Israel-based XJet draws from about as much experience as a company can have in additive manufacturing, bringing decades of know-how into a decades-old industry. Hanan Gothait, the company's CEO, noted during the XJet press conference at formnext 2017 that he “was the founder of a company called Objet.” That humble introduction of a company that went on to be acquired by Stratasys and form a major foundation of the shape of the 3D printing industry formed as well a backdrop to the story that has evolved into a company taking inkjet technology to its next progression.
With Objet, Gothait explained, “the idea was to do a prototype machine” '“ and with the 2012 Stratasys merger, that idea led to what he described as “the largest company in the world for plastic prototypes.” Moving beyond the origin story, Gothait and XJet have leveraged significant technological and business experience to a new plan: “The idea this time was for production,” he explained, with focus on ceramics and metals. On Tuesday at formnext, XJet formally unveiled what they had announced just ahead of the show, the Carmel additive manufacturing system.
“Our team in Rehovot has been working very hard to make this possible,” he said, noting that now the company is 85 employees strong and growing. “We have 10 Carmel printers at home working 24/7, and we are proud of it. In 2017, we increased our staff by 50% and will probably see the same in 2018; the company is going from an R&D startup to a commercial business.”
Gothait introduced two new-to-the-company executives, as well: Haim Levi (VP of Manufacturing and Defense) and Avi Cohen (VP of Healthcare and Education). The two will be important as, Gothait noted, the company is focusing on these two segments as major focuses for future expansion.
“At our booth, you will see technology you will not see elsewhere,” XJet CBO Dror Danai said with his typical effervescence.
These technologies, he said, included:
- Direct Material Jetting (for metal and ceramics, with two materials; one for the build, one for supports)
- Build and Support Simultaneously
- Nanoparticles and the Thinnest Layers
- Stochastic Particles in Size and Shape
Touching on the size of particles used, Danai was adamant that XJet utilizes through their unique NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ) technology the smallest powder particles possible, lending unique characteristics to their builds. The smallest particle seen anywhere else at formnext, he said, is 33 times larger than the largest used by XJet.
“The stochastic, or random, approach is possible because we use a liquid dispersion instead of powder bed. Most powders are spheric, but we don't need that; because of that, we get perfect packing. It is a 99.9% density, after sintering,” Danai explained.
The work they are doing toward fully dense parts using multiple materials will, he said, be seen as near as 2020. XJet, Danai noted, “are long-term players in general,” as developments “do not happen overnight.” When they do happen, however, it is with precision in view.
“It will be all the way down, not to the voxel level '“ but less than the voxel,” Danai said of the accuracies possible through their methods. “It will be down to the drop level.”
The Carmel itself has a 1400 cubic centimeter tray with high productivity, featuring 24 inkjet printheads with 12,228 nozzles for 222 million DPS.
“It's a large machine, but it's a printer at the end of the day. For installation and operation, there is no learning curve; there are no la