Hexagon, Authentise Partner to Develop Open End-to-End AM Software

From AMUG 2021…Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division and Authentise have partnered on development of open software that reportedly provides end-to-end additive manufacturing (AM) coverage, uniting information from design, materials, manufacturing and quality assurance. The software, according to partner officials, extends the AM control loop from the machine level to connect design, manufacturing operations and quality assurance to make AM more predictable, repeatable and traceable.

Data from shopfloor manufacturing operations, engineering data from the design phase, and materials properties and quality data from validation and inspection processes hold the key to automating serial production improvements and enabling design improvements, explain the officials. However, they offer, the technical challenge of connecting these silos and applying these data have inhibited the ability to consistently apply AM to new designs. New solutions delivered through the Hexagon-Authentise partnership will apply statistical process control with machine learning and artificial intelligence, with the goal to mitigate waste and quality issues during the design phase and improve the repeatability of AM processes within a site or between global locations.

The partnership reportedly will build solutions to industrialize AM technology by digitizing each workflow step to connect the digital thread of a part and trace its pedigree. This is made possible through a shared commitment to open architectures that integrate data and automate workflows between Hexagon’s AM applications and third-party equipment and software manufacturers. 

“Together with Authentise, we are building a next-generation framework for our customers to manage flexible, fully digitized production workflows in private cloud environments,” says Mathieu Pérennou, global business development director of AM for Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division. “We believe that our open and flexible systems will enable us to respond quickly to customers’ needs and integrate with their unique environments. This will connect the data flow and help streamline their workflows in all stages of the AM process—before, during and after production, and support their specific standards or compliance needs.”