The ExOne Company — which specializes in industrial sand and metal 3D printers using binder jetting technology — has launched ExOne Scout, an Industry 4.0 app that provides real-time machine monitoring and analysis of production 3D printers on a wide range of digital devices, including smart phones and watches.
Now available for download in the Apple App Store and on Google Play, the Scout app is part of a web-based program that can now deliver push notifications to smart devices about job status, printhead speed, fluid levels, temperature, humidity and other actionable manufacturing data.
Scout is currently designed for use with two ExOne production 3D printers enabled by Siemens MindSphere, an Internet-of-Things operating system with multilayered security: the S-Max Pro sand 3D printer, which is used for the production of sand molds and cores for metalcasting parts in the aerospace, automotive, agricultural, defense, and other industries; and the new X1 160Pro metal 3D printer, which is currently in production and is slated to begin shipping to industrial customers by year-end.
Users will now be able to connect these MindSphere-powered 3D printers to Scout in order to simplify machine monitoring, receive real-time insights and benefit from enhanced quality assurance and analysis, says ExOne CEO John Hartner.