Nexa3D acquires Addifab, launches digital tooling for Injection Moulding
April 17, 2023
Nexa3D, Ventura, California, USA, has completed its acquisition of Addifab, Taastrup, Denmark, the creator of Freeform Injection Moulding, a proprietary and patented digital tooling process that couples the design freedom of Additive Manufacturing with the mechanical performance of injection moulded using thousands of tested materials. The acquisition also adds foundational intellectual property and capabilities to Nexa3D’s product line and accelerates its resin formulation and industrial production initiatives.
The acquisition follows a successful year of joint go-to-market collaboration between the two companies in both North America and EMEA. The joint sales and marketing efforts resulted in converting dozens of customers from traditional tooling to digital tooling, thus saving time and cost. This end-to-end solution combines Nexa3D’s fast polymer Additive Manufacturing machines with Addifab’s high-impact, high-temperature soluble resins to manufacture complex tools that are compatible with injection moulding feedstock, enabling the delivery of complex tooling at, reportedly, less cost and time of other AM machines or conventional tooling processes.
Most notably, the combined solution was used by Wilson Sporting Goods to accelerate the development of youth baseball bats. Wilson’s R&D team was able to produce and test multiple designs simultaneously using final manufacturing materials, something said to have been impossible before.
“We are very excited to welcome the entire Addifab team to the growing Nexa3D family of people, products and partners democratising access to dissolvable tooling for same day complex moulded parts using the entire range of industrially proven plastics,” said Avi Reichental, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Nexa3D.
“We believe that the market validated strategic fit between our businesses and products, combined with the expanded capabilities in product development, next-gen resin formulation, channel coverage, manufacturing and marketing, will result in significant revenue and accretive growth,” said Reichental.
Located in Copenhagen, Denmark, Addifab developed, patented, and successfully brought to market a proprietary end-to-end digital tooling solution that includes CAD-to-Tool software generator, dissolvable tooling resins, Additive Manufacturing and production injection moulding process. By combining the freedom of Additive Manufacturing with the industrial strength of injection moulding, Addifab may unlock tremendous potential for contract manufacturers, regional moulders, medical-device companies, service providers and low-volume manufacturers looking to take full advantage of the design freedom inherent to AM whilst using tried-and-true injection moulding plastic materials for same day and next day part production. This is because the xMOLD resin is compatible with the entire range of off-the-shelf thermoplastic materials, including reinforced high-performance feedstocks. Additionally, metals, ceramics, and silicones are also covered, enabling users of Nexa3D machines to tap into applications that would normally require a larger capital investment. A tool additively manufacturable with the xMOLD resin is soluble, meaning it does not require complex slides and gates, giving customers the ultimate flexibility to test and iterate more frequently. Finally, you don’t have to be a toolmaker to quickly design an injection molding tool using the Addifab tool maker software or Solidworks.
“Soon after teaming up with Nexa3D, it became increasingly apparent that our combined solution unlocks tremendous opportunities for customers looking to create complex injection molding tools quickly and affordably. A year into our enormously successful commercial collaboration and dozens of customer implementations with the likes of PepsiCo and Wilson Sporting Goods, I’m thrilled that we are officially joining forces,” added Lasse G Staal, co-founder and Business Development Leader at Addifab.
As part of its growing commitment to EMEA, and in service of its growing reseller partner network, Nexa3D plans to immediately leverage Addifab’s Copenhagen facility as its Customer Experience Center, inclusive of a product showroom, service and support hub for its European-based customers, and a main warehouse and logistics centre in Europe.
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