MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

IperionX Expands Titanium Metal Production in Response to Strong Market Demand

IperionX | March 28, 2022

IperionX Limited is pleased to announce the successful scaling up of titanium metal powder production at its Titanium Pilot Facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, using 100 percent recycled titanium metal as feedstock. Customer demand for this more sustainable product is strong, with IperionX accelerating plans to build a new TDF with an initial capacity of 125 tonnes per annum.

Scale-Up of a 100% Recycled Titanium Pilot Facility

IperionX's proprietary and patented metal technologies enable the production of titanium metal powders that meet industry quality specifications using 100 percent recycled titanium feedstock.
Titanium metal powder operations are rapidly expanding due to investment and process efficiency improvements, which included enhancements to scrap titanium metal handling processes, sintered spherical metal powders, and deoxygenated metal powders. The pilot facility's current run rate capacity is 1.5 tonnes per annum.

Additional process improvements will be implemented in the coming weeks, increasing the Titanium Pilot Facility's annual run rate capacity to 6.5 tonnes by the end of Q2 2022. The Titanium Pilot Facility is currently constrained by the low-temperature furnace's operational rate, which is used to perform IperionX's proprietary HAMR deoxygenation. As a result, actual production quantities will vary according to customer orders.

Scaling Up the 100% Recycled Titanium Demonstration Facility

IperionX intends to construct a larger TDF by the end of 2022, with an initial designed potential output capacity of 125 tonnes per annum. This facility will use low-cost 100% titanium metal scrap as a feedstock for low-carbon titanium metal powder production. The primary driver of capacity expansion is the acquisition of a more oversized commercial low-temperature furnace for use in the proprietary HAMR process. This capacity can be increased incrementally and modularly by increasing the size or number of low-temperature furnaces.

The TDF will serve as a demonstration facility for automation and process improvements to optimize operations before scaling up to the Titanium Commercial Facility. Additionally, the TDF will be used to advance IperionX's other metal technologies, including low carbon REE metal deoxygenation, hydrogen sintering, low carbon synthetic rutile, and improved mineral-to-metal reduction.

Performance Industries, Inc. is leading the planning and design, with technical assistance from Wingens LLC, an industrial manufacturing consultancy specializing in metals, thermal processing, and heat treatment, and Mr. Michael Moyer, a former Principal Engineer at Sasol's Arizona High Purity Alumina plant.

Commercial Facility Planning at Titanium

IperionX is currently scoping the size, location, and timing of the first Titanium Commercial Facility ("TCF") in the United States. The TCF will produce low carbon titanium metal and titanium metal powders. The parameters of IperionX's scoping study will evaluate various titanium plant capacity options.

IperionX's five-year goal is to become a titanium metal producer with an annual production capacity of over 10,000 tonnes.

Strong Partner Engagement

IperionX has established strong commercial relationships with a diverse range of potential customers in various advanced technology industries, including automotive, consumer electronics, consumer luxury goods, defense, and additive manufacturing (3D printing), with a particular emphasis on the potential long-term supply of titanium metal powders.

Notably, there has been considerable interest in evaluating IperionX's 100 percent recycled titanium metal powders, which could be used to create sustainable circular supply chains. In addition, IperionX's patented technology has been shown to reduce the environmental impact of titanium metal production by requiring lower temperature furnaces, requiring less total energy, and allowing for renewable energy.

Titanium powders are expected to be shipped in the coming weeks for partner testing, and prototype production runs. Spherical titanium metal powder is currently available for sale to users in the additive manufacturing industry at a price of up to US$250,000 per tonne, depending on the application.

“As a result of the successful scaling of the Titanium Pilot Facility - and the strong interest we are seeing from potential customers for our 100% recycled, lower cost and low carbon powders - we are now progressing the development of a larger scale facility. This comes when there is an increased strategic focus on the need for wrestling control of the titanium supply chain from China and Russia and bringing it back to the U.S.
We intend to help re-build a U.S. supply chain using a closed-loop, low carbon and lower cost solution… from scrap to powder to parts, for a sustainable titanium supply chain.”

