Nov 16, 2016 | By Tess
3D printing giant Stratasys has just announced a formal partnership with German engineering company Siemens. The new collaboration will seek to integrate Stratasys’ additive manufacturing solutions with Siemens’ Digital Factory solutions with the overall goal of pushing forward the companies’ shared vision of fully integrating 3D printing into traditional manufacturing processes and making it a standard practice across a wide range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, transportation, and energy.
The announcement, which comes just a month after Siemens announced its innovative end-to-end additive manufacturing solution (integrating digital design, simulation and data management with 3D printing and more conventional manufacturing processes), coincides with Stratasys’ unveiling of a new version of the Fortus 900mc, a “robust FDM Production 3D Printer built for functional prototyping, manufacturing aids, tooling and short-run direct digital manufacturing.” More details below.
Stratasys' Fortus 900mc 3D printer
This is not the first time that Stratasys and Siemens have teamed up, as both companies have worked on a number of projects together, including combining Siemens’ NX CAD software with Stratasys’s GrabCAD 3D printing platform, and incorporating Siemens’ product lifecycle management software (PLM) with Stratasys’ Robotic 3D Demonstrator.
Zvi Feuer, SVP Manufacturing Engineering Software, Siemens PLM Software, said of the new partnership: “Siemens is enthusiastic about this partnership with Stratasys and the opportunity to help our customers adopt a new manufacturing mindset that we believe will result in better products produced more economically and delivered more efficiently. We are committed to the industrialization of additive manufacturing with all of its unique advantages, including complex part geometries, on-demand production and mass customization. This relationship helps set the course for continued innovation and leadership through the tight integration of our product lines and through collaboration on comprehensive additive manufacturing solutions.”
Stratasys' Robotic Composite 3D Demonstrator
As mentioned, the ultimate goal of the partnership is to further advance additive manufacturing technologies, making them increasingly viable across a wide range of industries. As today's press release states, the companies are aiming to make additive manufacturing solutions more robust, repeatable, and reliable so that they can more consistently be used over other manufacturing processes such as CNC machining.
Dan Yalon, Executive Vice President of Products at Stratasys, commented: “Stratasys is excited to formalize our partnership with Siemens and views it as a major catalyst for the industrialization of additive manufacturing. Together, our companies are joining forces to create a cohesive, best-of-breed technology foundation that enables large-scale manufacturers to enjoy the benefits of additive manufacturing in traditional production environments.”
The new Fortus 900mc, unveiled earlier today by Stratasys, is the latest in the company’s Fortus 3D printer series, which has proven to include some of the toughest, most powerful FDM 3D printing systems on the market. The latest generation of the Fortus 900mc, while maintaining many key features of its previous iteration, also introduces a number of new features and certifications. These include more advanced control over the printing process thanks to an internal camera, and GrabCAD Print remote monitoring, job scheduling, and reports. The new 3D printer also includes an optional Acceleration Kit, which allows for materials to be extruded more quickly, ideal for the fast printing of large parts.
Part made from Nylon 6
For the icing on the cake, Stratasys has also launched its newest thermoplastic material: FDM Nylon 6 (Polyamide 6 / PA6). According to the company, its newest material offers superior strength and toughness compared to other FDM thermoplastics. Finally, Stratasys has also announced that its GrabCAD Print software is now commercially available around the world. This availability follows a five-month beta trial, in which the cloud-based application was tested and finalized.
Currently, Stratasys and Siemens are showcasing their innovative 3D printing solutions at formnext 2016 in Frankfurt. There, Stratasys is displaying its Robotic Composite 3D Demonstrator in a virtual 3D printing experience which visitors can enjoy, while Siemens has been showcasing its own end-to-end additive manufacturing software solution and more.
GrabCAD
Posted in 3D Printer Company
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