EOS is steadily establishing itself as an professional in creating dual-use applied sciences. Now, as I discussed in a latest interview with Greg Hayes, the Senior VP World Additive Minds at EOS, ‘dual-use’ is a time period that has develop into overused to the purpose that many observers as of late rightly query whether or not it even nonetheless means something.
However I believe that this January 2025 article from the protection information publication Battle on the Rocks explains the time period completely, and encapsulates why it issues regardless of its overuse:
The authors clarify, “Our expertise from MIT, working with startups throughout a spread of vital applied sciences exploring protection and business civilian markets, is to outline dual-use as a technique, not a class. …early stage founders construct a functionality and, pretty much as good entrepreneurs, think about the most effective market match throughout business and army markets as needed and with a transparent focus.”
EOS is after all not an early stage firm, however the level applies nonetheless. It’s related right here as a result of the US-German model has clearly launched its newest product, the EOS M4 ONYX steel additive manufacturing (AM) system, with a dual-use technique in thoughts.
EOS launched the M4 ONYX at Formnext 2025 in Frankfurt this week, after creating the printer with intensive, wide-ranging enter from the corporate’s user-base constructed into the design. This can be a working theme for EOS, which emphasised the identical responsiveness to its prospects in its launch of the P3 NEXT SLS printer eventually 12 months’s Formnext.
And, to make certain, this can be a working theme within the AM business, as an entire. The principle factor that units EOS aside right here is solely that they’ve such a prolonged observe file with unusually adept customers to attract from.
That basically comes into focus when you concentrate on the M4 ONYX by comparability with its predecessors: the printers in the M400 collection, the primary of which initially launched somewhat over a decade in the past. In these days, barely anybody knew what 3D printing was, not to mention that you possibly can 3D print steel, and promoting machines largely meant promoting new customers on the thought of the know-how itself.
That’s nonetheless the case to no small diploma. However for a machine just like the M4 ONYX, particularly — which EOS plans to begin delivery in Q1 of subsequent 12 months — it’s laborious to think about that the patrons can be anybody aside from severe power-users with years of steel AM expertise. Thus, the last decade of buildup with the M400 collection was required for EOS to even create a machine like this.
The important thing promoting level is a lowered complete price of possession (TCO). That’s how Sebastian Becker, EOS’s Head of Product Administration for Steel Options, framed the system to me, in a dialogue earlier than Formnext:
“The principle goal of promoting this machine is to ship the most effective return on the most effective product in its class,” Becker asserted. “We’re lowering [TCO] by as much as 50 %, growing productiveness by as much as 50 %, and growing machine utilization and machine availability by as much as 30 % every.
“These are the numbers that we focused after discussing with our M400-4 prospects, and reaching a consensus on the enhancements they needed to see.”
To attain the productiveness good points, EOS considerably elevated the construct quantity in comparison with the M400-4 (450 “x 450″ x 360″ vs. 400″ x 400″ x 400”), and added two 400-watt lasers. EOS additionally targeted obsessively on maximizing the effectivity of the print course of: the corporate claims that prospects can anticipate “greater than 90% powder materials restoration,” whereas additionally lowering hazardous waste “by as much as 90%” with the Recirculation Filtration System (RFS) Professional characteristic.
Additional, because of some necessary collaborations, EOS is delivering automated powder dealing with (by means of a partnership with Volkmann) and automatic job exchanges (by means of a partnership with Grenzebach). And the corporate’s personal present capabilities, together with EOS Sensible Fusion, allow customers to attenuate the necessity for helps.
As Becker informed me, all of those options naturally developed from what has labored with prior EOS releases:
“The powder dealing with and the twin setup station with the 2 exchangeable frames was developed on the M400-4 already,” Becker famous. “These features matured, and we transferred them to the M4 ONYX. Similar with the optical tomography in Sensible Fusion, which was initially developed on the M290, then delivered to the M400-4, and improved to be optimized for brand spanking new supplies.
“So now we’ve all of those capabilities which have been examined that we’ve delivered to the M4 ONYX, and work for titanium, nickel, metal, and aluminum alloys. We are able to see all of the puzzle items coming along with this machine.”
Becker informed me that EOS already has orders for the machine, in addition to a beta person, although he wasn’t capable of disclose who that was. However, given how a lot the M4 ONYX appears to attract from what prospects of EOS sister firm AMCM would need, I believe we are able to assume that the brand new machine was made exactly for enterprises like U.S. Navy contractors, the Ursa Majors of the world, and corporations whose choices have equal applicability to protection and civilian markets, like warmth exchanger specialist Conflux Expertise.
Maximizing the uptime of producing enterprises is the principle factor that the AM business can deliver to the desk in a dual-use context. That’s what EOS is providing with the M4 ONYX.
And, very quickly, customers producing for each protection and civilian prospects can be in a position buy an much more highly effective model of the machine: in Q3 of subsequent 12 months, the corporate can be releasing the M4 ONYX FLX, which is able to characteristic 4 1kw lasers able to beam-shaping, because of EOS’s partnership with nLight. Today, it’s not simple to make one thing that’s each really new, and in addition responds on to what the market needs. EOS could also be efficiently threading that needle with its newest launch.
Pictures courtesy of EOS
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