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August 3, 2015 Issue

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First Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing Method

 


Lawrence M. Kaplan

CEO

 

Impossible Objects LLC

www.impossible-objects.com

 

Interview conducted by:

Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – August 3, 2015

 

CEOCFO: Mr. Kaplan, would you tell us the idea behind Impossible Objects?

Mr. Kaplan: Impossible Objects has developed a new composite-based additive manufacturing technology. Additive manufacturing is the proper name for 3-D printing. Our technology solves three critical needs in the industry, which are to make 3-D printed parts stronger, faster and from a wider range of materials.

 

CEOCFO: How are you able to do so?

Mr. Kaplan: There are a number of existing 3-D printing technologies and they have essentially all been around for more than twenty years. They work in a certain way and while they can produce some interesting parts, the speed at which they produce parts tends to be relatively slow and, particularly for parts made out of plastics, the parts tend to be weaker than traditionally made ones. We have come up with a new process where we make composite parts. Composite parts are ones where two or more materials are combined together to obtain the best properties of both. We combine strong fiber fabrics such as carbon fiber, fiberglass and Kevlar, with thermoplastics. This delivers the benefits of strength from fiber reinforcements and light weight from the thermoplastic. Our parts are up to ten times stronger than other 3-D printed plastic parts. Our process is based on inkjet printing technology, which is very fast, so we can take advantage of speed capabilities that already exist. Our process can eventually scale to rival injection molding speeds.

 

CEOCFO: Are people looking for better ways?

Mr. Kaplan: People are definitely looking for better ways. There are both a consumer market and an industrial market. The consumer market gets a lot of attention in the press but the real value is in the industrial market. On the industrial side, companies are beginning to adopt 3-D printing for functional production parts. Today, 3-D printing technologies are not a substitute for every traditional manufacturing technique. However, there are many interesting things you can do with 3-D printing that you cannot do with traditional technologies. On the industrial side of the industry, adoption is increasing rapidly but there remains demand for stronger parts, faster production speeds, and the ability to use a wider range of materials. Our technology provides these advantages.

 

CEOCFO: Is the market that would benefit from Impossible Objects aware of your offering?

Mr. Kaplan: They are becoming aware. We just launched commercially last year so we have been getting our name out by exhibiting at tradeshows, speaking at conferences and connecting directly with people at the right companies and organizations who are interested in additive manufacturing. We are starting to become known but there are still more companies or people within those companies that should know about us but do not.

 

CEOCFO: What types of services are you providing and into which industries?

Mr. Kaplan: We are developing machines that carry out our process. We plan to sell those machines, as well as materials for use in them, to OEMs and other manufacturers so that they can use our technology to produce composite parts. Meanwhile, we also operate a services group using our technology to manufacture composite parts for customers pursuant to purchase orders. Customers come to us with a computer model of their part and then we convert that into an actual composite part for a fee.

 

CEOCFO: What are you developing in the way of machinery?

Mr. Kaplan: We are developing an automated machine to carry out our composite-based additive manufacturing process. Today, we have a setup of our technology and what we need to do is integrate the steps and components into a machine that is more push-button operable so that someone can use it without a lot of training.

 

CEOCFO: Do the same skills that allow you to develop the additive manufacturing process also allow you to develop the automated machine?

Mr. Kaplan: 3-D printing is really a material science problem, so a lot of our development work has been focused around material science aspects of our technology. Once you reach the point where the process works from a materials science perspective, as we have, you then need to convert that into a machine. There are certain aspects of this that require the same talent used in the materials science area but there are also aspects that require different kinds of skills, particularly mechanical engineering. We are now adding more bench strength in mechanical engineering.

 

CEOCFO: Are these patented materials?

Mr. Kaplan: We source the base materials but there are things we do to make the materials work better in our process. We have filed patents around all aspects of our technology, including apparatuses, processes and materials.

 

CEOCFO: When you are speaking with potential clients, do they believe you can do it?

Mr. Kaplan: Yes. We bring parts and we show them. We bring materials and explain how the process works. We share test results. Most of the clients tend to be engineers who are pretty sophisticated and familiar with other types of 3-D printing technologies. When we explain our additive technology, clients understand it and we do not encounter much skepticism. Clients interested in adopting our technology do, however, have to take the necessary time and effort to understand and evaluate process and materials and identify the right opportunities for using them. That can sometimes take time.

 

CEOCFO: How is 3-D printing used today?

Mr. Kaplan: Traditionally 3-D printing has been used primarily to make prototype parts, saving time and money. When you make prototype parts using traditional manufacturing technologies, the cost of making that prototype can be extraordinary. For example, you often have to make a mold, which is expensive, and then perform the production operation. That mold is then limited to making only the part shape it embodies and so, if you need to change the design, you then have to make another mold. In 3-D printing, you can avoid the time and cost of making a mold, and it’s easy to iterate the part shape and design from one print to another. Another advantage of 3-D printing is that it allows shape complexities not possible using many of the traditional manufacturing techniques. This enables both freedom of design and can eliminate the need to make and assemble multiple components to achieve the single, complex part. One example is a fuel injector for a commercial aircraft that previously had been made from about 20 different components and is now being 3-D printed as a single, unitary part. In addition to simplifying production and distribution by reducing the number of components, the improved design offers performance efficiencies that will save millions of dollars of operating costs per aircraft. As illustrated by this example, for certain types of parts where 3-D printing materials are good enough, 3-D printing can also be more cost effective and faster for low-volume production of parts.

 

CEOCFO: Do you have the funding for further development?

Mr. Kaplan: We have funding and we are always interested to explore additional funding opportunities with potential investors.

 

CEOCFO: What surprised you as Impossible Objects has grown and evolved?

Mr. Kaplan: While we believed we had something special, we felt we would not really know how special until we went out to the marketplace. What surprised us is how positive the reception from the industry has been. Last month we exhibited for the first time at RAPID, the industry’s leading 3-D printing conference and expo sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and we won the show’s Innovation Award. We have been honored by the reception we have received formally and informally. When we meet with customers, we get a lot of validation that they think we are on to something special and can see the usefulness of our technology.

 

CEOCFO: If we spoke a year from now, where might Impossible Objects be and what is the plan to get there?

Mr. Kaplan: The plan is to develop machines and bring them to market. We have not announced a specific date as to when that will be but I think a year from now we will have something that people can get excited about.

 

CEOCFO: Why is Impossible Objects noteworthy?

Mr. Kaplan: The reason to pay attention today is because we address critical needs for industries where there is value for strong yet light weight parts, such as the automotive, aviation and aerospace industries. 3-D printing is here to stay. 3-D printing is the next industrial revolution and its impact will be among the greatest in the history of man. It won’t all happen overnight, but it’s already started and every manufacturer and every OEM needs to figure out where they can take advantage of these technologies to stay competitive. Impossible Objects is the only 3-D printing company in the world that has a technology specifically for composites, providing significant strength-to-weight ratio and production speed advantages. Any company or organization that is looking to lighten their parts needs to know about us.



 

“Impossible Objects is the only 3-D printing company in the world that has a technology specifically for composites, providing significant strength-to-weight ratio and production speed advantages. Any company or organization that is looking to light-weight their parts needs to know about us.” - Lawrence M. Kaplan


 

Lawrence M. Kaplan

CEO

 

Impossible Objects LLC

www.impossible-objects.com



 


 

 



 

 


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