Last week, some of the biggest news coming from 3D printer manufacturer Leapfrog 3D was that 3D printing software developer and service provider Materialise would be powering the manufacturer’s 3D printing software. Leapfrog Builder, for the company’s Creatr HS 3D printer, now relies on the Materialise’s Build Processor. It seems that Materialise is not loyal to one manufacturer.
Having already provided their Build Processor to industrial 3D printer manufacturers EOS and SLM, the company is also expanding its desktop partnership to include FELIXrobotics BV. Materialise will now power Felix Builder, the printer control software on all FELIX 3D printers, including their most recent FELIX v3.0. As stated with the Leapfrog 3D announcement, Felix Builder uses a straightforward user interface to print objects using pre-set or custom-made printing profiles, similar to those on a 2D inkjet printer.
Materialise has said that Leapfrog 3D and FELIXrobotics are just the first in a number of desktop printers that will be using the company’s Build Processor. The company will also be expanding their industrial partners to include other industrial 3D printing systems as well.
So far, this year, competition is really beginning to heat up, as smaller consumer 3D printer manufacturers become overshadowed by larger companies that are able to make partnerships (CEL and MyMiniFactory, Felix and Materialise), develop a wide variety of machines (Ultimaker, TierTime, Solidoodle), incorporate the latest generation of 3D printing features (auto-bed leveling, wi-fi), and expand to new markets (Leapfrog, Felix). As tech giants like HP and Intel enter the game, I wonder how many small companies will be able to stick around…
