Driven by pressing needs for Industry 4.0 transformation, supply chain agility, customization and sustainability, additive manufacturing is growing at double-digit rates and for good reason. Manufacturers can produce end-use and series-production components more rapidly, more cost effectively, and with greater design freedom to improve function and performance versus traditional manufacturing methods.
Additive manufacturing is now a key tool for accelerating the most challenging and time-critical use cases in aerospace, automotive, energy and consumer packaged goods. Many projects that were once thought to be beyond the capability of 3D printing due to tight tolerances are now possible thanks to a new suite of tools enabling higher accuracy and process control.
Let’s look at a few examples:
- In aerospace, accuracy controls ensure that tight-tolerance, flight-certified parts for spacecraft such as docking hatch covers and cooling ducts as well as aircraft cockpit components meet safety standards.
- In automotive, unprecedented 3D printed part accuracy enable printed jigs, fixtures and parts to be used with minimal post-machining minimizing critical line down time and assuring that vehicles assemble correctly.
- Customization of consumer goods — not possible via conventional manufacturing methods — is accelerated with new advanced manufacturability analysis tools that enable high yields by catching and fixing potential build problems proactively.
By leveraging advanced software tools to enhance 3D printing accuracy, manufacturers across industries can speed production, reduce waste and design high-performing end-use products not feasible without additive manufacturing.
Accelerate product production and optimize workflows with GrabCAD Print Pro™
With the right set of resources, like advanced 3D printing software tools that repeatable, tight-tolerance production of 3D printed parts, manufacturers can now attain high yield rates in use cases previously unapproachable with additive manufacturing. Higher accuracy, repeatability and yield rates unlock faster production cycles, lower defects, and reduced material waste for high-requirement industrial applications.
Enter Stratasys GrabCAD Print Pro™. Our software enables never-before-possible 3D printed part accuracy by leveraging 3D scan data to close the manufacturing loop. This opens up new use cases and saves time in production launch schedules for manufacturing professionals using Stratasys FDM® and SAF™ technologies.
GrabCAD Print Pro, our premium version of Stratasys 3D printing software, not only provides advanced 3D slicer technology available in the standard GrabCAD Print™ software but also provides added intelligence across your enterprise’s existing software via third-party plugins. This level of integration means GrabCAD Print Pro users can get a more complete picture across their systems —from a choice of best-in-class solutions from providers that include MES, DRM, PLM, and analytics — to truly automate 3D printing tasks and optimize workflows.
Accuracy Center and Thickness Analysis revolutionize additive manufacturing capability
Exclusive to Stratasys GrabCAD Print Pro, the Accuracy Center empowers users to improve accuracy with 3D scan data so parts meet design intent right off the printer, reducing the burden of post-machining steps, high inspection rates and QA processes. By comparing a scan of the printed part against the intended design, the software automatically adjusts the model so the next print and the next thousand prints achieve the intended form and fit. For more on the Accuracy Center, see our tutorial video.
