Desktop Metal, a company committed to making metal 3D printing accessible to manufacturers and engineers, introduced the Studio System+, a metal 3D printing system that combines the innovative and office-friendly features of the original Studio System with more functions to print small metal parts with higher resolution. The company also announced the introduction of Studio Fleet, a custom-configurable system to address low to mid volume production.
Said Ric Fulop, CEO and Co-founder of Desktop Metal, “Engineers and designers who are looking to push the limits of metal 3D printing with small parts or parts with fine details can achieve higher-resolution, with a customizable system configuration for greater process efficiency and throughput on the shop floor.”
The new Studio System+ retains all the key features of the original Studio System with advances that allow customers to build to scale and offer high-resolution printing. Studio Fleet adds a custom-configurable, in-house metal 3D printing solution to support a variety of production scenarios and scales for a range of low- to mid-volume applications across industries. This on-demand metal 3D printing will deliver accessible and scalable manufacturing that adapts to diverse business needs, part requirements, production volumes and cost constraints.
Studio System+
The original Studio System, which made its debut in 2017, is an office-friendly metal 3D printing system for rapid prototyping. Safe and simple to use, the Studio System is designed to make metal 3D printing more accessible, enabling design and engineering teams to make metal parts faster, without the need for special facilities, dedicated operators, or expensive tooling. The three-part solution, including printer, debinder and furnace, automates metal 3D printing by tightly integrating through Desktop Metal’s cloud-based software to deliver a seamless workflow for printing complex metal parts in-house—from digital file to sintered part.
Building off the flagship system, the Studio System+ incorporates new print capabilities as well as hardware updates for increased throughput, allowing users to:
- Print at higher resolution.
A new swappable high resolution printhead with supporting software profiles allows for smaller parts with finer features and an improved surface finish. This creates opportunities for new geometries and applications with the ability to print parts similar to those produced with metal injection molding (MIM)—parts featuring sintered voxels as tiny as 240 microns in XY by 45 microns in Z, which is smaller than a grain of table salt—making it ideal for a variety of applications such as parts for consumer electronics, medical devices and automotive.
- Watch a live stream of the build.
An in-chamber build plate camera captures a live stream video of the part as it prints, so users can closely monitor print progress.
- Experience new software improvements.
Including automatic mold lock prevention, part positioning and fleet management.
- Debind and sinter in bulk.
New stackable shelving increases part capacity of the debinder and furnace for even greater throughput. Increased workload volume addresses bottlenecks typical of other solutions at the debind and sinter stages.
- Produce even better parts.
A new retort box design increases thermal uniformity, resulting in higher-quality parts.
- Reduce operational costs.
The system now features the option to connect to external gas tanks or a house gas line, which reduces the cost of consumables and results in lower cost-per-part.
Studio Fleet
Studio Fleet is a custom-configurable solution for in-house metal 3D printing—supporting a range of applications for low to mid-volume production. Built to scale, it leverages Studio System+ technology—including a software-controlled workflow and stackable shelving for batch processing—for the rapid production of high-quality, complex metal parts.
At launch, the Studio Fleet is available in two configurations:
- 3:1:1
With 3 printers + 1 debinder + 1 furnace, customers can realize a 200% increase in throughput for only a 50% increase in system cost.
- 5:2:1
With 5 printers + 2 debinders + 1 furnace, users will be able to realize 400% increase in throughput for only a 100% increase in system cost.
The original Studio System is now being shipped in volume to current reservation holders in the United States and will continue to be available to interested customers to reserve through October 5, 2018. The new Studio System+, which replaces the original system, is available to reserve immediately. The Studio System+ printer sells for $60,000 and the complete system hardware is available for $160,000. Desktop Metal said all previously existing orders for the original Studio System will be offered the opportunity to purchase the new Studio System+ features on request with a special discount.
Desktop Metal
www.desktopmetal.com
