Jabil opens new AM materials facility, launches Jabil Engineered Materials

Global product solutions company Jabil has just announced the launch of Jabil Engineered Materials, a complete solution for developing, validating and bringing to market engineered materials for additive manufacturing. The materials will be developed at the newly opened Materials Innovation Center in Minnesota.

Jabil, which has a growing 3D printing division, has taken the next step in this expansion by introducing a materials solution to its clients. The launch of the Materials Innovation Center and Jabil Engineered Materials was spurred on by customer demand, as many found that the availability of materials for AM was limited.

In fact, in a Jabil-sponsored survey with 300 3D printing stakeholders, over half of the participants reported the cost and availability of materials as a significant obstacle for the adoption of 3D printing. Now, Jabil seeks to overcome this challenge by developing new, custom engineered materials for its customers.

“Jabil is taking advantage of its rich history in materials science innovation to advance the entire additive manufacturing market forward and produce custom materials in weeks—not months,” commented John Dulchinos, Vice President of Digital Manufacturing, Jabil. “Our ability to integrate new engineered materials into our ecosystem of 3D printers and rigorous processes will transform a new generation of additive manufacturing applications, including those for heavily regulated industries, such as aerospace, automotive, industrial and healthcare.”

Materials Innovation Center

A key part of launching Jabil Engineered Materials is the new Materials Innovation Center in Minnesota. The 50,000 square foot facility will be utilized to deliver complete 3D printing solutions under a single roof, including polymer formulations, compound development and ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) certification.

At the facility, Jabil’s team of AM engineers, chemists, materials scientists and production experts will work closely with clients to create custom powders and filaments that meet their specific needs. Among the types of materials Jabil will produce are reinforced plastics, as well as flame retardant, conductive, lubricated and Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) materials.

The facility will also host a full range of services, including compounding, extrusion and powder creation and a complete system integration on standard, open source platforms supported by FFF, SLS and HSS equipment.

“As an emerging digital manufacturing powerhouse, Jabil is clearing the major obstacles to delivering robust, certifiable, traceable production solutions for additive manufacturing,” said Richard D’Aveni, Dartmouth Tuck professor and author of the new book, THE PAN-INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: How New Manufacturing Titans Will Transform the World. “By smoothly interconnecting 3D printing machines, processes and materials across its global Additive Manufacturing Network, Jabil is poised to propel the entire additive manufacturing market forward with speed and agility.”

Materials, Processes and Machines

Indeed, Jabil is making a concerted effort to integrate materials, processes and machines (MPM) into its additive manufacturing business to offer the full package. This approach, says the company, ensures greater availability of new materials while reducing time-to-market and cost to produce the highest quality parts.

Further, because Jabil tends to work with and adopt open 3D printing platforms, it will develop materials that can be used on multiple 3D printers. The company’s dedication to open platforms will ultimately help to advance the additive industry on the whole.

Jabil Engineered Materials will become available this month through its various distribution partners, including Chase Plastics and Channel Prime Alliance. With the launch of its first engineered materials, the company will also introduce print profiles for each material through Ultimaker’s Cura software.