UK badge manufacturer Badgemaster has a produced a new reusable name badge for a high street retailer with the support of Photocentric’s 3D printing technology.
Badgemaster turned to 3D printing after it could not get new tooling manufactured in time for its client’s deadline. The name badge had been designed to feature a high impact polystyrene injection moulded back component with the retailer demanding 30,000 units.
Having seen Photocentric’s capacity to additively manufacture significant volumes of face mask visors for the NHS during the pandemic, Badgemaster enquired about the same LC Magna printing farm turning around its 30,000-unit name badge order. After successfully conducting product trials to determine whether the name badges were suitable for additive manufacture, Photocentric completed the print job over a three-week period. Though 3D printing the components was more expensive than the conventional method, they were turned around at what was deemed to be a ‘commercially acceptable premium.’
“The original design concept for our badge had been put on hold during the pandemic. Our customer then renewed its interest once the situation eased. However, the short lead time meant that tooling was impossible. As a proud ‘Made in Britain UK manufacturer’ ourselves, we were keen to look at Photocentric as another innovative UK manufacturer to provide a solution for us,” commented Ian Bradbeer, Managing Director at Badgemaster. “Photocentric were responsive to Badgemaster’s requirements and were able to meet the volume requirements in a particularly short lead time.”
“We were thrilled to assist Ian and the team at Badgemaster for this project in which our print farm was able to deliver a rapid turnaround of components at the quality required, with no tooling necessary,” added Sally Tipping, Sales Director at Photocentric. “Allowing our client to deliver for an important high street partner in a challenging timeframe is a great example of the strengths of additive manufacturing as a solution, and it emphasises the benefits of our LCD 3D technology.”
