Studies have shown that installation of sub-metering technology in the multi-residential sector resulted in reduction of electricity use by 34% for non-electrically heated buildings and by 27% in electrically heated buildings.

Haley HodgsonSenior Communications Advisor Office of the Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan)haley.hodgson@kpc-cpr.gc.ca

Minister Qualtrough also announced $381,750 in funding to GridGear, a producer of electricity submetering technology. Submetering technology allows users to better understand their energy use and help them reduce energy consumption to cut costs. With the PacifiCan support, GridGear will scale up production and commercialize their next generation submetering technology. This new technology will enable GridGear to offer their products to industrial customers that require a submeter that can handle higher voltages.

Similar tentativeness in launching products into market can be found at Mitsubishi Chemical, who recently invested in AddiFab as their partnership intensified. The company would quite like to make around 7,500 of its materials available in the additive manufacturing space, but with further hardware and process developments still needed, Mitsubishi can’t place an accurate measure on demand for many of its products. Without a guarantee of demand, the company is reluctant to invest in the required conversion processes.

These materials are the kind to feature on approved lists inside factories in the aerospace, automotive, and medical industries. There are similar documents at Danfoss, a company currently testing FIM, which include grades such as PEEK and 40% glass-filled PPS, the former of which is notoriously not the easiest to 3D print, and the latter of which is barely 3D printable at all. It means that Danfoss is rarely able to 3D print prototypes of parts in the same materials it intends to use when it steps into production.

“Delta is home to hard-working entrepreneurs that are leading the way in creating innovative new products to solve today’s environmental challenges. The funding from PacifiCan will allow Plascon Plastics and GridGear Solutions to seize opportunity and realize their ambitions, further cementing Delta’s place as a leader in the growth of the B.C. economy.” - The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Physical Activity and Member of Parliament for Delta

While AddiFab is looking to meet the accuracy, repeatability and materials standards of the injection moulding space, it also hopes FIM can bring change to the sector. A big driver for the commercialisation of FIM was to help companies produce small volumes in the early days of product development to test the water. Typically, companies have to meet a minimum order quantity to injection mould parts but, prior to launch, will often be uncertain of the level of demand in the marketplace.

“Mitsubishi Chemical has aligned now with Freeform Injection Molding as a platform, it has a clear need we have demonstrated we can meet, but I’m not sure either Mitsubishi or AddiFab know where the collaboration is going to end up in a couple of years,” Staal finished. “We can see some evident opportunities with the KyronMAX, Tefabloc, Trexprene and DIAKON series of materials – materials which are difficult to 3D print. But I think Mitsubishi Chemical has about 450  subsidiaries. I haven’t even started talking to ten of them yet. It’s going to be a very interesting journey.”

"That is a risky process because it entails new validations, it entails new materials, it entails extra time, extra costs,” Lasse G Staal, Co-founder and CEO of AddiFab, said for possibly the umpteenth time on the third afternoon of TCT Show.

Walk the floor at an additive manufacturing trade show and one will find companies pitching their solutions for the design and prototyping of a product, the manufacture and measurement of the parts, and everything in between.

“Because of minimum order quantity, a lot of products get scrapped,” Staal said. “With Freeform Injection Molding, we don’t have a minimum order quantity. That means [users] can move into the market incrementally. When you hit the tipping point where you can see that it now makes sense to invest in a tool, you can make that investment because your demand is there. You can step away from Freeform Injection Molding into conventional injection moulding, but you haven’t over-invested in capacity from the beginning and you can do the capacity investment when demand has been verified. That means you save a lot of material and you save a lot of energy in the start-up of a new product.”

The global plastic injection molding market was estimated at US$183B in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 4.8% to US$266B by 2030.

“We’ve tried to create a platform that combines the benefits from 3D printing with injection moulding, so you get the same low start-up costs, short lead times and design freedom, but the baseline is injection moulding. That means we can process all the materials that an injection moulding user would normally want to process: all those pre-qualified grades for the automotive industries, all the pre-qualified grades for the aerospace industries, the stuff you use for medical devices, which also have to be biocompatible. Most of those materials are not available as 3D printable materials, but FIM allows us to process them off the shelf.”

Plascon Plastics will receive over $1.2 million to expand its manufacturing capacity for sustainable plastic injection moulding. Injection moulding is a process for producing parts by injecting molten plastic into a mould. Plascon Plastics is innovating in the use of post-consumer recycled materials such as recycled plastics, used car tires and carpet fibres in the injection moulding process. PacifiCan funding will allow Plascon Plastics to purchase new equipment and moulds, hire more employees, and increase product offerings, including developing a transparent 4.15-gallon pail that is currently not available in North America.

