Alfa Romeo F1 Racing orders 4th MetalFAB1 system from Additive Industries

At the opening of the Rapid.Tech – Fabcon Conference on industrial 3D Printing in Erfurt, Additive Industries revealed that it has strengthened its Technology Partnership with the F1 team of Alfa Romeo Racing. On behalf of Alfa Romeo Racing, Sauber Engineering, like the F1 team part of the Sauber Group and using the technology, have ordered their 4th multi-module, 4-laser MetalFAB1 Productivity system.

Christoph Hansen, Head of Technical Development at Sauber Engineering AG, said: “Only two years ago we announced the technology partnership at Rapid.Tech and bought two MetalFAB1 systems that would be extended to two 6 module systems in three years. In the meantime, we have accelerated the upgrade, installed a third system and now ordered a fourth one, all in two years’ time. In parallel, we are expanding our in-house capabilities with post-process machining and HIPing.”

With this latest acquisition, Sauber Engineering becomes the largest global customer of Additive Industries. The F1 team is performing above initial expectations during this F1 season, with former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen 8th in the overall standings. Key benefits in the car’s development result from being able to leverage the MetalFAB1’s high productivity metal 3D printing capacity in stainless steel, aluminum and titanium, also underlining the ambition of Sauber Engineering to become a leading European supplier of industrial 3D metal printing.

Daan Kersten, CEO of Additive Industries, added: “Our installed base is growing fast, not only with new customers in our core markets like aerospace and the automotive industry but also through existing customers like Sauber Engineering, who are advancing to become one of the leading companies in industrial 3D printing in Europe, ramping up production. Although most users of metal additive manufacturing are still applying prototyping systems, we see an increasing number of companies concluding they need dedicated systems for series production. Our modular MetalFAB1 family is the only proven system on the market today designed for this use. We are grateful and proud to be a technology partner to Sauber Engineering and the F1 team of Alfa Romeo Racing.”