On January 15, 2019, Canada-based Tekna recently announced that it has invested 5 million euros in France to produce spherical powders for additive manufacturing, and delivered its first batch of spherical powders to its customers in November 2018.
The new plant can accommodate a variety of dedicated plasma atomizers and can manufacture a variety of strategic materials and alloys. Tekna's Macon plant can produce 400 to 500 tons of additive manufacturing powders annually, increasing the company's annual global production capacity to more than 1,000 tons.
Tekna Plasma Europe SAS Vice President Rémy Pontone said, "With the rapid growth of our activities, this significant investment allows us to support our customers more closely, while protecting the supply chain and expanding production, as well as controlling costs and logistics risks. "
In addition to the launch of 3D printed powder production, the new plant also has a European customer service center and a laboratory dedicated to quality assurance and new powder development.
Tekna was founded in 1990 as a subsidiary of Arendals Fossekompani ASA (AFK) and is headquartered in Sherbrooke, Canada. The company develops and produces high-purity metal powders for applications such as 3D printing and microelectronics, as well as optimized induction plasma systems for industrial research and production. TEKNA has manufacturing centers in Canada and France, and sales and distribution offices in China, India and South Korea.