Additive Manufacturing in Action – Relieve PPE Shortage amid COVID-19 Response

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an alarming level of global spread and severity of illness. Industrial supply chain is inevitably broken which leads to incapacity to cater pressing demand of medical gears including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Medical staffs are exposed to greater risk of infection while treating infected patients. Hence, PPE is one of the most important protective layers for the front-liners in a crisis like this. Many hospitals have already run out of face masks, face shields, N95 masks and other PPE including surgical gown, surgical cap and boots cover.

With COVID-19 emergency, 3D printing technology has become the stopgap measure and provides the opportunity to efficiently produce affordable gears, which are now crucial to protect medical staffs. While injection moulding can produce high volume, 3D printing is at advantage amid this time with its capability to cater frequent design change in the visor, quick turnaround time and more importantly, it allows all the makers to print at home when the factories are disrupted and at the same time, social distancing is strictly adhered. The strength of 3D printing is it can be anywhere, adapt on the fly in addressing shortages of parts related to shields, masks and ventilators among other essential gears.

IME is working with a taskforce to produce PPE gears and medical equipment for hospitals, medical centers and clinics. Our aim is to produce as many face shields with secured design in the shortest time, and also possibly for faster gowning and de-gowning.

If you have a 3D printer, join us in producing protective face shields.

Protective Face Shield

1. Visor
2. Clear A4 plastic sheet/ PVC sheet
3. Elastic band

Step-by-step Guide in Producing a Protective Face Shield.

1. Download .stl file, g code (if you’re using 3D Espresso) and printer settings
   https://bit.ly/ime-covid19-visor
2. Load the visor STL into the CURA slicer.
   
3. With a standard 0.4mm nozzle, we can set the layer height up to 0.28mm. Wall line count will ensure the visor is strong enough.
   
4. Top and Bottom layers set to 3 to reduce the print time while maintaining sufficient strength.
   After several tests, 0% infill density is sufficient and strong enough which helps accelerate the print time. Use skirt with 2 line count instead of brim to print faster.
   
5. Slice and save the file. Do a quick preview to ensure the model is good to print.
   
6. Do a manual bed leveling before start the print. Good practice with preheat the nozzle and heated bed before bed leveling. Adjust the leveling knob on all corners of the heated bed.
7. After reaching target temperature, select desired visor file to print that was saved earlier. Always supervise the first layer of the print before leaving it alone.
   
8. If the first layer did not turn out in a good shape, you can always play with the ‘Babystepping’ Z value. If the first layer is far from bed, make the value to negative; if too near to bed, make the value higher. If the first layer is way too off which indicate a bad bed leveling. Hence, you need to pause or stop the print the redo the bed leveling process.
   
9. Harvest the completed visor with the help of scrapper.
10. Clean the build plate with IPA.
    
11. Remove sharp edges, stringing and excess material using a cutter.
    
12. Slip the PVC sheet into the gap of the visor frame.
    
13. Staple at the two corners and centre of the PVC sheet to secure it. (Make sure the sheet does not fall)
    
14. Tie two rubber bands and insert them to the hook of the frame.
    
15. A protective face shield is ready to protect the front-liners.
    

This is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that is impacting every sector, so every sector and every individual has to be involved in this fight.

We can win this fight when we work together and do our part. The medical staffs and armed forces are saving lives and keeping order, and we will stay at home. The virus chain shall be broken in no time.

#weareinthistogether #wewillgetthroughthis

Contacts

Fill in the form if you want to help printing the visor – https://bit.ly/ime-covid19taskforce  

Get in contact with us if have printing enquiries
Malone Mah
+60 16-626 8869
support@rapidmodel.com.my
IME Group of Companies

End of a Decade, Start of an Age – #Hello2020!

2019 had come to an end and we are so excited to welcome yet another new but promising year – 2020! The numbers itself are already looking good and we hope it brings one or 20 more luck to us! The year 2020 is such a hopeful year for us because we have so many things in store to be revealed to you. But before we do that, let’s take a quick walk down the memory lane to our favourite moments of 2019 that we want to cherish and engrave in our hearts as we take a step further to create a few more.

Thank you for the Awards!

Sin Chew Education Awards – Professional Training Centre

We were extremely honored to receive an award from Sin Chew Education Awards for Professional Training Centre. Being a strong believer of lifelong learning, it means a lot to us to have won this award. We want to dedicate this award to you, our customers who always have the confidence in us and participated in different trainings and workshop we had conducted throughout the year. We also valued your feedbacks as they had provided us rooms for improvement and kept us striving for excellence relentlessly.

SOLIDWORKS Top Reseller – Highest Customer Satisfaction AP South 2018

It had been a great kick off that we’ve gotten our first award from Sin Chew Education Awards, but this one totally got us hyped up for the rest of the year. We are proud to announce that we have been honoured as SOLIDWORKS Top Seller with Highest Customer Satisfaction in AP South for the year 2018.

