With the share price of Stratasys, an American listed company, doubling at 20 12 and 3D Systems soaring nearly three times, 3D printing, as an emerging industry, has been formally valued by all parties. The United States has also given 3D printing the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the manufacturing industry.
In China, with the gradual maturity and application of 3D printing technology in the desktop field, the 20 13 civilian market is expected to rise rapidly.
Antarctic bear 3D printing statistics: 3D printing concept stocks panning for gold
Guangyunda (300227): Getting involved in 3D printing is "expected".
Fast and personalized, compared with traditional manufacturing technology, rapid prototyping technology represented by 3D printing is regarded as the key factor to trigger a new round of industrial revolution. In the capital market, the brand-new technical concept of 3D printing has also prompted investors to continuously explore related concept stocks. Because today's mature 3D printing technology mostly uses high-energy lasers as generators, individual listed companies engaged in precision laser applications once swept the market.
As an innovative application of precision laser in domestic electronic information industry, Guangyunda has been focusing on precision laser manufacturing and service since its establishment in 2005. The main products produced and sold include laser templates and precision metal parts, and the processing services provided include laser forming services and laser drilling services in flexible printed circuit board. The company has many professional advantages in precision laser technology, which makes the outside world have been looking forward to its entry into the field of 3D printing.
At the end of August last year, Guangyunda was heated up by hot money because of the concept of laser. The company later clarified that the 3D printing technology belongs to the "additive process" manufacturing process, while the laser technology currently used by the company belongs to the "subtraction" process, and the process principles of the two are different.
An industry insider who has long been concerned about Guangyunda said that although the "subtraction" technology the company is currently engaged in is different from 3D printing, the two technologies actually have some similarities, so the "threshold" for Guangyunda to enter 3D printing in the future is not high. On the contrary, the company's existing laser technology experience laid the foundation for its 3D printing.
"On the surface, a company can engage in 3D printing as long as it buys a set of equipment and related materials, but it is not." Another analyst pointed out that in the production of 3D printing, the selection of relevant laser types is a major difficulty. From the actual case, it is a very complicated process to select laser parameters according to different raw materials, different geometric dimensions and different mechanical properties to be achieved. In order to produce qualified products, enterprises need to accurately select laser parameters according to actual requirements.
Looking back on Guangyunda, through years of research and development and technology accumulation, the company has established a database of laser application technology, including the processing characteristics of various lasers such as infrared and ultraviolet, the best processing methods of various materials such as metals and nonmetals, and the test results and combination effects of various laser processing subsystems such as laser, light guide system, mobile system, precision control system and detection system. It also includes the selection of laser types, laser processing equipment and processing technology for products with different materials. In this context, Guangyunda has enough technical reserves to engage in 3D printing.
The reporter also noticed that Guangyunda's precision laser manufacturing and services mainly provide customers with personalized products and services, which are characterized by small batch, multi-variety, non-standardization, short delivery time and quick response to customer needs. Compared with traditional manufacturing technology, personalization, small batch and speed are the advantages of 3D printing technology. Therefore, considering the main business operation, it is not surprising that Guangyunda will get involved in the 3D printing industry in the future.
Yinbang (300337): Layout 3D printing application field.
"From the feedback of the actual application market, potential customers are generally interested in the company's 3D printing products." A related person from Yinbang said.
At the beginning of the application of 3D printing, Yinbang Company, which mainly manufactures metal materials, took the lead in introducing foreign mature 3D printing technology and opening up application fields, which is slightly different from some companies keen on 3D printing technology today.
Yinbang Co., Ltd. specializes in aluminum-steel composite materials. With the broad prospect of a substantial increase in the demand for aluminum-based metal composites, the company just landed on the Growth Enterprise Market on July 20 12. However, the company is not satisfied with the status quo, not only actively exploring the promotion of new products, but also involved in the application field of 3D printing. In the company's view, exploring this field is an important pawn in the strategic layout of emerging industries.
