- Hall 6, Stand 840 –
This year’s MACH exhibition will see Stratasys, a global leader in applied additive technologies, demonstrate the significant time and cost efficiencies that companies from a host of industries can enjoy when implementing additive manufacturing within their production operations. Stratasys will showcase the versatility of its FDM and PolyJet technologies for the entire product development process, from fully-functional prototypes, to tooling applications and even final production parts.
Visitors to the Stratasys stand (Hall 6, Stand 840) will have the opportunity to see how a diverse array of customers both large and small – including McLaren Racing, Opel, Siemens and Swift Engineering – are revolutionizing manufacturing processes and enjoying dramatic time and cost savings of up to 90 percent with Stratasys additive manufacturing.
Stratasys will use MACH to demonstrate how additive manufacturing can add value when replacing traditional manufacturing applications – from the optimization of tooling processes, such as high-temperature composite applications, to the significant savings achievable during the production of manufacturing tools like jigs and fixtures. The effective use of the technology for final part production will also be an important focus of the stand.
The Stratasys stand will feature five application zones displaying customer parts in the areas of: rapid prototyping, tooling, fixtures and fittings, composite tooling and production parts. Here, visitors can see additive technology applied to composite lay-up tools, metal forming tooling, vacuum forming tools, robot end-of-arm fixtures and grippers, drill guides and the seventh iteration of McLaren’s Formula One car steering wheel.
The stand will also feature the McLaren MP4-31S Formula One car. The team is using Stratasys machines to prototype, provide composite tooling and even trackside race production parts made during practice sessions, to give the team the edge during races.
Final parts strong enough to replace metal
For companies interested in the potential of replacing heavy, and often expensive metal components with plastic counterparts, visitors can see the impressive capabilities of Stratasys’ unique FDM Nylon 12CF material, the industry’s first FDM composite 3D printing material. This thermoplastic contains 35 percent chopped carbon-fibre and is strong enough to replace metal, allowing designers to develop more practical and functional designs. This is exemplified by Dutch 3D service bureau, Visual First, who is using FDM Nylon 12CF to replace metal machine parts for its customer, The Chocolate Factory. The company is enjoying reduced machine downtime, enhanced production line continuity and cost reductions of 60 percent as a result.
High-performance, cost-efficient 3D printed tools
Stratasys’ development of high-temperature, high-performance engineering-grade thermoplastics, as well as the increased throughput of its Production Series 3D Printers, enable the manufacture of 3D printed tooling in hours or days, rather than the weeks or months it would take to produce and procure tooling made from traditional methods. Additive manufacturing also offers the possibility of creating tools that were previously unthinkable or uneconomical, as well as numerous less quantified benefits such as dramatic weight-savings.
Keynote Presentation (Wednesday 11th April, 12:45): ‘How to Enhance Production Processes with Stratasys Additive Manufacturing Solutions’
On the third day of the show Stratasys will deliver an informative and insightful keynote entitled ‘How to Enhance Production Processes with Stratasys Additive Manufacturing Solutions’ (Wednesday 11th April, 12:45). In this session, Amos Breyfogle, Lead Application Engineer EMEA, Stratasys, will explain how the use of additive manufacturing – from prototyping, to production-line tooling as well as final end-use parts – can deliver significant time and cost efficiencies across the manufacturing operations of companies both large and small. This presentation will form part of the show’s Additive Manufacturing Conference.
To find out more about the potential of additive manufacturing for production, visit Stratasys in Hall 6, Stand 840 at MACH on April 9th-13th 2018 at the NEC Birmingham.
The McLaren Formula 1 2017 Car
3D printed replacement machinery parts manufactured on-demand by Visual First using Stratasys’ Fortus 450mc Production 3D Printer and FDM Nylon 12CF
Composite layup tool for a McLaren MCL32 rear wing flap, produced on a Stratasys Fortus 900mc 3D Printer using ULTEM 1010 material
Stratasys Fortus 450mc Production 3D Printer
To download the images associated with this advisory, please click here.
