Materialise, a globally active provider of 3D printing solutions, has agreed to exercise its option to acquire Link3D Inc., an additive workflow and digital manufacturing software company that supports customers in major manufacturing industries to scale and integrate their AM operations across complex supply chains and IT environments.

Building on the success of its existing additive manufacturing (AM) software suite, Materialise has outlined an ambitious cloud-based platform strategy. Its software platform will offer companies cloud-based access to a continuously growing set of digital tools, enabling users to personalize and manage their 3D printing processes and streamline their workflows. The acquisition of Link3D will strengthen and accelerate the creation of the platform, particularly for companies that are scaling up their additive manufacturing operations to volume production.

“As companies accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing into increasingly digital production environments, they require a strong and unified AM software platform. Today’s announcement creates a merger of forces that serves as the foundation for such a scalable and sustainable platform,” explained Materialise CEO Fried Vancraen.

By integrating Link3D’s additive MES (manufacturing execution system) solution with the Materialise Magics software suite into a unified, cloud-based software platform, manufacturers will be able to run and continuously improve the most efficient, repeatable, automated, and controlled processes to mass-produce identical or customized products. This process extends beyond the actual 3D printing operations and creates a closer alignment between 3D printing and conventional manufacturing, signaling the removal of the wall between both production environments.

“By joining forces with Link3D we can accelerate the realization of this strategy, which will allow our customers to define and run the most optimal, efficient and sustainable production process. Not only for the production of one-offs, but in particular for scaling production in complex and distributed ecosystems,” added Stefaan Motte, VP and general manager, Materialise software.

“This is a landmark day for the AM industry. The combination of two innovation leaders committed to relentless pursuit of the promise of digital manufacturing,” stated Vishal Singh, CTO and co-founder of Link3D.