Just before the Formnext trade fair in Frankfurt am Main, one of the largest companies in the 3D printing industry in the world – Materialise, announced that it had decided to use the previously announced option to acquire Link3D Inc. – a software company dealing with workflow management in the additive production environment. The transaction will be finalized by the end of this year, and as part of its provisions, Materialise will acquire 100% of Link3D shares for the amount of USD 33.5 million.
The Materialise platform offers cloud-based companies access to a set of digital tools, allowing users to personalize, manage and streamline additive manufacturing processes. The acquisition of Link3D will strengthen and accelerate the development of the platform, especially in the area of low-volume production of end-use parts.
By integrating Link3D’s Manufacturing Execution System (MES) solution with the Materialise Magics software suite into a unified, cloud-based software platform, companies using it will be able to run and improve 3D printing processes in the area of mass production of identical or custom products. This process goes beyond the actual additive manufacturing operations and provides a closer match between additive manufacturing and conventional manufacturing, signaling the removal of the barrier between the two manufacturing environments.
Source: www.materialise.com