3D Printing Service Providers Metal Additive Manufacturing

Stratasys Direct Manufacturing adds VELO3D Sapphire 3D printer to metal AM portfolio

Victor AnusciApril 19, 2019

1 minute read

Stay up to date with everything that is happening in the wonderful world of AM via our LinkedIn community.

Stratasys Direct Manufacturing recently expanded its metal additive manufacturing offering with the addition of VELO3D’s Sapphire 3D printing system and Flow software. VELO3D’s laser fusion metal AM platform is best known for its capability to 3D print complex geometries with few or no support structures.

A subsidiary of Stratasys, Stratasys Direct Manufacturing is one of the largest AM services providers in North America, providing a broad range of AM technologies to its customers, including PolyJet printing, Multi Jet Fusion, Direct Metal Laser Sintering, FDM processes, SLS and more.

With the addition of VELO3D’s Sapphire system, Stratasys Direct Manufacturing now offers a broader range of metal AM solutions. Released in August 2018, the Sapphire platform and accompanying Flow software offer tools for support generation, simulated print predictions, per-surface process application, slice composition and process review. The hardware specifically allows for in-situ metrology, close-loop control and low-to-no support structures.

Velo3D Sapphire Stratasys Direct Manufacturing — The Sapphire system is capable of support-free metal parts

“The Sapphire system from VELO3D is an important part of advancing our capabilities to include using additive metals in applications and geometries previously challenging to 3D print,” said Kent Firestone, CEO of Stratasys Direct Manufacturing. “This is a natural step in building our service portfolio, and we are excited to take on projects with more complexity to drive further adoption of serialized production additive manufacturing and push the boundaries of 3D metal printing.”

The addition of the Sapphire 3D printing system will enable Stratasys Direct Manufacturing to keep up with a growing market demand for metal AM production.

“The Sapphire system from VELO3D enables a new level of manufacturing above and beyond current metal additive manufacturing systems, and we’re excited that Stratasys Direct Manufacturing has chosen to add this platform to their fleet,” said Benny Buller, CEO of VELO3D. “Stratasys Direct Manufacturing is a leader in metal additive manufacturing, advancing critical applications across many industries. Together, we look forward to pushing the boundaries of what is possible and solving the most complex customer problems with support free metal AM.”