Amnova is developing large format additive manufacturing hybrid systems.

The systems function like most typical cartesian 3D Printers. However, the physics of 3D Printing changes as one scales production volume. Using first principles, I recreated a system refined for large format production. Our systems allow you to print with most industrial thermoplastic filaments and pellets (virgin and recycled) up to 20kg per hour. In addition, the hybrid functionality of our systems means you can post machine, laser cut, and plasma cut on the same machine.

We’re entering the era of rapid and highly customisable part production. Large format manufacturing is still prohibitively expensive, particularly for smaller batch product runs. Our hybrid production systems allow students, individuals, startups, small to medium businesses and establishes enterprises to produce large format parts flexibly, on demand and affordably. Our systems remove the barrier of entry for production.

Our system is novel for a variety of reasons:

• Hybrid Manufacturing: Apart from 3D Printing, our systems can function as a CNC milling machine, plasma cutter, laser cutter and more. One can perform a combination of several manufacturing processes on a single device. Hybrid functionality is important especially when critical tolerances are needed. For example, an entire vehicle body can be 3D Printed quickly at low resolution with post machining in the areas that require critical tolerances or finishes. This allows for a combination of speed and quality whereas traditional systems force you to choose between the two.
• Customizable Design: Our systems have been designed with modularity in mind. We specialise in customising our systems specifically for our client’s production needs. This may include adding third party processing tools onto our systems or increasing/decreasing system build volume.

I have developed the first two pilot systems, one of which has been purchased by a client in California. The systems are produced in South Africa through a combination of assembling third party and in-house components. We purchase mechanical and electrical components from global suppliers however manufacture critical system components inhouse including brackets, attachment plates, extrusion systems and enclosures. Producing in South Africa and vertically integrating certain production processes allows us to achieve low production costs further dropping system costs and accelerating adoption of large format technologies into mainstream manufacturing. We expect to achieve production capacity of up to approximately 200 systems per annum. Proprietary software development is planned for Q2 of 2024.

Our focus is on making large format manufacturing accessible to the public, particularly small to medium enterprises introducing new functional large format products. Our large format technologies find applications in automotive, aerospace, mining, medical, civil engineering, maritime, creative arts and so on.

Africa is our first target market. As a South African enterprise, we understand the difficulty in manufacturing locally. Our goal is to empower Africa to become a more independent manufacturing power using our technology. Our machines are the first step in what will eventually mature into Amnova Smart Factories distributed around the continent.

Remove size constraints and unlock design freedom for big solutions and ideas.