EOS is preparing to introduce a new polymer 3D printing platform at Formnext 2026, and early customer trials are beginning to surface. Materialise, an additive manufacturing service provider, evaluated the soon-to-launch system under real production conditions and reported 44% higher productivity than the previous EOS platform, along with a reduction of more than six minutes in build time per part.
As part of the evaluation, Materialise used the machine to produce a cable twist wheel for GKN Aerospace. According to the company, the system successfully printed the part. The trial also assessed reliability, the impact of new features, productivity and efficiency, usability and control, and the ease of post-processing.
Three lasers and dynamic load balancing
EOS has not yet released all technical details, but the platform has a three-laser architecture, intelligent utilization and dynamic load balancing. The platform's dynamic load balancing is described as maximizing output per build by equally balancing the exposure workload, while greater laser capacity contributes to higher productivity.
Giovanni Vleminckx, process engineering manager at Materialise, said the three lasers make a visible difference in performance. Their intelligent utilization helps the service provider achieve considerably higher throughput while maintaining the part quality its customers expect, according to his statement.
The system also offers extended process controls. Users can work with validated parameter sets or open them up for greater control and alignment with specific applications and key performance indicators. Vleminckx said what stood out was not one isolated feature but the overall performance of the system, which he said combines the productivity needed with the process stability and control required to bring demanding applications into production.
Measured result on a GKN Aerospace part
When printing the cable twist wheel, Materialise recorded productivity gains of 44% compared with the previous machine. Build time per part fell from 19:53 to 13:51 minutes.
The evaluation also pointed to downstream benefits. An advanced roller recoater creates softer powder cakes, which makes it easier to depowder parts and reduces handling effort. Vleminckx described the soft powder cake as a very tangible improvement for operators, adding that parts are easier to unpack and depowder, making the overall workflow noticeably more efficient.
For a manufacturing service such as Materialise, which has high-throughput requirements and needs to adapt to different production applications, the improvements from the three-laser architecture, new roller recoater and open process controls are significant. EOS plans to provide full details on November 17 and will show the platform at Formnext 2026 at its booth in hall 12, booth D71.