IF-Adamas – Advancing 3D Printing Technology with SOLIDWORKS

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Ideas – they’re the protein that feeds innovation and product development. Without ideas, there wouldn’t be any problems for engineers and designers to solve. Now, 3D printing is perhaps one of the most astonishing ideas of this generation. SOLIDWORKS has been supporting one of the industry’s companies, IF-Adamas, in its impressive progress.

 

IF-Adamas Logo

 

Who are IF-Adamas?

Netherlands-based IF-Adamas describe itself as an “idea factory” (that’s the ‘IF’ bit of the name). You think it – it can make it. Using years of engineering experience and the latest in 3D printing technology, its products create high-quality working prototypes, lickety-split.

At the forefront of IF-Adamas’ business is its advanced DDDrop 3D printer. It’s incredibly accurate and can navigate difficult, otherwise unwieldy materials at varying temperatures – a one-stop shop for 3D printing.

How has SOLIDWORKS helped IF-Adamas?

To design and build its revolutionary printer, IF-Adamas required a software package that could produce fantastic results. The company turned to SOLIDWORKS.

Given the printer’s multi-faceted uses, the likelihood was that the final result would be a large, cumbersome product. So the company set themselves the unenviable task of building a machine that was as compact as possible; squeezing all that functionality into a printer that didn’t need a warehouse to store it. Utilising SOLIDWORKS, IF-Adamas was able to optimise every millimetre of its product. SOLIDWORKS became the breeding ground for a storage-friendly invention that belied the expansive technology inside.

IF-Adamas’ work ethic and business model relies on quick thinking and good ideas, a strategy that SOLIDWORKS lends itself to perfectly. The team found that with the materials and parts designed on the SOLIDWORKS platform, revisions and crucial adjustments could be made quickly and effectively. Even better, SOLIDWORKS Simulation revealed to the team that they were able to shave millimetres of thickness from the sheet metal box frame without sacrificing strength. That saved cost, materials, size and weight.

 

IF-Adamas DDDrop


Press OK to print

As SOLIDWORKS allowed the team to create photorealistic images from 3D models, IF-Adamas was also able to kick-start its marketing. Drawing up the brochures during, rather than after, the development process using imagery straight from SOLIDWORKS, made for incredible time efficiency. In addition, professional photography costs were no longer a consideration, as they were able to produce pin-sharp reproductions of the final product from any given angle.


Where next for IF-Adamas?

SOLIDWORKS’ features allow CAD designers to fine tune their design to the most minute degree by allowing them to delve deep into the build process. By producing the ‘DDDrop Leader,’ IF-Adamas are part of the 3D printing revolution – which sounds like a great idea to us!

SOLIDWORKS UK

SOLIDWORKS UK

Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. offers complete 3D software tools that let you create, simulate, publish, and manage your data. SolidWorks products are easy to learn and use, and work together to help you design products better, faster, and more cost-effectively. The SolidWorks focus on ease-of-use allows more engineers, designers and other technology professionals than ever before to take advantage of 3D in bringing their designs to life.