Business View Magazine | February 2020

58 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020 While there is competition with other 3D printing service bureaus, as well as some progressive foundries and machine shops, Peridot’s ability to seamlessly join it all together as a one-stop technical solution is only matched by a handful of other companies in the U.S. This adds another proud achievement to the Peridot story – at 23 years old, the company hails as one of the oldest 3D printing service bureaus in the nation. But sitting still has never been part of the Hockemeyer DNA; if anything, success has fueled the Peridot momentum. In 2016, the Hoagland facility underwent a 40-percent expansion and new equipment is added to their stable regularly, including, most recently, the installation of a new additive manufacturing machine called an SLS (selective laser sintering). As Hockemeyer explains, “The SLS process has been around since the ‘90s, but it’s now a natural fit for us, in that we already have the SLA technology and FDM technology, and now the SLS – three additive manufacturing technologies in our facility.” The Peridot team is excited because their goal is to use additive manufacturing not just for prototyping, but for actual production level components in volume. In addition to adding the process, the material may be the most exciting aspect of this growth. “Our material supplier is a global materials leader, BASF. They’re now into the additive manufacturing arena and we are one of the first launch points in the world to be running their product called PP1200 (a polypropylene polymer). It will be a new capability for Peridot, providing production level parts from an additive manufacturing machine. This is a manufacturing alternative to injection molding that we’re really excited about,” comments Hockemeyer. With large players from the engineered material field, like BASF and others joining the additive manufacturing arena, it’s becoming a whole new game. As Hockemeyer attests, “The machines have been here for a while, but the material has been a limiting factor to achieve performance characteristics required by production level applications. That’s why we decided to partner with BASF and felt this was the right time to launch this endeavor into the powder-bed fusion technology. Our commitment to this launch is part of a winning triangle, in that BASF is the innovative material producer, and Peridot is the service company that will manufacture components on the advanced SLS machine technology built by Prodways.” A common question asked when additive manufacturing is discussed is “will AM replace injection molding, cast metals, CNC machining, or other conventional manufacturing processes?”, and Hockemeyer is quick to reply, “no, definitely not – the advancements and technologies that additive manufacturing bring to the market are, and will be, complimentary processes to current conventional methods and likely will develop advantages in specialized applications throughout the manufacturing fields that require polymer, metal, and even biological components.” Going forward, the future plans for Peridot are to