SiMT (Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology) is a division of Florence-Darlington Technical College (FDTC) – one of the sixteen colleges that comprise South Carolina’s Technical College System. Established in 1963, FDTC has a long history of supporting economic development and providing workforce for industry. The 177,000 sq. ft. SiMT opened in 2007 to provide industry with access to talent, emerging technologies, and additional resources; it now houses one of the largest arrays of additive manufacturing services on the East Coast of US. As the demand for additive manufacturing increased, SiMT began to look for an industry partner. They partnered with Farsoon Americas in 2018 with the purchase of an eForm polymer laser sintering machine. The eForm was chosen because of flexibility with materials and the opportunity to test a new platform. Due to the success of this new machine, SiMT’s growth began to accelerate. In order to expand their plastic production capacities, SiMT then purchased a 403P machine from Farsoon that perfectly met their specific needs of productivity, economy, and reliability.
Figure 1: SiMT campus. Image courtesy: SiMT
Reduced operation cost offered by Open Platform
“Farsoon machines are engineered to do the job and to be reliable. Every part is built to ensure quality. The Farsoon machines are open source, which allows us the flexibility to search for the best price material, although we don’t have to because Farsoon’s offerings on their own PA12 based materials are competitive on this as well. Overall, Farsoon equipment is more cost-effective to buy, to maintain, and operate.” says Tressa Gardner, Associate Vice President of SiMT.
With the purchase of the eForm and 403P equipment, SiMT’s prototyping and series-production capacity has grown, due to the variety of platform sizes Farsoon provides, and the parameter operational flexibility offered by Farsoon’s truly open system. This allows SiMT to choose the machine type they need for the sector where they see the most growth, and to manufacture higher quality products with a more competitive edge in the market. According to Jonathan Melton, SiMT Manufacturing Director, “Since 2018, SiMT has seen a significant increase of 50% revenue growth in plastic Laser Powder Bed Fusion Business after partnering with Farsoon”
Figure 2: Farsoon eForm installed at SiMT production site. Image courtesy: SiMT
Fast-responding Machine Servicing as Success Factors
Additionally, with professional technical support and tailored machine maintenance, unplanned breakdowns are eliminated for maximum machine production time. Melton says, “Farsoon has a good technical team that we are able to reach out to should an issue arise. If a part is required for the machine we can typically have it in 24 to 48 hours.”
“We are excited to see SiMT growing their Additive business by meeting the demands of their customers with Farsoon Plastic SLS machines. Not only price but quality!” Says Jim Braddick, Director of Sales Farsoon Americas, “With a growing service and support team here at Farsoon Americas, we have full confidence to work with production-oriented customers on all aspects of additive manufacturing.”
Figure 3: Farsoon HS403P at SiMT with production parts display. Image courtesy: SiMT
About SiMT:
The mission of the SiMT is to support our students’ and FDTC’s future through the development of exceptional business solutions for our clients in a timely, efficient manner, by providing access to new and emerging technologies, industry recognized subject matter expertise, personal attention and unparalleled service. Our overarching goal is to accomplish our mission by supporting business through one or more of the SiMT’s business units.
About Farsoon Americas:
OPEN FOR INDUSTRY – Farsoon Technologies, founded in 2009, is a global manufacturer and supplier of industrial level polymer and metal laser sintering systems. Farsoon Americas was founded in 2017 to better service the North American market. Established in the vibrant Austin, Texas area, Farsoon has returned to the birth place of laser powder bed fusion technology. Here at Farsoon Americas we have built a local team of Additive Manufacturing experts focused on application support, service and sales. With a focus on customer-centric development and technical support infrastructure, Farsoon Americas has been growing its team to better offer value-added solutions and services to North American customers.
