APES unveils innovative modular manufacturing system using magnetically levitated build platforms to enable high-throughput production.
APES launched Matrix6D, a modular, reconfigurable additive manufacturing platform, at RAPID + TCT 2025. The new system aims to overcome the industry’s persistent challenge of scaling production beyond prototyping.
Matrix6D breaks away from traditional fixed-bed printer designs, instead utilizing a “swarm-based” architecture with mobile, magnetically levitated build platforms. These units navigate autonomously across a configurable grid of multifunctional tool stations, controlled by proprietary software to enable high-throughput and customizable additive workflows.
“Every customer we’ve worked with asks the same question: how do we scale 3D printing beyond prototyping? Matrix6D is our answer,” said Rich Neill, CEO of APES. “It’s a clean-sheet reimagining of the additive factory, adaptive, software-defined, and built for mass customization and true production volume.”
The platform features a grid-configurable tool-cell system where each station functions as a mini-manufacturing unit. Users can equip these cells with various deposition technologies, including aerosol jet, inkjet, direct-write, extrusion, and precision dispensing, alongside non-additive processes such as UV curing, laser sintering, robotic pick-and-place, and vision-based inspection.
Matrix6D can be scaled from small 1×2 bench demonstrators to full-scale 5×7 grid arrays and beyond. This scalability supports manufacturers in running multiple jobs simultaneously, particularly beneficial for industries like semiconductors, wearable electronics, aerospace sensors, and high-performance optics.
At RAPID + TCT 2025, APES demonstrated a 1×2 Matrix6D unit with live material extrusion, robotic transfer between stages, and magnetic build platform movement. Attendees also viewed a digital twin of a 5×7 configuration, showcasing the platform’s orchestration software and real-time production visualization.
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The launch comes as the additive electronics field continues to develop. Last year, APES partnered with Integrated Deposition Solutions to accelerate 3D printed electronics applications using NanoJet technology. Other companies like Optomec, InnovationLab, Scrona, and Nano Dimension have also made recent advances in the electronic additive manufacturing space.