Each year, SOLIDWORKS hosts a conference called SOLIDWORKS World which brings in international audience of industry professionals – from users to experts in the CAD community. As much as this conference gives us the chance to connect with people who share the same passion as us, we are so thankful to be recognised as the leading provider of SOLIDWORKS products on such world stage. This is another achievement that we have attained, not without your support. Thank you and we will continue to serve in line with our belief “Respect, Listen and Care”.

 

Sin Chew Business Excellent Awards – Digital and Technology Business Excellence Award

Words can’t quite describe our heartfelt gratitude for our customers for being part of our journey leading to our third Sin Chew Business Excellence Award under Digital and Technology category, in recognition of our achievements in helping businesses in the nation to innovate, digitally transform and implement #sustainability practices with emerging technologies, especially corresponding to digital transformation.

Mawea Industries Appointed as Digital Transformation Lab (DTL)

We were happy to announce that this year one of our subsidiary companies – Mawea Industries Sdn. Bhd. – has been officially appointed as Digital Transformation Lab (DTL) in collaboration with Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) in structuring Digital Transformation Acceleration Program (DTAP) alongside with other global experts, aiming to assist home-grown companies in their journey of digital transformation to maximise productivity, remain sustainable and competitive in the global market.

We are expected to lend our expertise to companies and help their businesses to take on the road to digital transformation. Read more HERE.

IME Launches the First and Only Office-friendly Metal 3D Printing System in Malaysia

Honoured by the presence of YB Dr. Ong Kian Ming, Deputy Minister of Ministry Of International Trade And Industry (MITI), IME launched Desktop Metal Studio System, the first and only office-friendly metal 3D printing system at METALTECH 2019 that took place at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC). The ceremony was officiated together by Chairman and Founder of IME Group of Companies, Mr. Teoh Tuan Ka and Regional Director (Asia Pacific) of Desktop Metal, Mr. CK Kan.

This was such an historic moment that we’d like to record it down everywhere possible and it will go down as one of the best moments of IME in its own history!

Read more HERE.

MoU signing with VTAR Institute

To mark our support in the education sector, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been signed between IME and VTAR Institute. The collaboration is made to train more talents in their proficiency in 3D design and 3D printing, which also serves as students’ readiness in the Industry 4.0 environments.

“We’re committed in helping VTAR to equip the lab with SOLIDWORKS licenses and 3D printers. We believe these initiatives will further enhance the learning facilities that motivate VTAR students in their learning and exposure in Industry 4.0,” said Madam Julia Wee, the CEO of IME Group of Companies.

We expect the success of this collaboration as well as to bring in more industrial talents of the youth into Industry 4.0 era. The world is ready, and so should they!

First Design Competition across Malaysia

IME hosted SOLIDWORKS Skills Competition for university students across Malaysia for the first time ever!

We toured across Malaysia to make it happen and we are glad that a lot of students took part in this competition and make it merrier that we imagined. Always great to work with academia and uncover talents among young and passionate students!

We hope all the students had a great time with us during the competition. Whether you win or not, it’s the experience that you will remember better. See you next time!

Digital Transformation Journey

IME is pleased to be part of this journey in driving #digitaltransformation. Some of the events that we attended:

• FMM ICT Conference 2019
• FMM Industry 4.0 Conference 2019
• MITI Industry4WRD Summit
• Industrial Transformation ASIA-PACIFIC 2019
• Penang Manufacturing Excellence Conference & Exhibition (PMECX 2019)

We are honoured to be able to attend these events where the mainstream topics are being discussed with each other, and we were included in the discussion. We hope to participate in more events like this in the future so to open more opportunity for us to explore further into the Industry 4.0 world.

Largest Crowd of Engineering Get-Together Event – IMESWID2020

Last but not least, the moment that will mark the end of this list – IMESWID2020, one of the biggest annual in-house events. The month-long road show was a great experience for us indeed to have met with our friends from all over Malaysia. Corresponding to the key message from our chairman, Mr. Teoh: Synergy – better together, this year touring to 5 multiple states including Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Melaka and Sarawak, IME SOLIDWORKS Innovation Day (#IMESWID) has the largest crowd ever with more than 1500 attendees. IMESWID2020 aims to explore innovation and technological creativity with the participants and embark on the digital transformation journey together.  It was a huge success, and we owe it to all partners, customers, and IMEzens for this huge success of the event.

It was a great time spent together with everyone and we hope to see you again next year!

And… it’s a wrap!

2019 has been so wonderful for us and we hope it has, too, for you. When most people get a little unproductive at this time of the year, we treat year-ends as a change of pace where we slow down in a good way but also go about crazy speed to finally wrap things up.

Year 2019 was great, exciting, and everything that drove us to the edge of our seats, and we plan to double those feelings with everyone in 2020. That means, we want to see, connect and achieve more greatness with ourselves and also with our customers.

Ending the year 2019 with such note, we gracefully welcome 2020 and enter a new decade with new goals, of course. We are so excited to reveal what we have in store for the year, and one of them should be our IME 40^th Anniversary Celebration!

