Stratasys J55 has been designed to fit into any small to medium design firm.
Stratasys has launched its lowest cost full colour 3D printer to date as it aims to bring a more accessible version of its PolyJet technology to designers and small to medium firms.
The new J55 is the latest iteration of the J-Series and promises realistic PANTONE validated colours, textures and transparency at a cost of 99K USD - around a third of the cost of enterprise-class PolyJet systems.
The J55 is a continuation of Stratasys' efforts to make its PolyJet technology more accessible following recent J Series additions over the last 12 months including the J850 and smaller, design firm oriented J826. This particular machine has been designed to speed up the product development cycle by delivering realistic models that match the shape, material, colour and finish of final products, and do so with a more accessible machine price point and footprint.
Stratasys says the J55 offers a level of "design realism" previously inaccessible to users in an office environment, putting 3D printing right next to the designer's desk in a similar style to the Stratasys' F123 series machines, taking up just 0.43m2 of floor space. Gina Scala, Director of Marketing, Global Education at Stratasys told TCT how a shift in the consumer goods industry, from functional products to design-driven products, was a driving factor in the additive manufacturing leader's decision to develop a product aimed at the fast-moving design market.
"We're really leaning into designing a product for these designers and going to companies where design is at their core," Scala explained. "What that means is that we have to solve problems for those companies at every stage of their design process. So from very early models through to their detailed design stage, and their high fidelity model, all of that has to be capable with one piece of technology.
"Where most designers are spending most of their time is in this middle stage, this detailed design. This is where you are really honing in on the aesthetics and the function of the product. Here, it's all about colour, material finish, the fit, feel and function also come in. Designers are producing the most models at this stage. Therefore, they need to do it rapidly. They need to get feedback, apply the feedback. What we found is if we compare this to traditional methods, really sending these models out to a model shop, the J55 allows these parts to be produced 79% quicker internally."
The J55 can print simultaneously with five colour materials, plus a sixth for printing supports, enabling nearly 500,000 colours plus transparencies and textures using VeroClear material. While it doesn't offer multi-material capabilities like the J series enterprise systems, what is does provide is a new patented rotating build platform with fixed print head, which is said to maximise reliability and machine footprint (the machine offers a max build volume of 22 litres) while also significantly reducing operational noise to a level similar to that of a home refrigerator.
In addition to hardware, Stratasys says it is also simplifying the design-to-print workflow by allowing common CAD and 3MF files to be imported via GrabCAD Print. It is also adding support for 3MF with Keyshot 3D rendering software for the first time, which is now in beta and planned for availability later this year.
Parts designed and 3D printed by Priority Designs on the Stratasys J55.
The J55 is available for pre-order but a number of machines have already been installed with customers including Cincinnati-based Kinetic Vision, a company which develops products for everything from consumer electronics to aerospace. Although the machine was in fact delivered in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which meant the machine had to be setup remotely with a smaller team of staff on-site, they managed to get everything up and running with just one employee and remote support.
Kinetic Vision's Director of Innovation and Industrial Design Tony Guard said, "My jaw dropped when I saw what the machine could do," he said. "We can validate products faster with form, colour, finish, graphics, everything. We can offer our clients tangible 3D-printed models that represent a final retail product, faster than we ever could before. I'd love the J55 to be our secret strategic advantage, but I don't think it will be a secret for long."
Scala added: "In 48 hours they were printing not only sample parts but customer parts and it sort of changed the way they did business but it also changed the way we did business because we went, 'Oh, well maybe we should trust our customers a little bit more, we're producing printers that are easy enough to use and get set up' […] so it really was an inflection point in time for all of us."
That early customer interaction has highlighted a multitude of areas where the technology makes sense, some of which Stratasys hadn't even intended such as printing labels and text directly onto products that would otherwise require extra steps. Additional capabilities include the ability to prototype surfaces that mimic leather, textiles or even transparent parts.
Scala elaborated: "They're super excited about not having to put decals on and being able to mock up logos and text and so on. The other piece that they're super excited about is light pipes. Light pipes are a clear tube within a part that you can shine a flashlight or your cell phone underneath and it will light up like it's the 'on' button for consumer electronics. [...] I showed all of these capabilities, I thought 'certainly it's going to be the leather or the simulated glass,' but no, those were two of the ones that they were struggling with their current technologies. That amazed the beta customers."
The Stratasys J55 will start shipping in July.
