For established manufacturing service providers, the question is increasingly arising as to whether entering the field of metal 3D printing as an additional line of business is worthwhile and whether it actually brings in new customers, rather than merely supplementing existing processes. The U.S. manufacturing service provider ABCorp, based in Boston, offers a surprisingly clear answer: About 80 percent of its customers for metal additive manufacturing are entirely new customers whom the company had not previously known.

From Banknotes to Payment Cards to 3D Printing

ABCorp looks back on a history spanning more than 225 years: Founded in 1795 as a security printer for the first U.S. central bank, the company has evolved over the centuries into a specialist in counterfeit-proof documents. Today, at its 225,000-square-foot facility in Boston, ABCorp produces 12 to 18 million contactless payment cards per month—a business that operates on demand and within tight tolerances. Building on this manufacturing discipline, ABCorp has established its own business unit for product development and contract manufacturing, which now also includes metal additive manufacturing.

Why Payment Card Manufacturing and Metal 3D Printing Are a Good Fit

What sounds unusual at first makes sense upon closer inspection. Neil Glazebrook, Vice President of 3D Solutions at ABCorp, sums it up: “Contract manufacturing of credit cards is really manufacturing on demand; we make a new one as it’s needed. So we already understood the structure of that kind of production.” ABCorp applied this logic directly to additive manufacturing—and thereby strategically positioned itself as a 3D printing service provider for industries that require fast, variable batch sizes without tooling investment.

To get started, ABCorp opted for the Desktop Metal Shop System in combination with the Live Sinter simulation software. The company primarily processes the 17-4 PH and 316L stainless steels. Glazebrook describes the rationale behind the decision as follows: “We were looking to make end-use parts and needed an option to operate in a functional production environment.”

Live Sinter Solves the Most Costly Problem of Binder Jetting

According to the company, the biggest concern prior to the investment was not the printing technology itself, but the downstream sintering process: If a part warps in the furnace, this often only becomes apparent after material and energy costs have already been incurred. Live Sinter simulates this warping in advance and prints the part with a specifically adjusted, negative offset geometry, so that it only achieves the exact target dimensions once it has been fully sintered. Glazebrook comments: “One of my biggest worries about investing in this technology was the furnace and the frustration of failing that far into the process during sintering. Using Live Sinter, I’m blown away by our success with the sintering furnace.” A concrete real-world example is a prosthetic weight that must precisely and reproducibly replicate the weight of a natural forearm to fit the patient’s individual anatomy—an application in which traditional support structures were previously indispensable during sintering.

Thanks to the Live Sinter simulation, these support structures are no longer needed at all. “I don’t have to use sintering supports anymore, so I don’t have to charge for supports. I use Live Sinter for everything, and it makes us more competitive,” Glazebrook continues. This not only lowers the cost per component but also significantly reduces post-processing time.

From Pilot Project to Dedicated Business Unit

Another remarkable aspect of ABCorp’s journey is its organizational consistency: What began as a complementary offering alongside the core business has now become a standalone business unit with its own product development and contract manufacturing services. In early 2022, ABCorp also announced the FDA registration of its Boston facility as a “Center of Excellence” to support medical device manufacturers with metal binder jetting services on a larger scale and to shorten their time-to-market. This registration signals a clear strategic goal: metal additive manufacturing is not meant to remain a side business, but rather to become a standalone, regulatory-compliant offering for demanding industries.

What this means for other manufacturing service providers

For ABCorp, the investment in Desktop Metal technology has long since paid off beyond the pilot project: Glazebrook sees new areas of growth primarily in medical technology, robotics, fluid dynamics, and replacement parts—“Metal 3D printing brings in a lot of growth opportunities, especially for applications like prosthetics, robotics, fluid dynamics, and replacement parts.” For manufacturing service providers already active in related fields such as security printing, precision manufacturing, or small-batch production, the ABCorp case study demonstrates that making the leap into metal 3D printing can be worthwhile not only technically but, above all, from a business perspective: through entirely new customer relationships that would never have materialized without this additional offering.

Take the Next Step Now

Would you like to find out whether additive manufacturing or 3D scanning is also worthwhile for your components and processes? The team at AM Pioneers will provide you with a no-obligation consultation on technology, materials, and cost-effectiveness—based on real-world project experience with the partner technologies presented here.

Contact AM Pioneers for a personalized consultation on your specific application.

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