Hexagon recognises manufacturing's best start-ups

Hexagon's Manufacturing Intelligence division announced the winners of its first cohort of start-ups selected to help the manufacturing industry operate more sustainably and efficiently.

One of the winners is SmartParts, a company that has created an embedded digital barcode for 3D printing. It has developed a solution utilising data-rich particles that can be embedded into the materials of 3D printed parts, which when scanned reveal the material and part full specifications and history.

The solution will enable industries with specific technical requirements, like aerospace and defence, and those with strong ESG commitments, such as governments, to have greater control over their supply chain and processes and encourage responsible business decision making. With modern supply chains under intense pressure, there is increasing need to monitor and verify the authenticity of products. For example, 520,000 counterfeit aerospace parts are installed in planes every year, and 8% of all medical devices on the market are estimated to be fake.

SmartParts aims to combat this by directly connecting physical assets with digital records to ensure end-to-end traceability and trust in 3D printing. The small US-based team has direct experience with manufacturing in high requirement industries, having served as New York City's main contractor for 3D printed swabs during the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020.