Mattias Kristiansson
3D Printing Marketing Manager
In the past few months, we have seen countless examples of companies and hobbyists rally to 3D print applications for hospitals and healthcare institutions. Some have been more critical than others, but all most appreciated.
Here in the Nordics, over 25,000 critical applications have already been printed using HP’s MJF technology. Most parts have been printed by various service bureaus with multiple HP printer installations. The sheer number shows the impressive production capacity with MJF technology. To give you an idea – with just one HP MJF printer, you can produce 200 face shields in one build.
“These numbers are truly impressive, but more importantly, many companies have brought great value to the healthcare sector”, says Theresia von Arnold, Channel Manager at HP. “In the near future, these figures will have doubled.”
In Sweden, the logistics company PostNord has been using 3D printing for several years now. Combined with an online order system, they cater to several verticals with companies looking in to optimizing their supply chain. For example, storing spare parts digitally and 3D printing locally means these companies can optimize warehousing costs and make sure deliveries are met on time.
PostNord is also contributing to the current situation with their MJF 4200. Tomas Lundström, PostNord’s head of 3D, is working with his team to recalibrate their 3D print production.
“We saw that there was an urgent demand for protective equipment”, says Tomas Lundström. “Therefore, we changed our production and started printing protective visors to help in this extraordinary situation.”
“The beauty of 3D printing is that it actually doesn’t take that much to start producing something else. As we are a large company with many different types of segments, we could quickly create a production flow inside the company. We also managed to set up a supply chain for these applications between different production facilities within a day or two, with our 3D printing in Stockholm as the center.”, says Tomas Lundström.
Amidst this global situation and supply chain turmoil, there are at least some gleams of light. One of these is that many more people now see 3D printing as a true production means. 3D printing has proven itself very useful as a backup system when society runs out of the hardware needed to tackle a major crisis. For that, we are all extremely proud and grateful.
