SLM Solutions Group, the German manufacturer of 3D printers for additive manufacturing in metal, has announced the appointment of Meddah Hadjar as its new CEO.
Hadjar comes to the company with a wealth of international experience in product management, additive manufacturing and engineering, having spent more than 20 years in key leadership roles at US-company General Electric, with experience in the business units of GE Aviation, GE Oil & Gas, GE Power and GE Energy Management. SLM Solutions’ Supervisory Board strongly believes that Hadjar is ideally suited to lead the company as CEO, due to his breadth and depth of experience.
With qualifications in the aerospace industry, Hadjar is keen to build on his experience in GE Aviation promoting the uptake of SLM Solutions systems in this sector. His background enables him to identify the limitations of traditional manufacturing in aerospace and aviation and the opportunities 3D metal printing presents.
In a recent interview with 3D Printing Media Network, Hadjar discussed how the aerospace and aviation industries have been early adopters of the technology. Hadjar sees the role of SLM Solutions as building on the opportunities and advantages of additive manufacturing to this sector; the company’s systems can both provide series production for volume runs for commercial aviation, and build specialised parts for more limited applications required by the defence sector.
Recently Rolls-Royce purchased an SLM 500 quad-laser machine, which will provide improved product quality than was achieved with its current single laser system, as well as increased build rates.w The SLM 500 is the flagship metal 3D printer for high-volume processes and will be used by Rolls-Royce to explore applications in the aerospace sector.
With installations worldwide SLM Solutions is meeting needs in a range of industries such as automotive, medical, dental and aerospace. Its products include the SLM 125, the SLM 280 production series, the SLM 280 2.0, the SLM 500 and the SLM 800.