In the past few months Stratasys has only announced one new industrial 3D printer platform, but it is a big one: the Objet 500 Connex3 is a superior 3D printer that produces objects with multiple materials (including both rubber and rigid) and it can do it in multi-colour. So, when I found out it was going to be at the Eurostampi fair in Parma, Italy only a short hour from where I live in Milan, I just had to go see it.
I spoke with Stratasys’s PR department ahead of the show to set up an interview with Mr Davide Ferrulli, Territory Manager for Italy, Southeastern Europe and the Middle East, whom I met at the show. Eurostampi is reminiscent of a small Euromold, with both traditional industrial machines and 3D printers on the show floor. Just like at last December’s Euromold, however, the focus of attention and the most excitement was generated by the additive manufacturing exhibits, and Stratasys’ booth was certainly one of the main attractions.
I asked Mr Ferrulli about the Objet 500 Connex3’s potential in Italy, a country that has quite a long history with additive manufacturing adoption. “Italy represents about 5% of Stratasys’ global business,” said Ferrulli, “so it is a very important market. This machine is mostly for companies that need prototypes that come out very similar to the final product, without having to do further work on it. Colour is definitely a big plus, especially considering that this is the only machine that can do transparent, but the real difference is the triple material in one single print job”.
Priced just below 300,000 euro, the Objet 500 Connex3 does not come cheap but it has no competition on triple material jetting (which can produce a range of multi-material variations) and only limited competition from 3D Systems’s Projet 4500 on colour. It prints, on average, at 2 cm per hour along the Z axis with a 16 micron resolution, which is about as good as it gets for Polyjet resin-based machines.
The Italian debut of the Objet 500 Connex3 was not the only news to come from Stratasys at the show. Something else that is really going to make a difference in the upcoming months is that Stratasys owned Makerbot now has an official Italian distributor. It is called Energy Group and is one of the six official Stratasys distributors in Italy (we will cover their strategy in more depth in a later article).
One other aspect that is radically changing Stratasys’ business in Italy is end-product manufacturing. Italian engineers are known to be extremely creative: just imagine what they can do with the new possibilities opened by high end 3D printers.
“For once, we are definitely ahead of the curve. In using industrial FDM 3D printers, and Nylon, to create bespoke tools and instruments.” For proof, Mr Ferrulli showed me a tool used by BMW to apply the car’s name tag to the chassis. The metal version of the tool was heavy and not comfortable at all to use; the 3D printed one was ergonomic, light and much easier to hold.
One final business segment that is helping Stratasys grow in Italy is 3D printed moulds for small series production. This means that a company can get series of 10 to 30 units injection moulded in the final material before going into full scale manufacturing. “Currently the pilot series needs to be made in China,” Ferrulli explained, “It costs around 3,000 euro and takes about three weeks to deliver. With this method the mould can be 3D printed internally, and, in less than 24 hours, the pilot series is ready, all for just a couple of hundred euros. It is not the money, though, that makes the real difference, as much as the time saved.”
If you combine all these advantages you will understand why demand is literally booming. Requests have doubled lately and not just in the more industrialized parts of Northern Italy. “We just sold two Fortus industrial 3D printers in the Puglia region for a company building aeronautics parts. With 3D printing, the location is becoming less of a factor than it has ever been.”
