Titomic gets into glass with sale to Austria’s Vetropack

Additive manufacturing business Titomic has entered the glass packaging market with the sale of a machine for mould coatings to the International Partners in Glass Research (IPGR) network.

The machine was developed by Titomic Europe in collaboration with IPGR, a member group representing more than 12 per cent of global container glass production capacity. 

Titomic told the ASX on Thursday that the new machine had completed Factory Acceptance Testing and would be shipped and installed at Vetropack in Austria. The Australian company cited potential for further sales throughout IPGR, with revenue of approximately $1.7 million over three years achieved for each machine sold.

“The industry needs this type of mould enhancement to prolong life of production lines and mould machinery,” said Managing Director Herbert Koeck in a statement. 

“As such, we will be providing machine sales – the first of which we’re about to ship to Vetropack – as well as ongoing consumables and servicing enabled by our expanded global footprint.

“Titomic Europe, together with its collaborators, have made a significant step forward in the development of automated systems, improving conditions for operators as well as adding to the bottom line of our customers.”

The machine scans moulds, and, through its software, designs a set of actions to coat and repair it.

Titomic said it expected to offer features for automated loading, unloading and polishing of moulds in future versions.

Titomic is pursuing various industrial applications — ranging from hypersonic vehicles to combat equipment for soldiers — based on its cold spray additive manufacturing method, which uses gas to blast metal powders onto a substrate at supersonic speed so they fuse together without melting. It calls its process Titomic Kinetic Fusion, or TKF.

The company expended into Europe last year through the acquisition of Netherlands cold spray technology company Dycomet Europe BV.

Picture: IPGR

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