IME, unbelievably, has been around for the 40^th year and that is one massive achievement for us. The years we’ve gone through so far were obviously not an easy path, but it was the blood, sweat and tears of everyone who worked hard to bring us here, therefore we see it as a path of togetherness. While we constantly stand by RESPECT, LISTEN and CARE in achieving goals, it always brings us together, and the relationship we have with each other right now is like none other, and we feel more thankful because of that.

Before we put a period on this blog and this year, we would like to express our enormous gratitude to everyone – our colleagues, our partners, our customers – for the continuous support throughout the year. We really, really, really would not make it out there without all of you! The New Year ahead of us holds so much hopes and promises, and we would like to unveil it together with you again. This year shall end happily as we bless each other on the coming one.

Peace out for now and Happy New Year!

[PRESS RELEASE] IME Launches the First and Only Office-friendly Metal 3D Printing System in Malaysia.

IME Group of Companies launched Desktop Metal Studio System, the first and only office-friendly metal 3D printing system at METALTECH 2019 that took place at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC). The ceremony was ­­honoured by the presence of YB Dr. Ong Kian Ming, Deputy Minister of Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Mr. Teoh Tuan Ka , Chairman and Founder of IME Group of Companies, and Mr. CK Kan, Regional Director (Asia Pacific) of Desktop Metal.

The Studio System is safe and simple to use and is designed to make metal 3D printing more accessible, enabling design and engineering teams to make metal parts faster, without the need for special facilities, dedicated operators, or expensive tooling.

Manufacturers who have adopted 3D printing technology have reported cost reduction of as much as 90% compared to machining and selective laser melting (SLM) and speed up production significantly, from months or weeks to mere days.

Metal 3D Printing is one of the new technologies showcased by IME this year, alongside with other technology pillars in the National Policy on Industry 4.0, such as local-developed Data Analytic solution, Virtual Simulation, Virtual Reality, and various Design to Manufacturing Solutions.

A combination of the different technology drivers in the National Policy on Industry 4.0 established by Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) will transform the manufacturing landscape, the way of working, and disrupt existing business models.  It will lead to greater efficiencies and change traditional production relationships among suppliers, producers, and customers—as well as between human and machine.

In May this year, Mawea Industries (A member of IME Group of Companies) has been officially appointed as Digital Transformation Lab (DTL) in collaboration with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) for its Digital Transformation Acceleration Programme (DTAP), initiated with the support of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). In this cooperation, Mawea Industries will be lending its expertise and assistance to Malaysian companies in adopting and leveraging on digital technologies for increased productivity and optimised operation towards sustainability.

“Support from the government is crucial in the Industry 4.0 journey. We are glad to see many initiatives from the government in recent years spearheading the way. We are proud to be part of the journey, being a local company developing our own solutions to aid the growth of the industry” says Mr. TK Teoh, Chairman and Founder of IME Group of Companies.

IME Group of Companies with its expertise and comprehensive approach towards Industry 4.0 along with the right tools provides companies with the support they need to master the challenges of implementation.

ABOUT IME GROUP OF COMPANIES

IME (Group of companies) is a local business established since 1980, that aspires to play a role in the growth of the local industry, by providing a platform for the industry and educational sector to collaborate, share, and close the knowledge and skill gap. Founded as a CNC service and repair centre, IME has now grown into the leading product design and manufacturing solution provider in Malaysia, with a vast clientele from local and multi-national corporations, government sectors and academia; IME has established strong presence locally and expanded business coverage to ASEAN.

Apart from being recently appointed as the DTL by MDEC, IME is also The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Industry 4.0 Committee Member, and The Fourth Industrial Revolution Committee Member for National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM).

Mawea Industries Appointed as Digital Transformation Lab (DTL)

In view of the global trend in the industry towards digital transformation, the Government with the support of local industries have been energising the scene with powerful initiatives to accelerate nation’s digital transformation.  Some of the prominent efforts include The National Policy on Industry 4.0, also known as Industry4WRD, launched by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad in 2018 and Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA)’s Domestic Investment Strategic Fund (DISF) in facilitating the shift of large and mid-tier companies.

IME is driving the thrust of digital transformation through its subsidiary, Mawea Industries’s active collaboration with manufacturers and companies in the area of Industry 4.0 across verticals.

Mawea Industries has been officially appointed as Digital Transformation Lab (DTL) in collaboration with Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) in structuring Digital Transformation Acceleration Programme (DTAP) alongside with other global experts, aiming to assist home-grown companies in their journey of digital transformation to maximise productivity, remain sustainable and competitive in the global market.

DTAP is a result-driven programme that aims to enhance the competitiveness of local companies and remain sustainable in the coming years of digital disruption by increasing their productivity gain, reducing labour dependency and design new business model.

The programme is equipped with Industry 4.0 experts as the Digital Transformation Labs (DTL) for companies to leverage on their expertise in addressing pain points, developing opportunities and employing proof of concepts through the adoption of digital technologies. Undergoing the assessment with DTL is a critical pilot process as it sets out the digital adoption journey. Businesses can apply for a full scale implementation between a designated timeframe after completing the pilot phase.

Future proof your business and start your digital transformation journey now.