With Shipping to Customers Underway, Desktop Metal Introduces Studio System+ and Studio Fleet

Download as PDF

Advanced Metal 3D Printing System Delivers Higher Resolution Printing In-house and a Path to Bring Low Volume Production to the Shop Floor

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Desktop Metal, the company committed to making metal 3D printing accessible to manufacturers and engineers, today introduced the Studio System+, an advanced metal 3D printing system combining all the innovative and office-friendly features of the original Studio System™ with even more functionality to print small metal parts with higher resolution. The company also announced the introduction of Studio Fleet™, a custom-configurable solution designed to address today’s challenges in low to mid volume production.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180906005087/en/

Introducing the new Studio System+ from Desktop Metal: an advanced metal 3D printing system to deliv ...

Introducing the new Studio System+ from Desktop Metal: an advanced metal 3D printing system to deliver higher resolution printing in-house. (Photo: Business Wire)

“As our office-friendly systems are making their way to customers throughout the country, we’re excited to announce the launch Studio System+ and Studio Fleet which together offer enhanced features for metal prototyping and low volume production,” said Ric Fulop, CEO and Co-founder of Desktop Metal. “Engineers and designers who are looking to push the limits of metal 3D printing with small parts or parts with fine details can now achieve even higher-resolution, with a customizable system configuration for greater process efficiency and throughput right on the shop floor.”

The new Studio System+ retains all the key features of the original Studio System with advancements that allow customers to build to scale and offer high-resolution printing. Studio Fleet adds a custom-configurable, in-house metal 3D printing solution to support a variety of production scenarios and scales for a wide range of low- to mid-volume applications across industries. For the first time, on-demand metal 3D printing will be able to deliver accessible and scalable manufacturing that adapts to diverse business needs, part requirements, production volumes and cost constraints.

The Studio System – World’s First Office-Friendly Metal 3D Printing System
The original Studio System, which made its debut in 2017, is the world’s first and only office-friendly metal 3D printing system for rapid prototyping. Safe and simple to use, the Studio System is designed to make metal 3D printing more accessible, enabling design and engineering teams to make metal parts faster, without the need for special facilities, dedicated operators, or expensive tooling. The three-part solution, including printer, debinder and furnace, automates metal 3D printing by tightly integrating through Desktop Metal’s cloud-based software to deliver a seamless workflow for printing complex metal parts in-house—from digital file to sintered part.

Building off the flagship system, the Studio System+ incorporates new print capabilities as well as hardware updates designed for increased throughput, allowing users to:

  • Print at higher resolution.
    A new swappable high resolution printhead with supporting software profiles allows for smaller parts with finer features and an improved surface finish. This creates opportunities for new geometries and applications with the ability to print parts similar to those produced with metal injection molding (MIM)—parts featuring sintered voxels as tiny as 240 microns in XY by 45 microns in Z, which is smaller than a grain of table salt—making it ideal for a variety of applications such as parts for consumer electronics, medical devices and automotive.
  • Watch a live stream of the build.
    An in-chamber build plate camera captures a live stream video of the part as it prints, so users can closely monitor print progress.
  • Experience new software improvements.
    Including automatic mold lock prevention, part positioning and fleet management.
  • Debind and sinter in bulk.
    New stackable shelving increases part capacity of the debinder and furnace for even greater throughput. Increased workload volume addresses bottlenecks typical of other solutions at the debind and sinter stages.
  • Produce even better parts.
    A new retort box design increases thermal uniformity, resulting in higher-quality parts.
  • Reduce operational costs.
    The system now features the option to connect to external gas tanks or a house gas line, which reduces the cost of consumables and results in lower cost-per-part.

Configure a Studio Fleet
Studio Fleet is a custom-configurable solution for in-house metal 3D printing—supporting a range of applications for low to mid-volume production. Built to scale, it leverages Studio System+ technology—including a software-controlled workflow and stackable shelving for batch processing—for the rapid production of high-quality, complex metal parts. For the first time, on-demand metal 3D printing will deliver accessible and scalable manufacturing that adapts to diverse business needs, part requirements, production volumes, and cost constraints.

At launch, the Studio Fleet is available to be built in two configurations:

  • 3:1:1
    With 3 printers + 1 debinder + 1 furnace, customers can realize a 200 percent increase in throughput for only a 50 percent increase in system cost.
  • 5:2:1
    With 5 printers + 2 debinders + 1 furnace, users will be able to realize 400 percent increase in throughput for only a 100 percent increase in system cost.

“Since the introduction of our original Studio System, we’ve worked closely with hundreds of customers across major industries—aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, cosmetics, and more—to identify key applications and their requirements to incorporate metal additive manufacturing into the design process” said Fulop. “This research continues to inform our product development, and we are excited to release an enhanced version of the world’s first office-friendly metal 3D printing solution that will help customers more effectively meet those needs.”

The original Studio System is now being shipped in volume to current reservation holders in the United States and will continue to be available to interested customers to reserve through October 5, 2018. The new Studio System+, which replaces the original system, is available to reserve immediately. The Studio System+ printer sells for $60,000 and the complete system hardware is available for $160,000. Desktop Metal said all previously existing orders for the original Studio System will be offered the opportunity to purchase the new Studio System+ features on request with a special discount. For more information, including pricing on Studio Fleet, customers should visit www.desktopmetal.com.

About Desktop Metal
Desktop Metal, Inc., based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is accelerating the transformation of manufacturing with end-to-end metal 3D printing solutions. Founded in 2015 by leaders in advanced manufacturing, metallurgy, and robotics, the company is addressing the unmet challenges of speed, cost, and quality to make metal 3D printing an essential tool for engineers and manufacturers around the world. Since its inception, the company has raised $277 million in financing with a portfolio of strategic partners and investors, including Ford Motor Company, GV (formerly Google Ventures), GE Ventures, BMW iVentures, Lowe’s, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and more. In 2017, Desktop Metal was selected as one of the world’s 30 most promising Technology Pioneers by World Economic Forum; named to MIT Technology Review’s list of 50 Smartest Companies; and recognized among the most important innovations in engineering in Popular Science’s “2017 Best of What’s New.” For more information, visit www.desktopmetal.com.

Desktop Metal, Inc.
Lynda McKinney, 978-224-1282
Head of Communications
Lyndamckinney@desktopmetal.com

Source: Desktop Metal, Inc.

Released September 6, 2018