Anastasios (Taso) Arima, IperionX’s Managing Director and CEO

Spotlight

As a 100-plus-year-old global company, Honeywell had a legacy architecture with numerous siloed databases, which it knew it needed to break down in order to effectively manage its inventory, manufacturing processes, and supply chains across its many business units spread across the globe. To tackle that challenge, Honeywell selected Snowflake as the core platform to bring all its data together into one, centralized, single source of truth. Now, according to Honeywell’s Chief Digital Technology Officer Sheila Jordan, the company is able to integrate all data, including from ERP systems, Salesforce, supply chain databases, and more within Snowflake where it can be analyzed to create actionable insights for the business.

Spotlight

As a 100-plus-year-old global company, Honeywell had a legacy architecture with numerous siloed databases, which it knew it needed to break down in order to effectively manage its inventory, manufacturing processes, and supply chains across its many business units spread across the globe. To tackle that challenge, Honeywell selected Snowflake as the core platform to bring all its data together into one, centralized, single source of truth. Now, according to Honeywell’s Chief Digital Technology Officer Sheila Jordan, the company is able to integrate all data, including from ERP systems, Salesforce, supply chain databases, and more within Snowflake where it can be analyzed to create actionable insights for the business.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Rackspace Technology Achieves AWS Manufacturing and Industrial Competency

Globenewswire | April 24, 2023

Rackspace Technology®, a leading end-to-end multicloud technology solutions company, today announced today that it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Manufacturing and Industrial Competency. This designation recognizes Onica by Rackspace Technology for its expertise in providing customers professional services and software solutions for an end-to-end Industrial Manufacturing Software toolchain. As manufacturing customers move to the cloud, they are looking for cloud experts with manufacturing experience to help them transform and use data in new ways, knowing they need to move faster than ever. AWS Manufacturing and Industrial Competency Partners provide customers with solutions across their digital transformation journey while being assured that they have support from a validated AWS Partner to meet their needs. These solutions follow AWS best practices for building secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient cloud infrastructure for industry applications. Achieving the AWS Manufacturing and Industrial Competency differentiates Rackspace Technology as an AWS Partner Network (APN) member with demonstrated technical proficiency and proven customer success in running cloud solutions on AWS for the manufacturing and industrial sector. This program showcases manufacturing consulting and software partners who have domain knowledge and are providing cloud services. To receive the AWS Manufacturing and Industrial Competency designation, AWS Partners must undergo rigorous technical validation and provide vetted customer references. “Rackspace Technology is proud to achieve the AWS Manufacturing and Industrial Competency for our deep expertise in helping customers embark on a digital transformation with AWS,” said D K Sinha, President, Public Cloud Business Unit for Rackspace Technology. “Our team is dedicated to helping companies achieve their business transformation goals by leveraging the agility, breadth of services, and pace of innovation that AWS provides.” AWS is enabling scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solutions from startups to global enterprises. To support the seamless integration and deployment of these solutions, AWS established the AWS Competency Program to help customers identify AWS Partners with deep industry experience and expertise. Onica by Rackspace Technology partnered with Century Engineering, LLC a Kleinfelder Company to extend and enhance an innovative stormwater management solution its team developed, named the SmartSWM™ product that leverages AWS. Onica supported the Internet of Things (IoT) components of the project by designing custom SmartSWM™ hardware and an IoT backend on AWS to realize a more resilient, reliable, and secure infrastructure solution. This helped refine the solution to improve functionality and provide automated, real-time remote stormwater monitoring and IoT connectivity to local weather forecasts. “Onica by Rackspace Technology was able to listen to our objectives, review our existing system, and apply their in-depth knowledge of IoT and automation to help us implement industry best practices into the SmartSWM™ product,” said Robert “Bob” Bathurst, PE, MSIA, D.WRE, LEED AP®, Vice President, Civil Engineering Department Manager, Century Engineering, LLC a Kleinfelder Company. “The system is a lot more reliable and secure thanks to Onica’s support.” About Rackspace Technology Rackspace Technology is a leading end-to-end multicloud technology services company. We can design, build and operate our customers' cloud environments across all major technology platforms, irrespective of technology stack or deployment model. We partner with our customers at every stage of their cloud journey, enabling them to modernize applications, build new products and adopt innovative technologies.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Sarcos and VideoRay Sign Agreement to Offer Integrated Underwater Robotic Systems

