PROSTEP has entered into a strategic partnership with the Dutch technology company AMbrace, which is developing a service platform for 3D printing of spare parts. AMbrace will use PROSTEP's OpenDXM GlobalX data exchange platform to make 3D print data available in combination with SAMPL technology for the tamper-proof exchange of 3D printing licenses. Within the framework of the partnership, PROSTEP will adapt the Secure Additive Manufacturing Platform originally developed in the SAMPL project to AMbrace’s specific requirements and extend it to include digital warehouse functionality.
AMbrace's innovative business model involves providing manufacturing companies in the aviation and other industries with a secure streaming service for the additive manufacturing of spare parts. Companies can store 3D files in a variety of printer-specific formats in the digital warehouse and send them on demand to a service provider, who then prints the required spare part on site. To do this, AMbrace is developing networks for the manufacture of spare parts in a global ecosystem of certified 3D print service providers. In Germany, the company will make its first public appearance at the FormNext 2021 additive manufacturing trade show in Frankfurt.
Key components of the solution are the OpenDXM GlobalX data exchange platform with the blockchain module and the SAMPL technology for integrating 3D printers, which turns them into secure and trusted printers.
Blockchain technology ensures that the 3D data to be printed can only be printed the licensed number of times to avoid the manufacture of pirate copies. In addition, the traceability of the components is ensured by unambiguous identifiability in the blockchain.
"The partnership with AMbrace is an important step on the way to industrializing the solution, as was originally intended in the SAMPL project," states Dr. Martin Holland, Head of Strategy & Business Development at PROSTEP. "The way we see it, this partnership supports a new business model with which we intend to transform global supply chains for spare parts provisioning," says Herman von Bolhuis, CEO of AMbrace. "Our streaming platform makes it possible for customers to have spare parts manufactured quickly and securely, whenever and wherever they want."