurance issues in 3D metal printing. Now the company has moved from beta development and third-party validation to commercialization in an untapped $2 billion market as the only known provider of in-process, quality-assurance software to the commercial, 3D-metal-printing industry able to work across the majority of printers. Sigma Labs’ commercial launch was recently announced in a joint sales agreement with Materialise NV (NASDAQ: MTLS), a giant in the 3D printing industry. Materialise has built a 30-year reputation in 3D printing on an open system that integrates with hardware and software vendors to provide needed tools in the additive-manufacturing space. 3D printing is an integral part of business at software behemoth Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), which makes 3D software tools for almost every industry, encompassing rapid prototyping, industrial manufacturing, architecture and more. ANSYS Inc. (NASDAQ: ANSS), a leader in engineering software, offers a complete simulation workflow for additive manufacturing that allows the transition of R&D efforts for metal additive manufacturing into a successful manufacturing operation. HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ), a recognized leader in the printing industry, now provides both 3D-metal-printing hardware and software with the introduction of its HP Metal Jet technology.