CHESHIRE, UK - LPW Technology, a developer and supplier of optimized metal powders for additive manufacturing, has formally established a U.S. subsidiary, LPW Technology Inc. Opening in June 2014, the LPW Technology Inc. office will be situated in Pittsburgh and will provide local support and sales to a growing number of customers in the United States. Full contact details can be found on the LPW Technology website.

Announcing the news, Phil Carroll, Managing Director of LPW Technology, said, “Our global client base continues to show encouraging growth, and the time feels right for this significant expansion into the U.S. The LPW Technology Inc. office will be headed by John Hunter, an expert in additive manufacturing with considerable knowledge of powder manufacture. Working alongside John will be Donna Williamson, Customer Service Manager, who also has many years of experience with metal powders. The U.S. team will work closely with engineers and researchers at our headquarters in the UK, and I’m confident that this will allow us to provide the very highest levels of service to customers working at the forefront of AM [additive manufacturing] in the U.S.”

As the potential benefits of additive manufacturing become increasingly well recognized, its use is spreading worldwide, with the United States, alongside Europe, leading the way in shaping the technique to meet new and exacting applications. LPW Technology Inc. will develop and provide optimized powders specifically for selective laser melting (SLM), laser metal deposition (LMD) and electron beam melting (EBM), with standard powders supplied from stock and custom, and development alloys on request. Certified products are available for aerospace. In 2014, LPW will add certification for biomedical applications to its existing quality control standards.

Duplicating the successful setup in the UK, the new office will ultimately have a well-equipped laboratory with instrumentation for chemical, physical and bulk powder property testing. This facility will enable the U.S. team to apply a wide range of analytical techniques to robustly assess the suitability of metal powders for new additive manufacturing applications, and to determine the feasibility of recycling used powders. Such test data support the use of PowderSolve, the company’s software solution for metal powder lifecycle management, helping to ensure economic manufacture and the long-term sustainability of the industry.