One to Watch - Melotte NV

Every now and again a new company comes to the fore, either by creation, or through good marketing or sometimes just because the world catches up with what they are offering. It might be that Melotte NV are one of the latter.

Established in 2004 Melotte are a Belgian engineering company focused on state of the art technologies, more recently they have been making some considerable noise in the Rapid Manufacturing arena, specifically in metals. Their blog "The World of Layered Manufacturing" gives you flavour of what they can do with the array of technologies at their disposal.

I'm often struck by the disruptive nature of RM and how it completely changes the way people go about their daily tasks, we all know that designing for RM has a complete set of new rules, but imagine the change in thinking for a surgeon if within 36 hours of having a CT scan the patient in question can be the recipient of bespoke, ready to use, titanium heart valves. Sounds good doesn't it? Well Melotte have done this and plenty more besides with their Selective Laser Melting, Direct Metal Deposition and Electron Beam Melting technologies.

Melotte have a an interesting take on things. Yes they expound the business case for RM, reducing time-to-market, reducing cost and improving efficiency but they also take this to a natural conclusion, and one that is gaining more and more momentum in this sector as we move forward. The conclusion is that RM is also good for the environment with less material use, less energy used and less waste.

Mario Fleurinck, General Manager, pictured above, is a true believer, and if you attend one of the multitude of RP&M events around the world this year you will get the opportunity to hear him explain the Melotte philosophy and why adopting these technologies is so important for the global community.