The projects announced today align with PacifiCan’s interests in boosting advanced manufacturing and clean technology in B.C. They drive innovation, revenue growth and job creation, supporting PacifiCan’s vision of enduring prosperity for all British Columbians.

PacifiCan is the dedicated federal economic development partner for British Columbians. PacifiCan is helping B.C. businesses grow locally and compete globally, creating quality jobs, connecting industry leaders, and supporting an inclusive economy that benefits all British Columbians.

Mitsubishi Chemical sees FIM as a possible gateway into the additive space, having users of FIM process o  the shelf injection mouldable materials to produce prototypes, and perhaps draw conclusions as to the demand that way. That, AddiFab told TCT, is a main goal of the collaboration – and its general industrialisation efforts – but beyond, conversations are still to be had about how the partnership moves forward.

“If you’re basing your prototyping on 3D printing, you may get to a point where you get it qualified, then you need to decide how to produce. If you want to scale up to massive levels, you need to go into injection moulding because 3D printing is neither cost competitive nor quality competitive for higher volumes,” Staal argued. “If you decide ‘I’m only going to sell this [product] in low volumes’, then stay with 3D printing, but you need to make that decision before you go into market. That’s a pretty important decision to make.

PacifiCan is here to help B.C. businesses grow locally and compete globally. That is why, today, the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Physical Activity and Member of Parliament for Delta, on behalf of the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan), announced $1,628,450 in funding for Plascon Plastics and GridGear through the Business Scale-up and Productivity program.

“British Columbia is a hub for clean tech innovation. GridGear Solutions and Plascon Plastics are great examples of local companies who are building a cleaner, more sustainable future in B.C. and beyond. PacifiCan is a proud partner in supporting businesses who are making a difference.” - The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan)

AddiFab is a company positioning itself in the in-between, hoping to relieve manufactures of the above considerations: “I see a gap between the prototyping and production that is not really being remedied by many 3D printing solutions,” Stall emphasised. The company has brought to market Freeform Injection Molding (FIM) and a portfolio of open digital light processing (DLP) 3D printers promising high precision and high repeatability for the additive manufacture of advanced single-use moulds with proprietary tooling resins.

These moulds are then placed in an injection moulding machine – AddiFab exhibited alongside a Babyplast system at TCT Show – where a material will be pressed into the mould’s cavity. The mould is then dissolved, inlets and outlets trimmed away, and the final part revealed. Because AddiFab only expects the printed moulds to last one shot, the company says it can process thousands of high-performance injection moulding materials – from flame retardant ABS grades to ultra-soft TPEs to carbon- reinforced PPA injection moulded at 350°C – and enable users to validate their components before scaling to thousands of parts with the same material and the same technology.

What happens in between often requires a lot of thought, even more action, and more time than anybody would like to spend. It’s likely that prototypes are 3D printed in one material and the subsequent end-use components injection moulded or machined in another.

The City of Delta has one of the fastest growing industrial areas in Greater Vancouver and is home to innovative companies like Plascon Plastics Corporation and GridGear Solutions Ltd. By developing solutions to environmental challenges, these two companies are poised for further growth.

“Our focus on new product development and innovation to help customers reduce their energy usage is our primary mission as an organization. With the help of PacifiCan, we have expanded our innovation efforts and are excited to help new customers around the globe reduce their electricity usage to make for a brighter future.” - Colton Gabara, Director of Operations, GridGear Solutions Ltd.

The City of Delta has one of the fastest growing industrial areas in Greater Vancouver and is home to innovative companies like Plascon Plastics Corporation and GridGear Solutions Ltd. By developing solutions to environmental challenges, these two companies are poised for further growth.

AddiFab believes FIM has the capacity to resolve this issue and encourages manufacturers to work backwards from how they intend to manufacture their part in order to decide how to prototype it.

Follow PacifiCan on Twitter and LinkedIn Toll-Free Number: 1-888-338-9378 TTY (telecommunications device for the hearing impaired): 1-877-303-3388

PacifiCan’s Business Scale-up and Productivity program supports high-growth (at least 20% revenue growth year-over-year) businesses that are scaling up and producing innovative goods, services or technologies. It offers interest-free, repayable funding to incorporated businesses.

In Birmingham, UK in September, AddiFab pitched this to hordes of visitors who, at times, waited up to 20 minutes to learn about FIM. Talking to TCT - just the ten-minute wait for us - Staal revealed the motivation behind the company’s cross over between additive manufacturing and injection moulding.

“If I want to be able to scale into the millions, then I want to start with injection moulding from day one. The decision point is not, 'do I want to prototype on a 3D printer?' It's, 'what is my end production going to be? Is it going to be a highly specialised geometry or is it going to be a high run of product?’ If it’s high run, let’s start with injection moulding from day one. That’s why we’ve built this platform and that’s why we want to be able to comply with the requirements of the injection moulding industry.”