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Creation of various metal parts
Based in Charleville-Mézières in the Ardennes, Platinium 3D is a player in additive manufacturing, in other words 3D printing for industrial use, and operates under an atypical mode of governance: this cluster has been constituted as an association since July 2019, after an initial three-year prefiguration phase. "From the outset, we adopted a "consortium" mode, federating local skills in additive manufacturing to serve a much broader, international reach. We have customers in Italy, and even in Asia," explains Bruno Flan, director of Platinium 3D.
This expertise comes from UIMM Champagne-Ardenne, the initiator of the initiative, the Critt Matériaux Innovation in Charleville-Mézières, the Materalia competitiveness cluster, the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA) and the Campus des métiers et qualifications "procédés et matériaux innovants", also based in the Ardennes capital.
This grouping makes it possible to offer a wide range of services to support companies in their implementation of additive manufacturing for its two main families of materials of application, metal and polymers: advice at the design stage - for example, to adapt part designs to the 3D printing that awaits them afterwards - group or customized training, R&D services, prototyping.
However, Platinium 3D's involvement goes beyond this final stage, into the industrialization phase, which its members see as its main strength. "We provide companies with pre-series parts, as well as mass additive manufacturing, at rates of up to thousands of units per month, or even tens of thousands for small parts. This offer has no equivalent in France" asserts Bruno Flan.
This is made possible by the resources that Platinium 3D has acquired since its inception: 10 industrial-scale 3D printing machines, the result of 6 million euros of investment. Surface finish, measurement of metal powders, characterization of parts, etc. are all explored, with the support of the cluster's component structures (URCA for research, for example) and other partners. More than 300 companies monitored.
Last but not least, Platinium 3D can provide technology transfer services, i.e. helping companies to switch to additive manufacturing. In all objectivity, according to its director: "Because of our public-interest profile, we are completely neutral with regard to the technologies and equipment offered by the various manufacturers", he stresses.
This positioning has borne fruit. The association has met and supported over 300 companies at various stages of their development in additive manufacturing, and processed 500 applications, with a clear acceleration in the last year or so. It now has 10 employees and annual sales of €1 million. Revenue comes from service contracts, supplemented by funding from the European Union (Feder funds), the Grand Est region and the Ardennes Métropole urban community.
At the next BE 5 .0 - Industries du Futur trade show, Platinium 3D will be present for the first time as an exhibitor, after two years as a visitor, in 2021 and 2022, where its representatives took part in the round table on Grand Est Transformation, the regional network of resource and expertise centers. According to Bruno Flan, "BE 5.0 has the advantage of presenting a wide range of technologies of the future, while remaining focused on the expectations of manufacturers. It's about exchanging ideas and business opportunities, not about 'selling' equipment. It gives us visibility throughout the Grand Est region and beyond. All in all, it creates a real atmosphere."
Article by Mathieu Noyer, editor-in-chief of Traces Ecrites News, the business news website for the Grand Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regions (www.tracesecritesnews.fr)
