Clear materials for 3D printing have been available for a while now.  With the addition of a specialized 3D printer, though, engineers will be able to design and develop amazing optic devices. The lead company in this part of the 3D printing market is LUXeXceL Group, the inventor of the revolutionary Printoptical® Technology, and a global leader in the Additive Manufacturing of optical components.  Executives at the company recently announced that they will invest in a new 3D printing factory dedicated to manufacturing volumes of LED lighting optics. This month the first housing and installation activities have started to ensure that the first digital production line will be operational by the second half of 2014.

In addition, LUXeXceL engineers and specialist partners have completed the design of very precise and fast 3D printers for the manufacturing of LED optics. Via LUXeXceL’s one step “CAD-to-Optic” 3D printing process, optical components are printed smooth and do not require post processing. This ability offers LED Lighting manufacturers significant cost and time savings for rapid prototyping and manufacturing. The ability to design prototypes and volume products and receive them in just a few days, can reduce inventories, help product development and allow for project oriented customization.

The digital process has perfect scalability. This allows prototyping, small batch production, and medium volume manufacturing using the same technique. This gives the optics designer the capability of production on demand, the flexibility to iterate and the opportunity to improve continuously.

“We are excited to open this new facility,” said Richard van de Vrie, Founder and CEO of LUXeXceL. “We are changing the way optics are designed, produced, and now digitally stored. Our new printers will enable us to print very precise LED lighting optics and will allow us to jet new optical materials. This increases the design capabilities we offer to optical designers and enables the LED Industry to customize per application, project or even single product .

The new 1,000 sqm 3D printing production facility is located only a few minutes away from LUXeXceL’s Headquarters and will offer new jobs in development, manufacturing and logistics.

Joris Biskop, CTO of LUXeXceL: “I am proud our team has developed a specific printer that will deliver both speed and precision in the manufacturing of optics. This is a foundation for further innovation in the 3D printing of optics. I am confident that with the support we get from our customers, partners and universities, our capabilities will further improve rapidly.

LUXeXceL Group BV
www.luxexcel.com