LOS ANGELES & BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Divergent 3D, a manufacturing technology company focused on the automotive sector, has entered into a global development partnership with engineering research and development firm Altran. Under the agreement, Altran has invested in Divergent 3D and will provide support to accelerate implementation and licensing of its manufacturing technology platform across the continent as part of Altran’s new vehicle architecture initiatives. Together, the companies will help automakers harness the power of 3D printing to unleash design innovation while slashing costs, time-to-market and environmental impact.

Altran, global leader in Engineering and R&D services (ER&D), is working with Divergent 3D internationally as a strategic development partner, and brings extensive relationships in the automotive industries and beyond to the partnership.

Rob Vatter, CEO of Altran North America, said, “By teaming up with Divergent 3D, Altran takes a step to further develop its presence in the United States, which is a priority market for the Group, as part of the Altran 2020. Ignition strategic plan. Divergent 3D is a like-minded critical thinker who is as focused as we are on addressing and managing complexity for clients. The dramatic transformation the auto industry is facing must take into consideration not only how to leverage disruptive innovation, but also how to reduce the capital required to bring connected and intelligent vehicles to market. This partnership will address both considerations by streamlining the process of creating and integrating complex systems that will make up the cars of the near and distant future. At the same time, Divergent 3D’s platform will help us optimize our customers’ value chains by lowering costs and speeding up development timelines.”

Divergent 3D is commercializing a path-breaking software-hardware platform (the Divergent Manufacturing Platform™) for manufacturing that leverages 3D metal printing. Its technology can reduce the vehicle structure weight of a standard five passenger car by over 50 percent and reduce the number of parts per vehicle by over 75 percent. Just as importantly, it can reduce the upfront capital cost required for hard metal tooling and stamping equipment (along with the associated factory costs) by up to 10 times or more. The cost implications of Divergent 3D’s technology for automakers are significant.

“Altran’s world-class engineering expertise and comprehensive approach to creating the vehicle of the future are an ideal match for our technology,” stated Kevin Czinger, CEO of Divergent 3D. “Our planet-saving manufacturing approach provides a complete technology platform that dramatically reduces per-vehicle and upfront capital costs as well as environmental impact. Altran and Divergent 3D can help automakers across North America quickly develop new, much more efficient vehicles at lower volumes than was economically viable in the past, helping to spark a new era of automotive innovation.”

The partnership comes shortly following Divergent 3D’s signing of a strategic partnership letter of intent with top-ten global automaker PSA Group.

About Divergent 3D

Divergent 3D harnesses the power of 3D printing to unleash innovation in automotive manufacturing. Our breakthrough technology platform transforms the economics and environmental impact of designing and manufacturing complex structures such as cars. Our planet-saving manufacturing approach enables both small and high volume manufacturing without costly tooling and capital expenses of the past, enabling manufacturers to quickly iterate and invent new models for competitive advantage. For more, visit divergent3d.com.

About Altran

As a global leader in Engineering and R&D services (ER&D), Altran offers its clients a new way to innovate by developing the products and services of tomorrow. Altran works alongside its clients on every link in the value chain of their project, from conception to industrialization. For over thirty years, the Group has provided its expertise to key players in the Aerospace, Automotive, Defense, Energy, Finance, Life Sciences, Railway, and Telecoms sectors, among others. In 2015, the Altran group generated revenues of €1.945bn. With a headcount of more than 27,000 employees, Altran is present in more than 20 countries. www.altran.com