International manufacturing company Jabil have just received the first production units of HP’s much-anticipated Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) 3D printers in North America. The Jet Fusion 4200 is HP’s first foray into the 3D printing market and claims to print “ten times faster than any other technology in the marketplace.” Jabil expect the printer to bring a competitive advantage to their manufacturing business as they will be able to offer enhanced turnaround times and iterate designs faster. According to the U.S manufacturing company, they are at the forefront of the transition moving 3D printing into manufacturing.
Heavyweights enter the 3D printing arena
Jabil received the printer at their Blue Sky Innovation Center in San Jose, California. The company have facilities in 28 countries across the globe and are a wide array of consumer industries such as electronics, consumer goods, automotive and defense and have more than 50 years experience, while HP bring expertise from more than 30 years in 2D inkjet printer market. According to Jabil the purchase of HP’s 3D printer means,
Jabil is exerting its half-century of manufacturing expertise to fill current gaps in the market and move 3D printing into the mainstream.
Manufacturing adopting 3D printing
This announcement is important as it further validates the technology as more multi-nationals adopt 3D printing for a competitive. It is also interesting that Jabil are an early adopter of the HP 3D printing technology.
There has been much excitement regarding the release of the Jet Fusion printer and the company is in an interesting period of transition currently and looking to 3D printing as one of the foundations that will propel the company forward into their next 50 years. R&D at HP is investigating the use of “quantum dots” embedded within prints and HP Labs also looking at printing on uneven surfaces through new research. The next 3D printing update from the company will most likely be the addition of a capacity to print in color, this is anticipated for 2017.
HP’s offering is marketed at tackling the most difficult aspects of 3D printing, with speed and reliability being key. Jabil themselves have written in their blog post that additive manufacturing is not yet fully established because of a few number of these difficulties, specifically time, and HP’s Multi Jet Fusion is supposedly as fast as it gets. Furthermore, HP are also focusing on strength as well as speed by teaming up with leading chemical company BASF in order to perfect their materials. Time will tell whether HP have cracked the formula on first try.
For an indepth look at HP’s vision for 3D printing, 3DPI sat down with their CTO earlier this year for an interview.
Featured image shows HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 printer. Image via HP.
