3D Spark determines the best production method for components
When it comes to technological trends of the future, 3D printing is rarely mentioned anymore. Yet the process still has great potential. Hamburg-based startup 3D Spark, which has developed software that determines the most favourable production method for components, is well aware of this.
3D Spark provides answers to crucial questions
Industrial companies are regularly faced with this decision: Do we manufacture the new component for a new device ourselves or do we buy it in externally? The 3D printer makes many things easier than they used to be. But which technology is the cheapest, fastest and most sustainable? Or could a different production method or external purchasing perhaps be the better solution?
These are complex considerations that tie up a lot of the working time of highly qualified specialists. With its AI-driven software platform for industrial companies, suppliers and service providers, 3D Spark offers a fast and efficient solution for making the right decision. Industry leaders such as rail vehicle manufacturer Alstom, Deutsche Bahn and automotive supplier ZF in Friedrichshafen are already among the leading users of the system.
An oversubscribed financing round of 1.2 million euros
In May 2023, founders Ruben Meuth, Fritz Lange and Arnd Struve closed their seed financing round with 1.2 million euros. "Despite a difficult market environment, the round was oversubscribed, which shows the investors‘ strong confidence in the potential of 3D Spark and the value of its SaaS platform for the manufacturing and procurement industry," states Co-CEO Meuth. The investors include the Fraunhofer Technology Transfer Fund, Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg and Discovery CFO UG. "The funding from this round has enabled 3D Spark to accelerate the development of its AI-driven platform," adds Meuth.
3D Spark was founded in 2021 and is based in the Borgfelde district of Hamburg. The three initiators had already forged their plans together at the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Additive Production Technologies (IAPT) before founding the company. Struve and Lange worked in research and wrote their doctorates on software development for 3D printing. Meuth was head of business development and a successful acquirer. As Co-CEO of 3D Spark, Lange is responsible for internal interests such as strategy, human resources and controlling. Meuth is responsible for external matters such as sales, customer contacts, marketing and finance. As CTO, Struve is in charge of product architecture and development.
Software identifies the most efficient process for components
The startup, which consists of a total of twelve team members, offers a software-as-a-service that enables production costs and delivery times to be reduced and the performance of components to be increased. CO2 emissions are also to be reduced through the digital calculation of production processes. According to the founders, 3D Spark is particularly useful when it comes to the manufacture of production parts in industry. This requires a great deal of expertise, extensive knowledge of manufacturing processes and lengthy manual analyses. 3D Spark has automated this time-consuming process. In a matter of seconds, the system can evaluate and compare 15 different manufacturing methods - 3D printing processes as well as casting and injection moulding processes and computer-aided milling - for the component in question.
The cheapest, fastest, best and most sustainable variant can thus be accurately identified, promises founder Meuth. His programme is also open to all technologies and compares additive manufacturing methods with an increasing number of other processes. The software processes digital model design templates (CAD), drawings and metadata such as quantity and material as input. The program carries out its own manufacturability analysis, orientation optimisation and pre- and post-process analysis for each process-material combination, explains Meuth. This enables broad application, even on a global scale.
"Millions of industrial employees worldwide can make smarter decisions with the help of the 3D Spark platform because they can see the effects of different production alternatives transparently," explains Meuth, adding: "Service companies use the software to quickly respond to enquiries with immediate printability checks, accurate cost calculations based on their internal production reality and intelligent quotation generation using market prices." Key suppliers can be integrated into the system via a special panel so that target prices can be determined immediately, and binding offers can be obtained. Conversely, suppliers of industry leaders can use their supplier panel to increase their presence and acquire targeted enquiries.
The goal is production without waste
For customers such as Alstom, the use of the 3D Spark platform is said to have already resulted in significant cost savings totalling over 15 million euros, the startup founders proudly report. In addition, delivery times have been shortened by a total of 2,600 months, which has also improved the availability of spare parts. "We dream of production without waste," says Meuth, summarising his company's vision.
His research work at the TU Hamburg (TUHH) enabled him to develop software that was subsequently implemented at industrial partners, where it enabled cost savings of several hundred thousand euros in each case. The Rotary Club Hamburg-Haake honoured him with the Scientific Innovation Award in 2021. Another milestone for his startup was an EXIST startup grant from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) and the European Social Fund in summer 2021.
In summer 2022, 3D Spark won a national startup prize in the BMWK's ‘Gründerwettbewerb Digitale Innovationen’. It also received InnoRampUp funding from IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH. Finally, in autumn 2022, the team secured a place in the AI Accelerator programme of the AI.STARTUP.HUB. Founder Meuth is correspondingly positive about the diverse network of research, technology and business in Hamburg and sees this as a clear advantage of the location.
