Key metrics for making AM post-processing measurable

October 14, 2025 Software 262

To consider when evaluating the suitability and market potential of post-processing solutions

When it comes to the additive manufacturing workflow, it can be difficult for end users to really, quantifiably understand the impact that a solution will have on their production. This is particularly true for AM post-processing solutions, which are often being considered for adoption in order to facilitate scaling and minimize manual labor, long lead times and the bottlenecks they cause. Perhaps no one understands this better than Solukon, a German specialist in depowdering solutions, which has deep knowledge of what AM users are looking for and how existing post-processing solutions—including its own—can meet those expectations.

Today, Solukon offers a comprehensive portfolio of products for depowdering, including hardware for both metal and polymer powder-based AM, and advanced digital tools that enable fully automated depowdering. Of particular note is the company’s SPR Pathfinder software tool, which generates custom depowdering motion sequences based on the part’s geometry. This tool is important not only for efficiently removing powder from complex geometries, but also for ensuring that printed parts are designed so they can be fully depowdered.

In this article, we’ll be highlighting the key metrics associated with cost, performance and sustainability that make post-processing more measurable so that end users can better understand the suitability and market potential of post-processing solutions like Solukon’s depowdering solutions.

Key cost metrics
According to Solukon, time and labor are the most important metrics to consider when calculating post-processing costs. As the company explains, it can take many days to properly remove powder from a printed part using manual methods like brushing, blowing and shaking. Opting for an automated depowdering solution can minimize this time considerably (from days to hours), while also freeing up operators to perform higher value tasks.

Similarly, part throughput is also a related metric. “Imagine producing parts on a million-dollar printing system, only to have them sit in line for post-processing,” Marina Haugg, Head of Marketing & PR says. Integrating an automated post-processing solution can enhance production efficiency substantially by accelerating post-processing times. Moreover, Solukon’s SPR Pathfinder software can calculate the optimal depowdering path for an entire build plate, not just a single part, which also boosts throughput.

Another cost metric that plays an important role is powder refresh rate. In other words, how much recovered powder from a build can be reused. Solukon’s solution, while cleaning parts, collects loose powder in a contamination-protected container, which facilitates much of the powder’s reuse. This has a particular impact on a manufacturer’s bottom line when using expensive metal alloys, like titanium or tantalum.

Key performance metrics
When evaluating post-processing solutions, part cleanliness is the top consideration. As Solukon tells us, the reason for that is really a no-brainer: “Powder residues can lead to serious part defects or damages in further post-processing steps or in use.”

As parts become increasingly complex in their geometries, so too does the complexity of depowdering them. In these cases, manual depowdering is not only slow, it can be ineffective. Solukon’s SPR Pathfinder software addresses this by generating custom motion sequences for Solukon’s depowdering hardware that are based on part geometry. As the company says: “Part cleanliness is our number one goal, which is why we are constantly working on our machine and process improvements”, Andreas Hartmann, CEO/CTO of Solukon says.

Maintaining part quality from the build platform is also an important metric. In the depowdering process, it is common to use a knocker that delivers targeted knockings to the part to dislodge and loosen powder clumps—a common occurrence with materials like copper. This physical depowdering technique can have negative consequences when applied to parts with thin walls or delicate structures. To address this, Solukon offers a range of different depowdering options to meet the requirements of various component types.

For parts with delicate features, users can opt for ultrasonic frequency excitation, a gentle yet thorough method that reduces the risk of damage from vibrational stress. Even very fine structures ( less than 0.5 mm in diameter) respond well to high-frequency ultrasonic excitation. For more standard parts with thicker walls, Solukon also offers a method that combines a pneumatic vibrator and a knocker.

Key sustainability metrics
With sustainability becoming an increasingly urgent priority for manufacturers, carbon footprints across the production chain are a focus for AM adopters. For the depowdering step in post-processing workflows, the key sustainability metric is therefore consumption values, including inert gas consumption and energy consumption.

Solukon explains that in terms of inert gas consumption, it has made deliberate decisions in the development of its depowdering hardware. It says, “For handling reactive materials, the chamber of the Solukon system must be flooded with inert gas (e.g., argon). This is often a significant cost and ecological factor, which is why we always design the machine chambers to be as compact as possible.”

Solukon also emphasizes transparency in its depowdering process. “We are very transparent with data tracking throughout the entire depowdering process. Our Digital-Factory-Tool (DFT) records all relevant depowdering process data and summarizes the values in a protocol file.”

This transparency gives users a distinct understanding of the depowdering process with data related to residual oxygen, chamber pressure, compressed air, temperature, power consumption and more. This data can also be compiled into a comprehensive protocol file for each build job.

In relation to sustainability specifically, Solukon’s DFT also monitors the process’ carbon footprint. To track this metric, customers can enter the CO₂ consumption per kilowatt-hour of electricity (obtainable from their energy suppliers) and the carbon factor for compressed air consumption. With these two values, DFT automatically calculates the carbon footprint of the post-processing step.

What’s on the horizon
Solukon’s solutions are at the forefront of AM post-processing in terms of performance and automation, with customers already leveraging the technology for scalable series production. Yet while the depowdering process itself is fully automated, Solukon is continually advancing its offering to increase the level of automation, particularly for tasks surrounding the depowdering step.

To this end, Solukon will showcase at Formnext 2025 a special edition of its SFM-AT800-S depowdering system, developed in collaboration with Grenzebach and Yaskawa. This exclusive variant integrates automated part transport, depowdering, and robotic finishing, marking a significant step toward even greater efficiency and automation in post-processing workflows.

At the same time, Solukon has already demonstrated its expertise in automation integration through projects such as HyProCell: The Solukon system SFM-AT800 continuously communicates with a control center while being loaded by a robot. For this purpose, the SFM-AT800 has been equipped with a special loading door and an automatic clamping system.

Another robot-integrated concept has been successfully established at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU) located in Dresden, Germany, where a Solukon SFM-AT800 with an OPC-UA interface is part of a modular robot cell. This fully automatic robot cell serves as a characteristic example for downstream processing: Besides the Solukon depowdering unit the robot cell consists of a system for optical analytics of the geometry and a system for support removal. The different stations communicate via OPC-UA. The robot performs part loading and additional metal-cutting tasks.

These innovative system concepts are not likely to be rolled out commercially any time soon—in large part because Solukon believes robotic integration projects will have to be customized—but they do point to the potential to further improve depowdering’s cost, performance and sustainability metrics through enhanced automation.