ExOne launches app to monitor industrial 3D printers

The ExOne Company has launched ExOne Scout, a secure 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 feature-rich web-based program that can 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:

• S-Max Pro sand 3D printer, used for the production of sand molds and cores for metalcasting parts in the aerospace, automotive, agricultural, defense, and other industries
• X1 160Pro metal 3D printer, currently in production and 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. 

“ExOne Scout is an important step forward as we work to deliver on our vision for smart and sustainable 3D printing technology at production volumes,” says John Hartner, ExOne CEO. “We plan to surround our high-speed binder jet 3D printers with a complete end-to-end digital workflow in the future. While our 3D printers remain the centerpiece, we’re looking to streamline the entire sequence of digital manufacturing around our systems with automation, software and remote monitoring and controls. ExOne Scout is a step toward delivering a complete digital manufacturing package.”

Future Scout releases are slated to enable layer monitoring and analysis by camera, as well as other artificial intelligence and analysis features.