As we reported late last year, adhesive and materials giant Henkel was working on a multi-million dollar 3D printing research facility. The company has now finished and officially opened the Henkel European hub for 3D printing and Innovation and Interaction Center (IIC) at its Tallaght site near Dublin, Ireland.
The IIC, which is the first in a new generation of global industrial customer centers, is set to become Henkel’s European regional hub for technical presentations, demonstrations, training, testing as well as customer service for 3D printing solutions. During the official inauguration Henkel welcomed the Irish Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Damien English, representatives from governmental organizations in Ireland as well as customers and senior management of its ecosystem partners Carbon and HP.
As demonstrated by its close collaboration with two of the 3D printing hardware companies that are most focused on AM for final part production, Henkel is looking to use its expertise in transforming industrial manufacturing processes to drive adoption in the rapidly growing market for additive manufacturing, beyond prototyping to final parts production.
Based on strategic partnerships with technology leaders, the Adhesive Technologies business unit offers end-to-end solutions for 3D printing to its customers, including novel materials, specialized equipment and a broad portfolio of customized post-processing solutions.
Picture Colm Mahady / Fennells – Copyright© Fennell Photography 2018.
Expanding AM R&D
To further expand its R&D and application capabilities globally the company is investing into new regional innovation and customer centers. The IIC in Dublin, which is in proximity to the existing R&D and production facility for 3D printing Loctite resins, comprises laboratories, customer service offices, meeting rooms and 3D Printing facilities. It is equipped with Carbon and HP printers in addition to specialized Henkel equipment, technology and devices.
As the European hub for the technology, the IIC has been designed to excite and engage Henkel’s customers across various industries such as medical devices, automotive, consumer goods and manufacturing to discover and use Henkel´s high-impact solutions for transforming final parts production.
“The opening of our first Innovation and Interaction Center in Ireland will further strengthen our expertise and capabilities to bring 3D Printing solutions into manufacturing processes of our broad customer base,” explained Michael Todd, Global Head of Innovation at Henkel Adhesive Technologies, during the event.
“The close connection to our scientists and engineers as well as to the production will enable us to accelerate the development of new solutions for our customers and will foster the identification and realization of tailor-made 3D Printing applications across industries,” Philipp Loosen, Head of 3D Printing at Henkel Adhesive Technologies, added.
This appears to be only the beginning, as later this year Henkel is expected to open two more regional centers for 3D printing, one in Rocky Hill for North America and another one in Shanghai for Asia.
