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F123 Series Five Reasons Enterprise 3D Printing

5 Reasons to Invest in Enterprise FDM

Today’s product development-focused teams have the ability to focus on how a product should function rather than how it’s made, an approach that drives greater innovation and pushes the limits of manufacturing. However, this design freedom cant be realized without enhancing foundational methods with additive technologies and materials. Speed is a proven benefit of using 3D printing, but fully integrating additive technologies into a product development process has a greater impact than that. More significantly, designers and engineers are released from the constraints of traditional manufacturing and liberated to embrace complexity. This hybridized process results in better products at an accelerated pace.

While price points for hobbyist level 3D printers are attractive, enterprise equipment delivers many times over—all of which easily justifies the investment.

If you’re looking to purchase a 3D printing system, the recently announced Stratasys F123 Series of 3D Printers are worth serious consideration. These enterprise level machines provide additional value that justifies the investment through increased capability, efficiency and reliability, as illustrated by the following features and attributes.


Five Reasons to Invest in Enterprise Equipment // Highlighting the Stratasys F123 Series of FDM-based 3D Printers

As highlighted in the recently featured white paper available on the Fathom blog.

Reason NO. 1—Soluble Support for Unlimited Design Possibilities

Certain geometries can’t be 3D printed without material that supports overhanging features and nested assemblies during the build process. Most consumer desktop printers lack support material capabilities for complex geometries like internal cavities and interlocking parts, which limits the design complexities that can be 3D printed. In contrast, the professional Stratasys F123 Series uses a unique and effective soluble support material, enabling more complex designs and fine details that include thinner walls and internal cavities. The hands-free removal process also saves labor, making the rapid prototyping process more productive and efficient.

Reason NO. 2—Precise Oven Control

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Controlling the temperature of the “oven”, the enclosed build chamber of an FDM printer, is critical for maintaining design specifications as the part is built. Curl is an inherent behavior of plastic as it cools from a melted state and controlling this characteristic is essential to maintain part quality, particularly for long, flat parts. This is achieved with uniform airflow and complex temperature control throughout the build area.

Desktop printers don’t have controlled build chambers. This limits the type of parts you can build, as well as the consistency of obtaining quality results. Stratasys F123 3D Printers achieve tight temperature uniformity across the build plane, with no “dead spots,” through a highly specialized design of electronics and temperature control algorithms. This allows the creation of large, flat parts that can be printed in a variety of densities from sparse to solid fill modes without the risk of curling.

Reason NO. 3—High Utilization Rates

3D printers used in workgroup settings usually experience high utilization, placing significant demands on the mechanical components. You don’t want your workgroup’s productivity hampered by poor 3D printer reliability, resulting in frequent downtime. Stratasys F123 3D Printers are designed and built for high utilization, using durable components such as:

  • Servo motors (vs. stepper motors) that are quieter and more robust for high-torque applications and dynamic load variations during printer operation, providing better control and more precise movement. Most low-priced desktop FDM printers use less expensive stepper motors, which typically produce a high-pitch whine making them bothersome in an office setting.
  • Durable motion-control components like linear profiled rails with ball bearings (instead of sleeve bearings). They provide better repeatability and accuracy of the 3D printed part, smoother and quieter operation, greater load-carrying capability and maintenance-free operation. Many low-cost desktop printers don’t use linear profiled rails, lowering the chance of repeatable part accuracy.

Reason NO. 4—Workgroup Productivity

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Stratasys F123 3D Printers offer multiple features that increase a workgroup’s productivity. GrabCAD Print software enables print queue and multi-tray management, giving your team visibility to each member’s print jobs, the ability to manage the print sequence and prioritize important jobs. The software also imports native CAD files, making it easier and faster to go from CAD model to print. Stratasys F123 user interface touch screens display in 10 languages, offering ease of use across global markets. The user interface on most desktop 3D printers has limited functionality and minimal language options.

Reason NO. 5—3DPrinter Longevity

There is value in establishing your rapid prototyping infrastructure on proven technologies by a company with market tenure. 3D printer manufacturers lacking this experience may be here today but gone tomorrow, cutting off access to spare parts, material and support. The Stratasys F123 Series is a professional 3D printing platform, based on over 25 years of Stratasys experience developing and supporting 3D printers, materials and customer solutions.

To learn more about the F123 Series of 3D printers, read the Q&A product review with Dylan Oliver. The Fathom team in Seattle has hands-on experience using the F370 for prototyping and direct digital manufacturing. If you are looking for a system with a larger build tray, more material options and additional features, check out the Fortus Series product review by Fathom’s support team. Not big enough? You can also read about the largest FDM system, the Fortus 900mc.

Ready for the next step? Start a conversation with a Fathom account manager today / / Contact Us

Comprehensive Capabilities for Rapid Manufacturing

At Fathom we offer a unique advantage of speed and agility-our experts help companies go from concept to prototype to manufacturing in ways not previously possible. 

90+ Machines  
SLS / / Two-day  SLA / / Next-day 
FDM / / Next-day DMLS / / Three-day 
PolyJet / / Same-day MJF / / Two-day
   

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30 Second Quotes
Prototype Tool / / As soon as 10 days
10K Parts / / 10 days
Production Tool / / As soon as 3 weeks
 

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3 & 5 Axis Milling & Turning
(Plastics, Composites and Metals)

Tolerance Accuracy Range
from +/-0.001″ to 0.005″

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Injection Molding Adjacent
without High Costs of Metal Tools

Most Commonly Used for High-Volume
Prototyping & Bridge to Production

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Finishing, Production Painting and Color Matching

Assembling, Including Embedded Electronic
Components, Threaded Inserts, and More

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CAD, DFAM and DFM Services

Apply Methods to Increase Speed
and Decrease Total Cost

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Highly Trained Staff / / Full-Time & Part-Time
Support as Short-Term & Long-Term Strategy

Decrease Downtime with Customizable
Staffing Accelerates Implementation

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Fathom is driven by advanced technologies and methods that enhance and accelerate today’s product development and production processes.

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Manufacturing Locations Across National Time Zones
Manufacturing Locations Across National Time Zones
The Fathom Advanced Manufacturing Platform
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HEADQUARTERS

1050 Walnut Ridge Drive
Hartland, WI 53029
ISO 9001:2015
AS9100:2016
ITAR

ARIZONA

444 W. 21st St. Ste. 101
Tempe, AZ 85282
ISO 9001:2015
NIST800-171 Compliant
ITAR

COLORADO

7770 Washington St.
Denver, CO 80229
ISO 9001:2015
ITAR

MINNESOTA

13758 Johnson Street NE
Ham Lake, MN 55304

TEXAS

1801 Rowe Lane
Pflugerville, TX 78660
ISO 9001:2015
AS9100:2016

1513 Sam Bass Rd
Round Rock, TX 78681
ISO 9001:2015
ISO 13485:2016

CALIFORNIA

620 3rd Street
Oakland, CA 94607
ISO 9001:2015 Design Certified
NIST 800-171 Compliant
ITAR

FLORIDA

14000 N.W. 58th Court
Miami Lakes, FL 33014

NEW YORK

1920 Slaterville Rd
Ithaca, NY 14850
ITAR

401 W. Shore Blvd.
Newark, NY 14513
AS9100:2016
ISO 9001:2015
ITAR

ILLINOIS

1207 Adams Drive
McHenry, IL 60051
ISO 9001:2015

1401 Brummel Ave
Elk Grove, IL 60007
ISO 9001:2015 Design Certified

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