2012,65438 On August 5th, Yinbang and Wuxi Andy Li Jie invested 22.5 million yuan and 27.5 million yuan respectively to establish Falcon Rapid Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Falcon"), accounting for 45% and 55% of Falcon's registered capital. According to media reports, the company admitted that some products in FalconStor's main business involved laser rapid prototyping technology, which exposed the fact that the company was involved in 3D printing.
It is understood that 3D printing technology is actually a general term for a series of rapid prototyping technologies. Its basic principle is laminated manufacturing, and its main processes include laser sintering (SLS), stereolithography (SLA) and fused deposition manufacturing (FDM). According to relevant persons of the company, on the one hand, FalconStor will introduce mature powder bed technology from abroad to manufacture finished products, on the other hand, it will provide metal powder for 3D printing.
An industry researcher who has long been concerned about this field said, "Powder bed technology belongs to laser sintering SLS process and has great advantages. On the one hand, it can be used repeatedly in powder processing, making the utilization rate of raw materials as high as 95%. On the other hand, it can greatly save time and shorten the cycle from design to output. "
Although Yinbang shares are very cautious about the 3D printing business, they are still full of "expectations" for the future of this FalconStor product. The company said that in the long run, with the substantial breakthrough in technology and product promotion, FalconStor may bring certain investment income to the company.
Robot (300024): the leading supplier of metal 3D printing equipment in China.
If 3D printing can directly produce metal parts by sintering or melting metal materials and be widely used, the traditional manufacturing industry will be greatly impacted. Robot is the only A-share listed company that can provide complete sets of metal 3D printing equipment.
In recent years, robots rely on the advantages of laser processing technology to expand the business of laser complete sets of equipment. In the third quarter of 20 12, the company successfully developed laser rapid prototyping equipment, commonly known as "3D printer", which mainly uses metal raw materials and is used in high-end equipment manufacturing fields such as aerospace and ships. According to relevant sources of the company, since the launch of the first set of metal 3D printers, the company has successively obtained new orders.
In terms of materials, although sand, rubber, plastic, metal and even biological materials can be used as raw materials for 3D printing, "metal" is still the most concerned field.
Zhang Haiou, a professor at the School of Mechanical Science and Engineering of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said that if it is widely used in metal materials, 3D printing may lead a new round of industrial revolution.
At present, there are only a few companies that can provide complete sets of metal 3D printing equipment in China, and robots are the only listed company.
The reporter learned that robots began to develop metal direct molding technology from 20 10, commonly known as "metal 3D printing technology". At present, the technology is basically mature, and a set of metal 3D printing equipment with independent property rights and patents has been successfully launched.
According to the relevant person of the company, the robot has rich experience in laser rapid prototyping equipment technology, including double-beam cladding technology, stress release technology of cooling shielding gas, shielding gas formula and special process methods corresponding to different metal materials. The high-power laser for laser rapid prototyping, the high-precision 5-axis CNC machine tool for three-dimensional molding, the laser processing head for conveying titanium alloy powder and the automatic powder feeder produced by the company were successfully assembled on the laser rapid prototyping equipment for processing core components, which provided a strong guarantee for the manufacturing of new aerospace equipment in China.
In addition to the metal 3D printer, another high-end product of the robot, the nano printer, also adopts 3D printing technology, which has become a new profit growth point for the company. The company's 20 1 1 annual report shows that nano plate-making printing technology is the first in the world, and plate-making is pollution-free and environmentally friendly, and it is a revolutionary product of plate-making technology. Nano-material plate-making technology not only fully meets the requirements of mainstream printing business in accuracy, speed and quality, but also solves the problems of high equipment and consumables cost, environmental pollution and waste of resources, and completes the leap of plate-making technology from photosensitive era to non-photosensitive era.
According to the above-mentioned company sources, although robots have become the leading provider of metal 3D printing equipment in China, the company will also be committed to becoming a 3D printing service provider in the future.
From the perspective of 3D printing industry chain, it mainly includes 3D printer equipment manufacturing, material supply, model software supply and 3D printing services. Personal consumption is an important market for 3D printing technology in the future, because not everyone will use 3D software for image design, and not everyone is willing to buy 3D printers, so professional 3D printing service providers are needed to provide related services.