HP announces world’s first production-ready 3D printers

July 5, 2016 5:12 pm

HP takes major step to reinvent prototyping and manufacturing industry with first commercial 3D printers based on open platform
  HP Inc has unveiled the world’s first production-ready commercial 3D printing system, marking the next major step in its journey to bring disruptive manufacturing solutions to market.
The company claims its HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution, “revolutionises design, prototyping and manufacturing, and for the first time, delivers superior quality physical parts up to 10 times faster and at half the cost of current 3D print systems.” By printing functional parts at the individual voxel level (a voxel is the 3D equivalent of a 2D pixel in traditional printing), HP offers customers an unprecedented ability to transform part properties and deliver mass customisation.
News highlightsDesigned for model shops and 3D print service bureaus, the HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution offers:• Simplified workflow and reduced cost for radical prototyping • Delivery of final parts manufacturing with breakthrough economics• Open materials and software innovation platform that lowers barriers to adoption and enables new applications across industries.
“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.”
“BMW is a pioneer and early adopter of innovative technologies in the field of additive manufacturing, especially for prototyping in concept cars and series-like approval builds. For our future roadmap toward serial part production and personal customisation, we see major potential in our partnership with HP to investigate this new kind of 3D printing technology at an early stage,” said Jens Ertel, Head of BMW Group Additive Manufacturing Centre.
End-to-end solutionHP is offering two new 3D printers, designed for rapid prototyping and production.• HP Jet Fusion 3D 3200 printer is ideal for prototyping, offering improved productivity and the capacity to grow usage at a lower cost per part. • 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 synchronised set of tools includes intuitive software, an innovative HP Jet Fusion 3D processing station with fast cooling, and high-quality materials.
Look to the FutureAs HP expands its palette of materials and colours, customers will benefit from the ability to transform part properties at voxel level, giving unprecedented control and allowing limitless combinations of applications, colours, and materials with unique and as-yet unimagined properties including:• Ability to print with embedded intelligence, like sensors in parts, is key to the Internet of Things.• Printing of parts with embedded information, like invisible traces or codes, will deliver a future of increased security and tracking for reinventing supply chains.
“In the future, up to 50 per cent of the custom plastic parts for the HP Jet Fusion 3D Printers are expected to be printed and produced with HP Multi Jet Fusion technology versus traditional manufacturing methods,” HP claims.
It adds, “Paired with innovation like Sprout by HP, complete digitisation of design through production will fundamentally disrupt traditional manufacturing. Digitisation and 3D printing can help revitalise regions across the globe that are balancing sustainability with industrial growth. Digitisation and 3D printing will reinvent traditional supply chains and create a ‘just in time’ delivery model.”