Hexagon expands its additive manufacturing range with the acquisition of CADS Additive.

CADS Additive, a fast-growing provider of specialised software that assists companies in preparing designs for metal additive manufacturing (AM), has been acquired by Hexagon. CADS Additive, according to Hexagon, streamlines the process of 3D printing on powder bed fusion (PBF) machines. The software helps users through the build preparation process, assisting businesses in converting design files into printer instructions and increasing manufacturing productivity.

Since 2021, CADS Additive has been a Hexagon partner, combining its build preparation and support structure building capabilities with Hexagon’s Simufact Additive process simulation software. Shared development roadmaps will optimise workflows even further by allowing users to change the orientation and support structure of their 3D printing. According to reports, this will help shorten the additive manufacturing (AM) workflow and provide simple methods to alleviate quality implications caused by changes in orientation or support structure.

“Our investments reflect the growing importance of additive manufacturing, which has enormous potential but has been stifled by a fragmented ecosystem, which means manufacturers are not getting the results they require quickly enough.” “With the acquisition of CADS Additive, we will be able to provide our customers with integrated tools that will enable manufacturing teams to reduce waste and increase efficiency as they move from prototyping to production,” Hexagon president and CEO Paolo Guglielmini said. “Opening up the Nexus platform to our ecosystem partners and providing building blocks like CADS Additive helps customers improve their processes throughout the manufacturing value chain and realise the potential of industrial additive manufacturing.”

CADS Additive’s AM Studio software is already linked to Hexagon’s Nexus digital reality platform. Hexagon’s Nexus-enabled AM workflow will be completed by the software, which will apply its technology portfolio to computer-aided design (CAD) model preparation, build preparation, simulation-based optimisations, quality and production intelligence, and the automation of computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) to finish parts.