Nanci Hardwick, MELD Manufacturing CEO. (Image: MELD)

When we last heard from MELD Manufacturing, the large-scale 3D printer supplier was taking first place in the Robotics/Automation/Manufacturing category at the 2018 Create the Future (CTF) contest  .

Then a startup with “one machine customer, maybe, at the time,” according to MELD Founder and CEO Nanci Hardwick, the company has grown and now boasts “customers around the world in many different industries.”

The company launched shortly before that fateful 2018 CTF contest when it was ready to sell printers and share its self-developed technology. However, the process began much earlier.

“We invented the MELD technology, or the AFSD technology, so that was much longer in the making,” Hardwick explained. “First, we had to invent a new process, then we had to invent equipment to perform the process, and then we had to create a company to sell that equipment.”

And, since 2018, MELD has spun another company out based on the success of the technology, MELD PrintWorks Corporation. It was established as a spinoff to use MELD printers to make parts for industry.

Plus, this year, MELD launched a product line of printers that are, according to Hardwick, “uniquely capable of printing Aluminum 7075 and achieving forging equivalent properties even through the layers after heat treatment. The demand from aerospace for this material is strong and we are excited about this capability.”

Traditional methods for additive manufacturing of metal parts require the metal to be melted, which introduces weakness and other issues. MELD technology is a solid-state process that puts the material in a malleable state without melting. MELD can produce high-quality materials and parts with low residual stresses and full density, with significantly lower energy requirements than conventional processes.

“The catalyst really was a desire to contribute to and disrupt the manufacturing industry and offer a way to make big parts in a brand-new way.”

What sets MELD apart from its competitors is that it prints on a whole different scale for most technologies. For example, making parts measured in meters rather than millimeters is a huge benefit. Plus, the materials printed is another differentiator.

Aluminum 7075 is used widely in aerospace but is essentially unprintable. Only the MELD process — “to the best of my knowledge,” Hardwick said — is able to make parts with this alloy. So, some unique attributes of the MELD process enable printing materials that otherwise are unprintable.

The technology, equipment, and adoption of MELD technology all have advanced significantly in the years since, according to Hardwick. The progress has made the entire team incredibly proud.

“I don't think I understood how powerful being able to print large parts in even a single alloy like aluminum 7075 would be for the aerospace and space industry. That has been the source of an incredible amount of demand,” said Hardwick.

The MELD effect doesn’t stop there, though — the company isn’t slowing down anytime soon. More great news is on the horizon: The company plans to further its efforts and make an even bigger mark on the industry.

“In the years since we won the CTF award, we've been working on scaling up equipment to match demand for the part sizes being desired,” Hardwick said. “And, we just launched our largest MELD machine that is a commercial, off-the-shelf product: the 3PO. It's the first to have both additive and subtractive capability on the platform. We recently delivered our first robotic arm application and are launching a mini-MELD capability for robotic arms.

“So, now it's about taking advantage of the capabilities of the process and right sizing the equipment for customer needs,” added Hardwick.

For more information, visit here  , and submit  your entry for the 2025 Create the Future Design Contest.

Topics:
3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing Consumer Product Manufacturing Manufacturing & Prototyping

More From SAE Media Group

    Magazine cover
    Tech Briefs Magazine

    This article first appeared in the June, 2025 issue of Tech Briefs Magazine (Vol. 49 No. 6).

    Read more articles from this issue here.

    Read more articles from the archives here.