Stratasys Direct opens expanded Polyjet Design and Print Center

Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Stratasys opened the PolyJet Design and Print Center at their location in Eden Prairie, Minn. The expanded facility is the largest on-demand PolyJet print bureau in North America and centralizes Stratasys Direct’s PolyJet capacity and expertise into one location. The PolyJet Design Center features more than 16 state-of-the-art PolyJet 3D printers, including two J55 Prime printers.

As part of the facility opening, Stratasys Direct also unveiled its new multicolor workflow that is designed to streamline and shorten the design-to-print process for PolyJet 3D printing. Previously, customers needed to submit individual files for each color, material, texture, and geometry. With the new workflow, customers can now design multi-color, multi-part designs in a single 3MF file format, which contains all the model information — textures, materials, colors, and mesh. This new workflow significantly streamlines the design and iteration process, enabling customers to save time on prototype versions and final production, ensuring parts get to market faster.

“We see a growing customer demand for PolyJet 3D printing and we’re already observing strong interest in these expanded capabilities,” said Rich Garrity, Stratasys Americas president. “Whether customers use us for a single project to supplement their additive manufacturing capabilities, or they choose us to be their sole provider of 3D printed parts, Stratasys Direct has the expertise and facilities to support their needs.”

The new workflow coupled with the introduction of the Stratasys J55 Prime to the PolyJet center gives designers and engineers easy access to 3D printers that can create full-color designs that integrate tactile, textual, and sensory elements for functional prototyping. Now, designers and engineers can go beyond their existing design possibilities and take their ideas from concept to reality quicker and in a more realistic style.

Derek Rund, Lead Senior Industrial Designer for Kinetic Vision, a product design firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio, added, “Using the new simplified 3MF workflow enables us to bypass a handful of software applications allowing us to export printable files that include colorful graphics, complex textures, and multiple opacities in one step.”