3DQue, the company that automates 3D printing for mass production of plastic parts, announced the installation of QPoD — its fully autonomous, high volume (100,000 parts/year), on-demand 3D printing production unit — at the Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers (MCPP) materials testing laboratory in Warren, Michigan.

MCPP is one of the largest polymer-based filament manufacturers with a focus on high performance materials for end-use parts. The print lab focuses on tuning hardware and software settings for each filament formulation to give end-users the best results.

QPoD is a fully automated 3D printing unit that eliminates manual tasks, allowing researchers to focus on testing materials and parts — optimizing settings and design rather than operating printers.

With fully automated part release and no glue, tape or other consumables, QPoD can run 24/7 without an operator. QPoD allocates the right files to the right printers, autonomously removes parts, alerts operators when prints are finished, resets printers, and automatically starts the next print job. No scraping, no taping, no gluing – no need to retrieve a part before the next print starts – and no robotics or need to remove print beds after each print. Operators no longer need to figure out how to layout batches or schedule print runs.

“We are very excited to be working with Mitsubishi to test QPoD’s performance and compatibility with their range of materials. QPoD is a game-changer for materials and parts testing,” says Chief of Innovations, Mateo Pekic. “It is 12 to 40 times faster than batch production at costs that rival volume injection molding. This means faster innovation and the ability to scale production seamlessly.”

3DQue will be publishing results of parts testing in a variety of materials later in the year.

3DQue
3DQue.com