New products, services and partnerships will beef up 3D Systems’ industrial capabilities.
![DMP Flex 350 Dual metal 3D printer [Source: 3D Systems]](https://res.cloudinary.com/engineering-com/image/upload/w_640,h_640,c_limit,q_auto,f_auto/image001_jdvagn.jpg)
Industry leader 3D Systems announced a number of new products, services and partnerships to beef up their industrial capabilities.
Metal 3D Printers
To start, the company announced not one, but two new metal 3D printers, the DMP Flex 350 Dual and DMP Factory 350 Dual. The “dual” in the product name gives away their secret: these machines, while based on their namesake predecessors, are equipped with dual lasers.
Two lasers working on the same print bed simultaneously can provide up to double the throughput on the machine. That will be of significant interest to operators, who are able to defray the capital cost of the equipment over up to twice as many parts, thus lowering the unit cost of production. This adds to the already formidable production capabilities of the original devices, including integrated powder recycling, centralized control, and 24/7 capability.
![Sample metal 3D print made on the DMP Flex series [Source: 3D Systems]](https://res.cloudinary.com/engineering-com/image/upload/w_640,h_640,c_limit,q_auto,f_auto/image003_epsia0.jpg)
There’s also a new metal 3D printer for dental applications, the DMP Flex 200, which now features a 500W laser and a somewhat larger build volume at 140 x 140 x 115 mm.
SLS 380
3D Systems announced a brand-new SLS device, the SLS 380. This powder-based device is able to consistently produce high quality parts at manufacturing scale.
![Powder bed heat management in the new SLS 380 3D printer [Source: 3D Systems]](https://res.cloudinary.com/engineering-com/image/upload/w_640,h_640,c_limit,q_auto,f_auto/image005_go1rqc.jpg)
There’s a number of very interesting features in the SLS 380, including a water-cooled laser system that is likely to be more reliable and long-lasting. There’s quite an emphasis on print quality, as the system includes a new accessory they call “Material Quality Control”, or the “MQC 600”. This system monitors powder recycling ratios and powder delivery to up to four machines simultaneously. This should significantly lower operator effort.
3D Systems has also partnered with AMT for use of their intelligent post processing system.
All of these features are controlled through a new SLS workflow that ties together not only the printer, but the MQC 600, materials management, post processing, and their powerful 3D Sprint software.
3DXpert 17
3D Systems released a new version of their 3DXpert software, which features additional functionality. One of 3D Systems’ latest acquisitions, Oqton, has powerful AM software technology and is also available. The combination of the two tools could provide a huge boost to 3D Systems clients for sophisticated design-to-print functionality and workflow.
Further reporting on issues not included in this article can be found here on Fabbaloo.