Businesswire | May 05, 2023

Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation , a leader in the design, development and manufacture of advanced robotic systems that redefine human possibilities, and VideoRay, the world’s leading manufacturer of underwater robotic systems, announced today that the companies have signed an agreement to offer integrated underwater robotic systems combining VideoRay remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) with the Sarcos Guardian® Sea Class robotic system including its power-efficient dexterous arms. Under the terms of the agreement, Sarcos and VideoRay will each be able to sell an integrated underwater robotic system, as well as their respective individual products, and provide replacement parts and repair services and support. “This collaboration is significant for the industry as it will enable Sarcos and VideoRay customers to easily purchase a pre-integrated system combining VideoRay’s best-in-class remotely operated vehicles with our advanced one- or two-armed Sea Class system,” said Kiva Allgood, president and CEO, Sarcos. “Through this relationship we aim to make it easy for customers to acquire and deploy complete underwater systems and we look forward to continuing working closely with VideoRay moving forward.” Sarcos Guardian Sea Class robotic system has a modular design that will easily integrate with VideoRay’s lineup of one-person portable ROVs. VideoRay systems deliver exceptional power and maneuverability, enabling operations in currents up to four knots. In August 2022, VideoRay announced that the U.S. Navy had standardized on the use of the VideoRay Defender system and had placed a large order of the remotely operated vehicles, due to its superior capabilities, flexibility and upgradability. The Guardian Sea Class system can be operated with one or two six-degree-of-freedom arms and performs in depths of up to one kilometer (1,000 meters) for up to two hours at a time. It can be teleoperated or operated via supervised autonomy. As the system is electronically driven, the Guardian Sea Class eliminates the added weight, size and expense of hydraulic power unit systems, lowers maintenance costs and reduces the risk of system downtime due to failure. “VideoRay has designed our remotely operated vehicles to perform critical jobs in the harshest environments,” said Chris Gibson, CEO, VideoRay. “Our ROVs are a natural fit with the Guardian Sea Class system and, when combined, we believe that the packaged solution offers the most advanced underwater inspection capability on the market today.” About Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation designs, develops, and manufactures a broad range of advanced mobile robotic systems that redefine human possibilities and are designed to enable the safest most productive workforce in the world. Sarcos robotic systems operate in challenging, unstructured, industrial environments and include teleoperated robotic systems, a powered robotic exoskeleton, and software solutions that enable task autonomy. For more information, please visit www.sarcos.com and connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/sarcos. About VideoRay Delivering its first ROV system in 2000, VideoRay now has annual revenue exceeding $30 million and is the world’s leading manufacturer of underwater robotic systems. VideoRay Mission Specialist Systems have redefined the “inspection class” category. Built to work hard, they are rugged enough to be used around the world in demanding underwater missions to support national security, first responders, object search and recovery, infrastructure examination and science and research. To learn more about VideoRay, visit videoray.com or call +1 610-458-3000.

