User:Charlotte Höltzig/sandbox/DyeMansion GmbH

DyeMansion, based in Planegg-Munich is the world market leader in industrial Additive Manufacturing finishing systems for 3D-printed polymer parts. The solution developed by DyeMansion is called Print-to-Product workflow and transforms 3D-printed raw parts into high-value products. The DyeMansion technology is developed with focus on the powder bed fusion technologies Multi Jet Fusion/High Speed Sintering (HP, Voxeljet) and Selective Laser Sintering (EOS, 3D Systems). The technology is also being further developed for the material extrusion technology Fused Deposition Modeling/Fused Filament Fabrication (Stratsys, Ultimaker) and the Vat photopolymerization technologies Stereolithography, Digital Light Processing and Continous Liquid Interface Production (EOS, 3D Systems, Formlabs, EnvisionTEC, Carbon).

= Company History =  Founding 

In 2013, Felix Ewald and Philipp Kramer co-founded the 3D-printing agency Trindo to originally sell customized 3D-printed smartphone covers matching the corporate design of large companies. Because there was no industrial solution for the dyeing of the 3D-printed plastic parts  used for their cases, they had to take back the first 200 products as the cases left traces of dye behind in users’ pockets. In their search for a solution to this problem, the two young founders discovered the great potential of a technology for the industrial coloring and post-processing of 3D-printed parts. The idea to develop an own coloring solution was born and therefore, in 2015, they co-founded DyeMansion.

 Seed Invest & First Coloring Solution for 3D-Printed Parts 

In early 2015, Dr. Hans Langer, founder of EOS invested in the young company through his Investment Holding AM Ventures. The common goal was to develop a scalable, automated coloring solution. Later that year, DyeMansion celebrated the launch of their first system DyeMansion DM60, which was the world’s first automated coloring system for 3D-printed polymer parts. The world premiere took place at Fomnext, the leading exhibition for Additive Manufacturing in November 2015 and with the coloring system, the team won the Formnext Start-Up Challenge competition. At the same time they started their On-Demand Coloring service where one could finish raw parts through DyeMansion technology.

 DyeMansion Print-to-Product Workflow 

It became clear that an industrial coloring solution couldn’t close the bottleneck in post-processing of 3D-printed polymer parts on its own - shown through manual processes, high costs and and the insufficient quality of the parts for serial production. As a solution to this problem DyeMansion developed two additional machines, the Powershot series. In the Powershot C powder residues can be removed automated and damage preventive through the principle of a rotating basket. The Powershot S works with a similar hardware setup, the parts become surfaced through the inhouse developed PolyShot Surfacing (PSS) process which closes the pores of the sintered parts. Therefore, the surface becomes homogeneous. The result is a matt-glossy look and a high scratch resistance of the surfaces. With the DM60, and the as well inhouse developed DeepDye Coloring (DDC) process, the Powershot blasting cabinets complement the Print-to-Product workflow, which covers all post-processing steps and is so far the only end-to-end solution on the market. The workflow as a whole was presented at Formnext 2016. Within three hours raw parts become high-end products.

 Global expansion 

For establishing as the world market leader and to serve the so far 600 customers worldwide DyeMansion begun to expand on a global base. Alliances as the strategic partnership with EOS in 2017 and the expansion of the partner networks with resellers in UK, China and other regions did help to reach that goal. In 2018 the DyeMansion North America Inc. was founded, the opening of an own office in Austin, TX is planned for the end of 2019. A branch in the APAC region is planned for 2020.

 Series A Founding & VaporFuse Surfacing 

Additional to the strategic investors AM Ventures, who supported DyeMansion 2015 with a initial seed funding, the company won two more investors in September 2018. The financial investors Unternehmertum Venture Capital (UVC Partners) and Btov Partners (Btov Industrial Technologies Fund). Together they concluded a 4,5 Million Euro Series A funding to enroll the global business and to expand the R&D capacity.

The first outcome of the enforced R&D capacity is the new chemical VaporFuse Surfacing (VFS) process, which was first presented at Formnext 2018. It is a chemical surfacing solution that achieves surfaces that are similar to injection molded ones. The new technology is now in it’s beta testing phase. It will be the second surfacing option, next to the mechanical PolyShot Surfacing (PSS) and will be integrated in the Print-to-Product workflow. The hardware will be launched in November 2019 at Formnext.

= Products =  Print-to-Product Workflow 

The Print-to-Product workflow is an end-to-end solution for additively manufactured polymer parts. It is a three-step process, consisting out of Cleaning, Surfacing and Coloring. The final finish and the color can be chosen depending on whats best for an application. Therefore, DyeMansion offers two surfacing options (Step 2, Surfacing), mechanical or chemical. There is no limitation in coloring options.

