At this time no AM technology is capable of competing with high volume/ low mix manufacturing like injection molding, metal stamping or die casting.  These processes have been optimized for decades and offer very low cost and consistent results.  Any 3D printer company attempting to compete in this are is going to lose.  

However, there are billions of dollars of low volume/ high mix manufacturing and AM is a great fit for this segment.  AM can compete quite well with processes like: machining, thermoforming, fiberglass and composite layup, wood fabrication, sheet metal fabrication, sheet goods and textiles.  

AM is also a great fit small businesses that want to introduce products to specific markets even though the owner has no background in design or manufacturing.  The design freedom and low barriers to manufacturing make it easy to create a new product.

As the printer lays down a thin layer of thermoplastic, it shrinks as it cools. When previously cooled and shrunk layers have new layers added on top, the top layer will start to shrink after the lower layers have completed this process. Since the layers are bonded together, the shrinking upper layers try to warp and curl the lower layers. These warp forces can be surprisingly strong. 

The only definitive solution to this problem is to hold the part at the correct temperature while printing so the stress can be annealed out of the part at the same rate as the part is building. This has been known for over 30 years. 

In recent years, some mitigation strategies have been used to try to avoid a heated chamber. These include: 

1. Printing on a heated build plate. This creates the same stress-relieving situation but only for very short parts. 

2. Offering “specially formulated” materials for 3D printing. It is easy to find 3D printing grade filaments online made of ABS, ASA, PC, etc. These filaments are blends of those plastics along with other materials that lower the thermal and mechanical properties of the material. The resulting part does not have the properties as the same part made with real material. But since it does tend to yield a successful looking print, these materials are enjoying limited use.  But, the material properties have been degraded and are not the same as the base material. 

3. Printing parts with less than 100% density. Lower density parts are less stiff , so the warp is less obvious. While there are good reasons to print low density parts at times, some printers can only print low density parts. 

4. Printing fills with zigzags rather than straight lines. When straight line fills that cross a part shrink, they pull directly on the part perimeters (shells) and cause the part to warp. If the path is zigzag, then the shrinking fill does not pull directly onto the shells. This can help minimize warp and distortion but also makes the part much less stiff.

5. Using fiber filled filament. Fiber filling can help mitigate shrinking since the fibers don’t shrink. These are not low shrink materials, they are bi-shrink materials and will create parts full of stress. 

Not necessarily. A big build tray or volume does not mean a printer can print a large part. It needs to be fast, reliable, control warp and control distortion to successfully build large parts.  We have evaluated many larger printers that would take weeks to build a larger part.   Industrial 3D printers bring many systems together to create the ability to reliably produce parts of all sizes and geometries while maintaining accuracy.

Virtex printers have all the technology of legacy industrial 3D printers:  

• Industrial bearings, motors, and components 

• Full feedback brushless servo motors 

• Industrial motion control with synchronization and interlacing of every axis 

• Continuous feedback and data capture from every axis 

• High temperature build chamber with consistent temperatures and air flows 

• Accurate and very rigid chassis isolated from build chamber

• High flow rate, high temperature print heads with consistent deposition temperature 

• Local mini Z axis on print heads

• Excellent moisture and environment control of filament path from source to print head 

Not yet.  We are hard at work developing this revolutionary technology and will let you know when it is ready.

Some people publish, and blog, and post, or generally make a lot of noise about 3D printing.  Others work quietly behind the scene advancing the science and engineering of 3D printing.  We are the latter.  Our team has over 400 world wide patents in 3D printing and decades of experience bringing 3D printing technology to market.

There really aren't any.  When we say our 3D printers are full industrial printers, we mean it.  They have all the same technology, all of the same capabilities, and outperform today's standard industrial 3D printers.  We know because we have been designing industrial 3D printers since the 1990s.  

Absolutely.  But, only if you understand industrial 3D printers well.  We start with the world's most advanced understanding, then design integrated systems and solutions to bring all the technology and capability of industrial 3D printers to market but at a far lower price. 

We've seen those too.  Here's the thing:  There are no standard definitions of printer classes in our industry.  Anyone can claim anything they want and many do.  Our printers are not based on consumer printer technology.  Our printers are based on industrial technology that has been optimized for cost while simultaneously improving performance in every way.

We will be successful when we introduce products and solutions that meet manufacturing requirements.  Not only has no one has done this to date, no one has even identified the requirements.  Our offering will be compelling and will enable wide spread adoption of AM will return the industry to growth.

3D printers are seductively simple machines that have surprisingly complex behavior.  Most companies didn't put in the effort and the time to understand that behavior and when they attempted to increase the capabilities of their 3D printer things just didn't work out.  

On top of this, companies made many bold claims and promises that they could never fulfill leading to unhappy customers and investors.   

In the end, most simply failed to meet market needs or expectations.  Many failed to meet any of their technical goals.  It is no surprise that they failed. 

Even the best consumer printers have limitations on print size, materials, density and geometry.  These limitations become apparent when you try to print large full dense parts, or try to print with high performance materials like PC (polycarbonate).  If you need to print a 400mm x 400mm x 50mm (16in x 16in x 2 in)  full dense slab out of PEI (Ultem) our printers can do that.  No consumer printer can come close.  Traditionally the leap from consumer printer to industrial printer was so expensive that very few could consider it.  Now you can. 

There's more.  Our printers, materials, and software are all designed for production which requires consistency between parts and the conformance data to prove it.  Our printers have built in process control and quality systems that not only improve consistency but can generate a certificate of conformance for each part based on data captured during  the print.

If your printer is open frame or has limited heat in the build chamber it will struggle to make consistent parts with these materials. 

Actually, no.  As we explained above, AM is not competitive with traditional manufacturing for high volume applications.  Our mission is to bring widespread adoption of AM to everyone and produce printers in high volumes.  Using AM for our components would not be cost effective or consistent with our own messaging.

That said, we use 3D printers every day for prototyping, assembly tooling and fixtures, repair parts, and many other applications in our office and lab.  We are heavy users of 3D printing and have been for decades.