Fortus 900mc Use Case—Direct Digital Manufacturing
The Fortus 900mc is the most powerful FDM-based additive manufacturing system for prototypes and production parts from Stratasys, with a 36 x 24 x 36 build tray and unmatched accuracy, repeatability and reliability. The size of the Fortus 900mc enables production-level 3D printing for large parts, as evidenced by our recent post about creating an industrial scaled assembly of the DodecaKong for American Piledriving Equipment. With many material options ranging from standard to high-performance thermoplastics (ABS-ESD7, ABSi, ABS-M30, ABS-M30i, ASA, FDM Nylon 12, PC, PC-ABS, PC-ISO, PPSF, Ultem 9085, Ultem 1010, S-130) , the Fortus 900mc can produce parts that stand up to the highest-performing traditionally manufactured objects in durability.
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Production-Grade Materials / / Build with thermoplastics that match the standards of many high-performance materials used in traditional manufacturing processes.
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Lights-Out Production / / An internal camera lets you monitor progress from anywhere. Plus, you can get up to two weeks of unattended build time with dual material bays and high-capacity material options.
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Faster Build Time for Large Parts / / When speed and scale are a priority, Fortus 900mc Acceleration Kits are available to build large parts multiple times faster.
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Flexibility & Control / / Embed hardware or circuitry, fine-tune part performance, optimize build speed or achieve a smoother finish. Insight software gives you ultimate control.
Fortus 900mc Use Case—Direct Digital Manufacturing
Founded more than sixty years ago, Thogus Products is a manufacturing company rooted in traditional injection molding. During economic challenges in the late 2000s, Thogus wanted to search for new sources of revenue. Matt Hlavin, the grandson of the companys founder, was familiar with the benefits of enterprise additive manufacturing so he restructured the teams approach to fabrication by bringing the Fortus Technology by Stratasys in-house. Just shortly after diversifying its offering with digital manufacturing as a means to production, Thogus saw 76% revenue growth in the next fiscal year.
“I see Stratasys FDM Technology as the future of manufacturing. We are using FDM Technology to accomplish things we never could before, Matt Hlavin, President of Thogus Products, told Stratasys (source). The manufacturer largely credits the drastic growth to Stratasys FDM technology, which the company has used to develop a manufacturing solution that streamlines the production process, passing along those savings to clients. The philosophy is simple and universal.
“We save in excess of $150,000 per year with FDM. I can’t imagine not having this technology in a manufacturing setting. It is as critical to our business as e-mail.”
Hlavin envisions Stratasys’ FDM technology as the critical future of plastics processing, manufacturing and product development.
“A lot of our work is in prototype development: short run, fast turn over. Stratasys FDM technology can take a CAD file and build a part in hours. We want to provide our clients functional parts they can use for testing and validation,” said Hlavin. “But what we’ve found after bringing in the machine is that there’s a far greater purpose to FDM. And it’s in our manufacturing process on our floor.”
FDM touches nearly every aspect of the business at Thogus. For example, instead of using a steel plate or aluminum frame for big, heavy end of arm tools that are expensive and take long time to build, the company uses 3D printing to build an end of arm tool faster and most cost effectively. A steel plate using an alternative method can cost Thogus up to $200 and take as long as two weeks. Using FDM, the team can 3D print a plate for $21 within two hours. An end of arm robot tool can cost the company up to $10,000 and take as long as four weeks. With FDM, Thogus can 3D print a the same part for about $618 within 24 hours.
“All manufacturers are looking for ways to move products to market faster and compress their production development cycles. One resource in this world you cannot purchase is time. Now, with FDM, we’re essentially able to sell time.”
If youd like to read the full story by Stratasys on Thogus experience using enterprise 3D printing equipment, read the original interview.
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Start a conversation with Fathom to chat with our experts about using additive for production with the Fortus series and check out more specifics on the Fortus 900mc and other Stratasys Production-level additive manufacturing machines on the Fathom website.
Credited Imagery Sources: Business Wire, Siemens, Javelin Tech
