Zhuhai CTC Electronic Co. has quickly grown from a manufacturer of 2D printers to FDM 3D printers to a producer of a wide variety of 3D printing technologies. With the opening of a large-scale factory and an office in London, the Chinese company seems to have its eyes set on taking over the industry with its low-cost 3D printers. Now, CTC is following up its 4-in-1 hybrid machine and affordable SLA printer with their first industrial machine, the Riverbase 500.
The $86,000 Riverbase 500 is an industrial SLA machine that relies on laser galvanometer scanning, the same process that many SLA and SLS machines use, in which a mirror bounces the laser onto the print area instead of relying on movement by the laser itself. Theirs is a F-THETA-LEN galvanometer with a spot diameter of 0.10-0.16mm and scanning speed of 6 to 12 m/s. The ND:YVO4, 355 nm laser on this machine can reach 300MW-500MW to create objects as large as 500mm(X)×400mm(Y)x300mm(Z). The Riverbase 500 is made with high precision-screw rails and has a negative pressure-and-absorption-based system for uniform prints. Other features include automated scanning path optimization, automated liquid level control, and, they suggest, the ability to 3D print continuously while unattended.
CTC cites data from market research firm IDC saying that 70% of 3D printer sales are made up of industrial systems and applications, adding that SLA machines account for 50% of industrial printers worldwide and 60% in China. For that reason, the firm developed their own industrial SLA machine. This decision to get into the industrial market mirrors XYZprinting, in Taiwan, which has also expanded from entry-level machines to industrial 3D printers. And, in many ways, the two companies have followed similar paths. For instance, rumors floated around last year that CTC would release a full-color 3D printer at CES this year. Though I believe that rumor was not realized, XYZprinting did make known their own work on a full-color industrial machine, complementing an inkjet industrial printer they’d already released.
With companies like XYZ and CTC jumping into the industrial market, it’s not just desktop players that will have to keep an eye out for more affordable competitors. Established industrial firms are going to have to watch their back to ensure that a new generation of lower priced machines don’t sweep up the market.
