AUSTIN, TX and AKRON, OH, USA, Dec 13, 2024 – Caracol, a leader in industrial robotic large format additive manufacturing (LFAM), is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Additive Engineering Solutions (AES), the global leader in turnkey LFAM services. This collaboration aims to accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing within the Aerospace & Defense (A&D) sector.
AES, renowned for its expertise in providing tooling for composites and full-scale engineering mockups for A&D Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier one suppliers, brings deep industry experience, an aerospace AS9100 Quality Management System certification, and compliance with NIST Cybersecurity standards to the partnership. These credentials position AES as a trusted provider within the U.S. Aerospace & Defense industry.
Caracol’s integrated robotic additive manufacturing platform, Heron AM, has already gained traction globally in the A&D sector, given the company’s experience on production of composite tooling, as the first LFAM company to have AS9100-certified production facility in Europe. More specifically, the company has a unique know-how on leveraging robotics for large format 3D printing in both thermoplastic composites and metals – having developed turnkey platforms that integrate both hardware and software.
Coming from a shared application-driven DNA, the two companies are now aiming to further the work they’ve been doing by merging their expertise in technology, sector, and projects, to boost innovation in A&D-specific applications. AES, with its robust capabilities and market presence, is the ideal collaborator for Caracol – and the latter’s modular, turnkey setup will allow AES to easily scale and adapt to their production needs.
“We are very happy for this strategic partnership with AES. Their know-how and experience in developing cutting-edge applications for the Aerospace & Defense industry, perfectly matches Caracol’s DNA in developing application-driven integrated turnkey HW/SW technological platforms” says Francesco De Stefano, CEO and Co-founder of Caracol. “Together, we can really push the boundaries of Large Format AM in highly regulated industries for both polymers and metal applications.”
“We’re excited to partner with Caracol as A&D application development is at the core of what AES does on a daily basis.” said Austin Schmidt, President & Co-Founder of AES. “Aside from expanding our reach in this industry, Caracol’s offering of both turnkey polymer and metallic robotic platforms is of interest to AES as we continue to evolve in the LFAM market.”
The collaboration will include AES installing a Heron AM platform to further expand their capabilities while focusing on leveraging AES’s in-depth understanding of A&D requirements with Caracol’s advanced technology to process critical projects like tooling for composites and full-scale engineering mockups. This partnership strengthens both companies’ positions as leaders in the rapidly evolving field of additive manufacturing.
About Caracol
Caracol was founded in 2017 in Milan, Italy, with the vision of pushing the limits of additive manufacturing in terms of scale, efficiency, and sustainability. The company accomplished this by developing an integrated technological platform, including both hardware and software, to produce advanced large-scale components. Through the integration of a patented extrusion head, the development of dedicated software – Eidos Manufacturing, and the use of robotic arms as movement support, Caracol offers an additive manufacturing technology for advanced components for customers in industries such as aerospace, marine, energy, design, and architecture. Heron AM manufactures parts such as jigs and molds for aircraft components, finished parts for yacht and boat superstructures, or revolutionary projects to initiate virtuous circular economy processes for the energy or design sectors. Vipra AM is the latest launched LFAM system to produce large-scale metal applications in the most demanding industries such as aerospace, energy, construction and shipbuilding. Today, the company has opened the largest LFAM production center in Europe, a production facility in Austin (TX), USA opened in August 2023, and a commercial office in Dubai, has a core team of over 80 international professionals with highly specialized competences, in areas such as mechanical engineering, automation, computational design, design for additive, and advanced manufacturing processes.
For more information, visit www.caracol-am.com.
About Additive Engineering Solutions (AES)
AES was founded in Akron, OH in 2016 as a contract manufacturer of large-format polymer 3D printing services. Today, they have the largest global capacity of large-format polymer 3D printing, enabling it to provide quick turn and economical solutions for the composite tooling markets, engineered and marketing mockups, and thermoplastic end-use parts. AES provides turnkey solutions from engineering & design, 3D printing, large format 5-axis machining, inspection and finishing. AES is certified as ISO9001 / AS9100 and is NIST Cybersecurity and ITAR compliant enabling them to meet the rigorous demands of the Aerospace & Defense industry.
For more information, visit www.additiveeng.com.
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