Virtex Additive Manufacturing
3D Printing by World Experts
What is Additive Manufacturing?
Additive Manufacturing is the use of 3D printing technologies for manufacturing production parts. We utilize only industrial 3D printers in to produce reliable, consistent, and accurate parts. Our printers are more capable than consumer printers that print small, toy like parts. We print with engineering thermoplastics such as ABS, ASA, PC-ABS, Polycarbonate, and Ultem that offer a variety of functional properties. Our equipment is capable of printing parts from 1" to 36".
Why choose Virtex?
We are experts at 3D printing. We have run print shops of all sizes from small with a few printers to very large automated print shops that could print up to a 1000 parts per day. But our experience goes beyond running printers and producing parts. We invented much of the core technology and understanding and the technology that ourprinters are based on. Not only are we capable of printing with most of the capable engineering materials, in many cases we were the original developers of those.
What applications make sense for 3D printing?
Prototypes
Rapid prototyping is the origin of 3D printing technology. and is still one of the highest value applications for 3D printing.
We can quickly create prototypes for your products
Short Run Production
Making small runs of custom parts? 3D printing could be a good choice for you.
Tooling and Fixtures
Factory and lab tooling is a great application for 3D printing:
Custom vice jaws for complex parts
Work piece holding
Thermoform tooling
Paper slurry tooling
Hydroform tooling
Alignment jigs
embossing
Repair Parts
Need a clip or part that you can no longer source?
Is unavailability of a critical part making expensive equipment obsolete?
In many cases that is something we can help design and print a replacement
Low Volume Serial Production
There are many items that are just not economical to produce at low volume using traditional manufacturing methods but have a real market .
Additive manufacturing can be a great choice
Others
There are many other ways to use additive manufacturing:
Specialty Lighting
Custom Ducting
Can I use Additive Manufacturing for volume production?
You can, but its often a poor fit. AM material feedstocks are more expensive than molding pellets and the process is more expensive. With low cost molds available today we would only recommend AM if the part simply couldn't be molded. AM is a good fit for small temporary runs while you wait for your mold to be cut.