HP Inc.is has released the first production-ready commercial 3D printing system, sparking a reinvention in design, prototyping and manufacturing.
The first commercial 3D printing solution based on an open platform, the HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution promises to create the highest quality physical parts, produce parts up to 10 times faster, and at half the cost of current 3D print systems.
HP is working with businesses such as BMW AG, Siemens AG and Nike Inc. as co-developers of the technology, reflecting the company’s open approach to building the new products, he said.
HP is investing in new industries as it looks for ways to drive growth after splitting last year from its corporate sibling, which focuses on business customers with servers, storage and services. The three-dimensional printers will begin to be delivered in late 2016 and may help the company in the future as it seeks to reverse a trend of declining sales amid sagging demand for paper-based documents.
About half of the custom parts inside the new printers are made by the printers themselves. The cost of one of the printer models starts at about $130,000, he said.
"Our 3D printing platform is unique in its ability to address over 340 million voxels per second, versus one point at a time, giving our prototyping and manufacturing partners radically faster build speeds, functional parts and breakthrough economics," said Stephen Nigro, president of HP’s 3D printing business. "The new HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution delivers a combination of speed, quality, and cost never seen in the industry. Businesses and manufacturers can completely rethink how they design and deliver solutions to their customers."
HP is offering two new 3D printers:
- The HP Jet Fusion 3D 3200 Printer is designed for prototyping, offering improved productivity and the capacity to grow usage at a lower cost per part.
- The HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 Printer is designed for prototyping and short-run manufacturing needs, with high productivity to meet same-day demands at the lowest cost per part.
- A synchronized set of tools includes software, an HP Jet Fusion 3D Processing Station with Fast Cooling, and high-quality materials.
HP is creating the 3D material app store and is already collaborating with such certified partners as Arkema, BASF, Evonik and Lehmann & Voss, with plans to expand the open platform ecosystem over time.
The HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 Printer will be delivered in late 2016, with the HP Jet Fusion 3D 3200 Printer following in 2017.
Pricing for the HP Jet Fusion 3D 3200 Printer starts at $130,000. Pricing for the full end-to-end solution (HP Jet Fusion 3D 3200 Printer and Processing Station) starts at $155,000.