CI Launches Small Area Additive Manufacturing (SAAM) System

Cincinnati Incorporated and NVBOTS introduce new rapid prototyping complement to BAAM. SAAM (Small Area Additive Manufacturing) saves material costs, proves out designs for many types of fabrication equipment.

Cincinnati Incorporated (CI) and New Valence Robotics (NVBOTS) introduced SAAM (Small Area Additive Manufacturing), a new industrial 3-D printer at FabTech 2016. SAAM is powered by NVBOTS and uses fused filament fabrication (FFF) technology to 3D-print plastic parts directly from a CAD design. Designed as a complement to CI’s BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing), the new system allows designers to prove-out part designs while saving material and time. Once the design has been validated for form and functionality on SAAM, the same CAD files are leveraged to produce larger full-scale parts on BAAM

“Additive Manufacturing has opened a new world for parts designers and engineers,” said Carey Chen, President and CEO of Cincinnati Incorporated. “SAAM allows these innovative people to push the boundaries of part design by quickly rendering prototypes, and providing the ability to test their designs prior to full-scale production on the much larger BAAM system.  Simply put, SAAM can create a relatively inexpensive print-preview for BAAM. This is another demonstration of how additive manufacturing is shaping the future of manufacturing, especially in industries like aerospace, automotive and heavy equipment.”

SAAM is not only for prototyping BAAM parts. “We can simulate any type of part with the SAAM,” said Chris Haid, Director of Operations & Product Management and Co-Founder, NVBOTS. “The same CAD file we use for the plastic prototype can be sent to a laser, a press brake, or a shear for metal fabrication. It dramatically reduces waste in the design process and allows shops to accelerate moving to the production phase.”

The new small additive machine can also be networked for multiple users. “SAAM is managed using our NVCloud software,” added Haid. “It is cloud-based and enables multiple users to submit jobs and manage their SAAM from anywhere via any cloud-connected device.”