Gallagher adds 3D to complement capabilities

GURNEE, Ill.—For Gallagher Corp., 3D printing provides customers with another option when it comes to creating polyurethane products.

And it's thanks, in part, to some Hollywood inspiration.

The Gurnee-based company has offered both cast molding and injection molding services for years—decades actually.

Now the family-owned firm is branching out with a new approach that John Gallagher, director of product development, said will complement the company's historic manufacturing approach.

Gallagher Corp. started cast molding in 1965 and entered injection molding in the 1980s, John Gallagher said.

Now the firm has installed 3D printing capabilities using Digital Light Synthesis technology developed by Carbon Inc. of Redwood City, Calif.

"What 3D printing brings to the table is the ability to make some complex shapes," Gallagher said, without the need to invest in molds or the creation of prototypes. "We don't see 3D printing as a substitute. I would say they are complementary."

The addition of 3D printing will give customers another choice when they come to the company "and say, 'Hey, can you make this for us?' " he said.

The 3D technology being used by Gallagher allows customers "to make complex product geometries that would have been costly, time consuming or impossible using traditional molding processes," according to the company. This new approach "excels at making complex undercuts, internal channels, surface textures, lattices and features like text, logos, holes, or threads."

The technology eliminates production steps and allows Gallagher to combine what otherwise would be multi-part assemblies into a single product.

Step forward in technology

Carbon's technology uses light and oxygen to create products from a pool of resin and differs from conventional 3D printing that uses a layered approach to build products.

"The result is pretty staggering. It's 25 to 100 times faster than traditional 3D printers, which is game changing," Joseph DeSimone said in a TED Talk about the process. DeSimone recently became executive chairman of Carbon after serving as CEO for six years. He co-founded the company.

Light and oxygen serve to counterbalance one another in a process that uses sophisticated technology to form and grow parts from a pool of resin. The part is pulled out upward as it's being formed, and creates parts that look like they are from injection molds. Light serves to harden the material, while oxygen serves to inhibit that reaction to create shape, according to the company.

DeSimone said inspiration for developing the Carbon 3D printing concept came from a famous scene in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," where actor Robert Patrick's character, a T-1000 terminator robot, forms from a pool of liquid metal.

Products created using this technology can mimic the performance of silicone, polyurethane, polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and glass-filled nylon, Gallagher said.

Digital Light Synthesis creates parts that Gallagher said "have performance and quality comparable to traditional manufacturing processes" while eliminating the need for tooling, shortening lead times and allowing for quick changes in design.

Costs associated with this approach depend on the type and amount of product being manufactured, but Gallagher said the technology can compete on a cost basis.

"We're involved in a bunch of different industries. We are not industry focused. We see potential applications across a lot of different industries," he said.

With the technology just recently installed, the company is early in discussions of its use with customers.

"We looked at 3D printing for, I'm estimating, maybe a year before we pulled the trigger and got into it," he said.

With no prior experience in the technology, Gallagher said it teamed with Carbon because of its subscription model that not only provides the technology but also support. "The Carbon business model is that we're partners with them, which made it much easier to get into business with them," he said.

Gallagher already has commercialized use of the technology through the creation of one product for a customer.

"I think the potential is perhaps unknown at this point. But the potential is something we should be looking at," the company official said. "We will certainly find out. We're in the midst of it right now. The potential is the fast speed to market and lower up-front costs."