Case Study: K3D slashes pancake waste and boosts productivity 10% with Materialise

No More Pancake Waste! How AM Transformed Bakery Production Lines of a Favorite Food

K3D, a metal 3D printing specialist working with bakery-line maker Kaak Group, tackled chronic waste and downtime caused by pancake lifters that clogged with sticky batter and forced frequent line stoppages. To solve this, K3D relied on Materialise software—specifically Materialise Build Processor for Additive Industries and Materialise Magics (with the SG+ module)—alongside Additive Industries’ MetalFAB 1 printers to fully exploit metal AM for a food-safe, production-ready redesign.

Using Design of Experiments and the Materialise toolchain to set reliable print parameters and prepare complex internal geometries, K3D produced a single-piece, porous metal lifter with internal airflow that makes pancakes hover and prevents sticking. Materialise-enabled preparation and workflow helped cut material use and build time, and the new parts reduced pancake waste by thousands of kilograms, increased productivity by 10%, and delivered about €85,000 in annual savings per line while reducing downtime and rejected product.

K3D

Jaap Bulsink

Chief Technology Officer