Sep 7, 2016 | By Tess
French consulting and R&D firm Altran has just announced a new investment partnership with innovative auto manufacturer Divergent. Divergent, for those unfamiliar, is the Los Angeles-based company responsible for developing the groundbreaking and environmentally conscious “Blade” 3D printed supercar, which was built using the company’s own proprietary Divergent Manufacturing Platform. Seeing the disruptive potential in Divergent's auto manufacturing system, Altran has decided to make a strategic minority equity investment in the company.
According to a press release about the partnership, Altran and Divergent will go-to-market jointly across the United States, Europe, and China in an effort to introduce and deploy Divergent’s disruptive car manufacturing technologies. In fact, Divergent has already been recognized for its potentially revolutionary Divergent Manufacturing Platform, which allows for cars to be designed and manufactured more efficiently and more ecologically than ever before. Specifically, market research firm Frost & Sullivan recently named Divergent as the winner of the 2016 North American Technology Innovation Award.
The Divergent Manufacturing Platform itself comprises of both software and hardware, and capitalizes on 3D printing technologies to make materially efficient and high quality parts. The 2015 “Blade” 3D printed supercar showcased the company’s innovative method for creating more a more lightweight and efficient car chassis, which was made using direct metal laser sintering and resulted in a lower emissions car.
Blade 3D printed supercar
Dominique Cerutti, Chairman and CEO of the Altran Group said of the recent partnership: “I am very happy to announce this partnership with Divergent, which is the ideal partner for Altran to be at the forefront of technological innovation. This alliance is fully aligned with our ‘Complete Vehicle’ strategy, completing the Group’s know-how in prototyping, special engineering and development, as presented in our Atran 2020. Ignition strategic plan. By teaming up with Divergent, we take a step to further develop our presence in the United States, especially on the West Coast, which is a priority market for Altran.”
Ultimately, Divergent and Altran hope to introduce the company’s innovative 3D printing system to auto-manufacturers around the world in an effort to make the entire industry more materially and cost efficient as well as more environmentally sustainable. In order to achieve this, Divergent aims to work with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to implement and license the Divergent Manufacturing Platform, and plans to facilitate the creation of smaller scale manufacturing facilities, which will allow smaller teams to both design and built customized vehicles for local markets. By offering its services as Global Development Partner for Divergent, Altran will help them to get there.
As Kevin Czinger, Founder and CEO of Divergent explains, “Altran is a powerful strategic partner for us, enabling Divergent to accelerate the introduction of its technology into the global auto and aerospace markets.”
Posted in 3D Printer Company
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In future, the 3D printing market can transform the industry by re-imagining the entire supply chain. From a model where companies spend money on outsourcing labor and then paying for transportation via cargos, industry could move to a model where digital designs are sent to 3D printing farms.
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