With DyeMansion's technology, the amount of time required to finish a part is three hours. The individual process steps are automated, and the operator only needs to reload the parts between the individual steps.

Depending on the step of the workflow compatible materials are PA12, PA11, PA06 and TPU.

All processes fulfill industrial health & safety standards.

= Color Options & Color Matching = Since coloring and appearance depend very much on parameters such as material and finish, the DyeMansion standard colors and offered RAL colors were developed with defined parameters, namely for PA2200 and PolyShot Surfacing (PSS) finish.

The DyeMansion color selection for DeepDye Coloring (DDC) covers the 17 DyeMansion Standard Colors and 171 RAL Classic semi matt colors.

In addition, most of Pantone TPG shades, customized colors and special skintones can be developed on different materials on request. With specific Automotive and Neon colors, the X-Color Line serves specific needs of different industries.

The DyeMansion color matching technology starts with a physical color sample. First the sample  is measured by a spectrophotometer and then the tone is developed by using several iterations directly on the customer’s material and finish. The Color Matching works with plastics, fabrics, papers and even human skin.

= Industries & Applications = The applications of industrial 3D-printing are seeing an enormous growth. According to the study published by Lean & Manufacturing (Get Ready for Industrialized Manufacturing), the annual growth rate is 30%.

Thus, in the following industries, which are served by DyeMansion, more and more end products can be found which are produced in serial production already.

 Medical Sector 

The medical sector has high requirements for 3D-printed products especially in terms of  biocompatibility when they are worn directly on the skin. The DyeMansion colors are certified and passed tests for cytotoxicity and skin irritation. Common 3D-printed applications made of plastics are customized orthotics, prosthetics or medical insoles.

 Industrial Sector 

In the industrial sector spare parts produced with Additive Manufacturing bring advantages: local on-demand production without tooling costs and no storage. The efficiency of the value chain increases and the ecological footprint decreases. In the Automotive sector, also interior parts can be produced with 3D-printing today. Here, the DyeMansion technology delivers an automated and traceable end-to-end finishing solutions for reproducible surface and color results while matching any desired color. The DyeMansion Automotive X-Colors are developed according to the hot irradiation standards of ISO EN 105 B06 method 3 for better light and heat resistant.

 Consumer & Lifestyle Sector 

In the consumer sector, the level of customization is high and since the lifestyle industry follows seasonal trends, the innovation cycles run pretty fast. Most important is a big color variety that has to be standardized and easy accessible. Therefore DyeMansion offers the biggest standardized color range in the 3D-printing industry. It includes 17 standard colors, 171 RAL colors and a tailored color solution for this sector: the Neon X-Colors. The company can also develop certain Pantone TPG shades and colors of choice, such as corporate colors. Tailor made eyewear, footwear and jewelry are common applications.

= Achievements & Networks =  Formnext Start-Up Challenge 

In 2015 DyeMansion won the Formnext Start-Up Challenge with the first dyeing solution for 3D-printed polymerparts worldwide. The Formnext Start-Up Challenge honors young and innovative companies of the Additive Manufacturing industry. The award is given to newly developed, sustainable business concepts from the world of industrial 3D-printing.

 German Accelerator Tech 

In 2017 DyeMansion won the funding programme for innovative German tech start-ups and spent some time in the Californian Mecca of technology Silicon Valley to work on it’s global expansion and their business model. With its Accelerator programme the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) supports german start-ups entering the U.S.-Americain- and the Southeast-Asian market.

 TCT Awards 

The TCT Awards annually honour the most innovative technologies, projects and brains from the additive market. DyeMansion was honored in 2017 and 2018 in the catogory ‘Highly Commended’:

In 2017 with the  ‘TCT Automotive Product Application Award’ for the project ‘Replacements Bus Parts’ in cooperation with Daimler, FKM Sintertechnik and EOS.

In the year 2018 with the ‘TCT ‘Post Processing Award’ for the DyeMansion Print-to-Product workflow.

 Spares AMX 

The SparesAMX network combines years of industry experience with expertise from research and interdisciplinary industries within the Industry 4.0 and serves as a platform for the generation and implementation of creative technical ideas.

DyeMansion has been one of the network partners since October 2018.

 Mobility Goes Additives  Mobility goes Additive is the leading international network of companies, institutions and research institutes working on industrial additive solutions. It aims to accelerate the adoption of serial additive manufacturing and allow the industry leaders to cooperate with each other to achieve the goal together. DyeMansion GmbH has been a member of the network since 2018.

= References =