VELO3D, the metal AM company behind the Sapphire 3D printer, has announced the release of the new VELO3D Assure Quality Assurance and Control System. The system, compatible with the Sapphire 3D printer, has already been adopted by Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, one of the largest providers of manufacturing services in North America.

The Assure system was designed to bolster volume production applications for the Sapphire 3D printer by substantiating the quality of 3D printed parts. Among the system’s capabilities are detecting and flagging process anomalies and providing corrective actions to avoid future errors. This is achieved through the use of real-time, multi-sensor, physics-based detection algorithms.

The implementation of Assure in combination with the Sapphire 3D printer enables users to achieve a higher degree of traceability and part quality and reduces the risk of process errors (and especially of repeated process errors).

“Assure is a revolutionary quality-control system, an inherent part of the VELO3D end-to-end manufacturing solution for serial production,” said Benny Buller, Founder and CEO of VELO3D. “Assure is part of our vision to provide an integrated solution to produce parts by additive manufacturing with successful outcomes.”

Not only is Stratasys Direct Manufacturing the first customer to purchase and implement VELO3D’s new Assure system, it has been working with the 3D printing company to test the program since its acquisition of a Sapphire 3D printer earlier this year. Throughout the test period, Stratasys Direct has evaluated Assure’s dashboard and its algorithms’ ability to monitor the integrity of the print process, as well as to validate the bulk material density, observe process metrics and verify the calibration of the system over the course of numerous production runs.

In the end, the trial phase came up with positive results, showcasing that the Assure system was an efficient solution for process control and quality assurance. In fact, VELO3D and Stratasys Direct have released a white paper that details the test period.

“Stratasys Direct has built a culture of continuous improvement that means we are continually setting new standards for our industry on quality,” commented Kent Firestone, CEO of Stratasys Direct Manufacturing. “We integrated Assure into our quality control workflow because it produces highly actionable insights. The user interface features intuitive graphs and charts that enable us to see and interpret the vast amount of data collected during builds. This information helps our engineers verify the quality of the build each step of the way, and enables them to make quick decisions in the event of an issue. Assure helps us reduce production variation, improve yields, and circumvent anomalies to ensure consistent additive manufacturing.”

Both companies will be presenting a joint press conference at Formnext 2019 to provide more details about how Assure can support and optimize VELO3D’s metal additive manufacturing.