Additive manufacturing pioneer:  Kenny Johansson, Acron AB

Acron AB was one of the first companies in Sweden to invest in additive manufacturing. Chief executive, Kenny Johansson has been incorporating 3D printing technologies into his tooling and injection moulding business since 1997.  Today, polymer-based additive manufacturing accounts for around 80 percent of the company’s total production. 

Recently though, demand for 3D-printed prototypes and products in metal has dramatically increased. That pace of growth helped lead Acron to invest in its first metal additive manufacturing machine – a GE Additive Concept Laser M2 cusing Multilaser machine.

“We pride ourselves of being ahead of the curve and being a technology pioneer.  Over the past two years, we’ve seen a clear shift with 3D printing no longer being used for prototyping; with many of our customers now looking at metal additive manufacturing for mass production. And we firmly believe that the Swedish market is ready for this. It's a really exciting development – so, we’re happy to now have DMLM technology in-house and reduce the reliance on external service partners,” said Kenny. 

Installed in late March, the machine is already up and running and printing parts. Word of the new machine has spread fast with the first orders placed while the Acron team was being trained on the new technology.