Beamler and Erecoin look to focus on blockchain technology for Additive Manufacturing
February 6, 2019
Beamler BV, headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Erecoin, Augsburg, Germany, have announced plans to further develop blockchain technology for the Additive Manufacturing process chain. The partners will aim to create initial application scenarios, with the main focus on defining smart contracts that can be mapped using Erecoin’s blockchain solution, while also answering the challenges faced by Beamler’s AM customers.
Beamler’s platform offers its users access to an extensive industrial AM database, allowing them to source manufacturing services globally. It also aims to provide customers with a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of what is achievable using AM, and currently works with 642 types of Additive Manufacturing machine, 853 types of material and 431 manufacturing locations.
Willem-Jan van Loon, Beamler CEO, stated, “When I heard about the project, I did not hesitate a second and contacted Konstantin Steinmüller. The combination of blockchain and 3D printing will provide valuable benefits for our customers as well.”
“We are very happy about the support and the cooperation of Beamler,” stated Konstantin Steinmüller, Co-founder of Erecoin. “First of all, it is a great statement for our previous work shortly before the official sale of our tokens on February the 18th. Second, Beamler with its software solution is an extremely important link in the further development of the entire production chain based on the blockchain.”
“I have been working on the subject of blockchain and Additive Manufacturing for some time and therefore already have a clear picture of the necessary steps,” added van Loon. “Most important, however, is the following for me: soon we can offer our customers not only 642 machine types and 853 material variants, but also the clear statement: We are blockchain-ready.”
Erecoin was founded as the result of a 3D prototype optimisation project at Konstantin Steinmüller’s company CAE-lab GmbH. In many additive applications, Steinmüller believed, bureaucratic issues such as validation, trust and security took centre stage during the development of AM applications, with engineering taking a back seat.
The goal of integrating blockchain into Additive Manufacturing is to eliminate a large proportion of these uncertainties in the AM process chain. Blockchain technology offers the possibility to conclude smart contracts in order to solve legal and technical questions in AM, with the data exchange and rules on the use of the data being integrated. This has the potential to create an efficient, secure and unambiguous relationship of trust between all parties involved in the process chain.
