Germany-based Solukon Maschinenbau, a supplier of powder removal and processing systems for metal and polymer additive manufacturing (AM), has appointed Hampshire-based Turbex as its distributor in the UK and Ireland.

Turbex has been delivering cleaning equipment for hundreds of UK businesses for nearly 40 years and provides third party products to meet the needs of its customers in a range of industry sectors, including aerospace, automotive, medical and energy.

As the demand for automated and secure de-powdering of metal laser-melted parts continues to grow, Turbex will now distribute Solukon de-powdering systems and promote the Solukon Smart Powder Recuperation technology.

Michael Sattler, global sales director responsible for the distributor network at Solukon, said: “Solukon is the pioneer of de-powdering of metal laser powder bed fusion parts – which means removal of trapped powder and reclaiming it without contamination in a repeatable, certifiable way. It therefore seems logical to cooperate with a cleaning expert for one of our key markets, one that is familiar with the business landscape in the region.”

He added: “Together with Turbex we will strengthen our market position as technical leader in automated industrial powder removal.”

John Huntingdon, Turbex managing director, said: “Solukon has undergone impressive development in recent years. Together we will raise post-processing to a new level in our customer landscape.”