The raw materials would be the components they get from their suppliers. PrintRite3D is a software program. It uses Sigma's "SensorPak" which is the hardware that sits on the actual 3D printers to gather data/relay it back to their proprietary software. This "SensorPak" is a combination of various 'off-the-shelf' components-- they used to list their suppliers on the data sheet on Sigma's website, though it looks like they've since updated it. They order the components from suppliers (hence 'raw materials') and assemble them at their facility, tailored to whatever machine configuration the customer (Honeywell, Aerojet, whoever) needs. The SensorPak is the hardware, but the main product Sigma provides is the software-- that is what sets them apart from everyone else. Because it is based on decades of physics/metallurgy--it provides a far more advanced, real-time verification of quality assurance. I asked my husband (also a metallurgist, in Quality) about that 3DSim slideshow someone posted the other day, and he pointed out where it notes that just because a part might match the CAD file (in terms of its geometry) that does not mean that its internal structure is up to spec-- that is to say, you can have two identical parts with very different strengths/properties based on minute differences in how they cool etc.-- and so what Sigma does is provide the metallurgical profile of each part as it's produced, so that companies don't have to spend time doing sampling, tensile tests, etc, and potentially scrapping whole runs when a part fails to meet their quality standards. It's very LEAN, if you will. The partnership between Sigma and 3DSim is really cool to me-- because 3DSim provides the metallurgical profile of what it SHOULD be-- and Sigma verifies what it IS--- all in real time, even going so far as to predict failures before they happen. [Ex: if the 3D printer starts getting out of whack and needs to be recalibrated-- you can catch it right away, not after 10, 100, 1000 parts go through-- based on the real time metallurgy results.] Pretty neat.