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MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

Seurat Technologies Partners with Siemens Energy to Manufacture 59 Tons of Metal Parts

Prnewswire | May 03, 2023

Seurat Technologies – the 3D metal printing leader making manufacturing better for people and the planet – announced an agreement to develop 59 tons of additively manufactured metal components for Siemens Energy turbines. Development will ramp up over a six-year-period for parts meeting the material qualification requirements of Siemens Energy. The initial focus will be on one part family, with the possibility of increasing volumes to include others in the future. Manufacturing is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for 31 percent of emissions. With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change continuing to sound the alarm on global warming in its recent report, the manufacturing industry has a significant responsibility to reduce its carbon footprint. The Biden Administration is also calling for the reduction of industrial emissions, recently unveiling a $6 billion effort to decarbonize industrial manufacturing and accelerate new technologies critical to a winning climate strategy. Breakthrough technologies such as Seurat's Area Printing reimagine manufacturing by enabling 3D printing to be competitive to conventional methods in every way (cost, scale, and quality) while leveraging 100 percent renewable green energy. Siemens Energy uses 3D printing to produce a number of components in instances where it provides a more sustainable process and improved economics. "Siemens Energy is always looking for innovative technologies that can transform the future while creating a more sustainable world," said Siemens Energy Head of Venture Building Enrique Gonzales Zanetich. "We're excited about our future printing high-quality parts with fantastic economies of scale to deliver cost savings. We invested in Seurat Technologies and believe that strengthening our partnership could help to accelerate decarbonization in the industry at scale." Siemens Energy has also invested cash in Seurat Technologies through its venture arm, Siemens Energy Ventures. Operating at the intersection of the corporate and startup ecosystems, Siemens Energy Ventures builds, pilots and invests in startups that are developing innovative energy and decarbonization technologies and business models. "Seurat's partnership with Siemens Energy is a major milestone for 3D metal printing and our potential to deliver limitless scalability and cost savings," said Seurat CEO and Co-Founder James DeMuth. "We are proud to be trusted by global leaders who are reimagining manufacturing. Volumes of this order of magnitude significantly move the needle towards greener technologies and unlocking additive manufacturing's full potential." Seurat's Area Printing can competitively displace some types of traditional manufacturing and reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to waste material, freight, transportation, and warehousing. Seurat anticipates mitigating as much as 100 metric tons of CO2 by 2030 and has validated its carbon footprint forecast according to ISO 14064 standards. "The metal additive manufacturing market increased by more than 20 percent in 2022 year-over-year and is valued today at about $3.2 billion," said Dr. Maximilian Munsch, managing partner of strategy consultancy AMPOWER. "The users and suppliers in this market expect success to continue, anticipating similar growth in the coming five years. An important driver is the energy sector. For several years now, the energy industry has efficiently utilized metal 3D printing for the production of turbine components, reaching a high level of maturity. Metal 3D printing has become a crucial enabler technology for innovation to significantly reduce the CO2 footprint throughout the turbine's lifetime. We expect the demand for such components to grow by 26 percent annually." "Seurat is a part of an emerging wave of Massachusetts additive manufacturers that are utilizing revolutionary processes, materials, and a world-class workforce to dramatically impact global industries, as shown by this new partnership," said Christine Nolan, director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing at MassTech, an economic development agency for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. "Companies like Seurat are what makes Massachusetts the top innovation economy and a global leader in advanced manufacturing." Last fall, Seurat announced that its pilot factory is fully subscribed and is planning on opening a full-scale production factory to accommodate customer demand. Seurat has raised $91.5 million from investors such as Capricorn's Technology Impact Fund, True Ventures, and Porsche Automobil Holding SE, and has more than 209 patents granted and pending. To better understand Seurat's Area Printing process, please see here. About Seurat Technologies Seurat Technologies is transforming manufacturing for people and our planet. The underlying technology for Seurat was created to solve a manufacturing problem in building an actual fusion power plant based on the architecture at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Area Printing by Seurat is the next generation of 3D metal printing designed for high-volume, decarbonized industrial production. By decoupling resolution and speed, Seurat is creating a scalable process that can compete with traditional manufacturing in every way. Seurat's pioneering approach was originally developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Learn more at www.seurat.com.

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