UK-based Ion Core, manufacturer of the Zinter line of desktop 3D printers, has just made a big sale. Like jumbo jet big. The company will be supplying their Zinter PRO Desktop 3D Printers to aerospace and defense giant Airbus Group. The units will be delivered to the aircraft manufacturer’s design and innovation department, where they can test out and iterate new designs.
The Zinter PRO is an upgrade to the company’s Home model. At £2350.00 (about $3900), the PRO features dual, all-metal extruders capable of printing a variety of materials at high operating temperatures, one of the main reasons listed by Ion Core for the aerospace company’s purchase. Ion Core also suggests that the “high quality manufacture and build quality of the Zinter® PRO Desktop 3D Printer was a deciding factor” for Airbus, when navigating the desktop 3D printers on the market. With a build volume of 200mm x 200mm x 200mm, the PRO is capable of printing Z layer thicknesses of 100 to 300 microns (0.1mm – 0.3mm).
CEO of Ion Core, James Marchant, said of the new deal, “We are of course delighted Airbus have chosen the Zinter PRO, it really goes to show our 11 year history in robotics and CNC machine manufacture is putting us way ahead of our competitors, many of whom have no experience producing products of this nature and we are now in the process of ramping up Zinter PRO production off the back of some major orders from key distributors and companies such as Airbus Group.”
To increase the production of their machines, the company is upgrading their UK manufacturing facilities, joining two separate 1500 square foot factories into a single 5000 square foot building and shifting their operations from South Molton to Barnstaple. This move will also consolidate all of its design, manufacture, sales, and technical support teams into one area.
