Founded in Germany, 2014, BigRep’s vision is to innovate the 3D printing and manufacturing business. Opening to a new dimension of 3D printing and 3D manufacturing.

BigRep has developed machines that prints with engineering-grade materials to ensure users can manufacture the applications they need, in large scale.

BigRep printers are designed for industrial applications, BigRep developed its proprietary Metering Extruder Technology (MXT®), unlike from regular FDM (fused deposition modeling) also known as FFF, MXT is a faster and more accurate extrusion technique, this helps reduce regular FDM extrusion issues and helps to produce faster prints, thus eliminating some limitations of FFF extrusion.

The inclusion of a Bosch Rexroth CNC Control System brings new IoT features to industrial additive manufacturing for industry 4.0 integration. With tools like remote operation, data collection, cloud-based analytics and more, the BigRep PRO ensures seamless production by enabling print quality monitoring and fleet management anytime and anywhere.

Most recently BigRep introduced a 3D printer rental service, this leasing platform is available across North America.

“For the first time, our service makes a large-format industrial 3D printer available to new customers or small- to mid-sized businesses looking for a hassle-free and flexible turnkey AM solution at an affordable rate,” says Frank Marangell, BigRep CBO and President of BigRep America. “Facing a challenging economic environment and volatile markets, customers today want quick and flexible solutions without big investments or long-term obligations. By making 3D printing available today, BigRep is helping companies stay ahead of the curve with an agile manufacturing solution to be even more competitive tomorrow.”

All in all, the BigRep machines are a viable option for small businesses and manufacturers looking for an industrial-grade 3D printer that is relatively affordable and has a larger build volume, especially to industries and processes where reliability and repetitive prints are a must.

The revolutionary AMpolar i2 brings several features and advantages to printing Additive Manufacturing parts on a truly industrial scale.

First introduced in Formnext 2019, the AMpolar i2’s patented Additive Manufacturing process uses an array of Xaar 1003 printheads to jet parts at volume, and at a significantly reduced cost when compared to traditional 3D printing machines.

The highly productive single-pass printing process delivers build volumes of up to 700 liters across its pioneering, continuously rotating print platform.

In terms of capabilities, the printer has a multi-process ability where additional automated equipment can be integrated within the printing process.

The 3D printer has two different modes of production, the Manufacturing Mode and the Prototyping Mode. In the MM mode, the user will benefit from the platform’s large build volume for series production. On the other hand, in the PM mode, the focus will be to enable high speed rapid prototyping due to shorter cycle-time.

The German company dp polar has partnered with ALTANA AG, a leading specialty chemicals company, to offer tailored materials for its platform.

As we covered in previous articles, the Xaar 1003 printhead combines highly accurate drop placement, consistent drop volume and high frequency jetting with variable drop size capability to deliver precise functional fluid control. This is essential for precise production patterns and surface characteristics.

Mike Seal, Xaar’s Business Development Manager, Advanced Manufacturing and 3D Printheads said; “dp polar’s use of the Xaar 1003 printhead and the innovative design of the AMpolar i2, shows the natural progression of photopolymer jetting from a prototyping technology to a true manufacturing process; a transition we are seeing more and more within functional inkjet applications”.

Mimaki has just introduced their 3rd 3D printer, they first debuted the Mimaki 3DUJ-553 back in September 2017, a 10 million-color 3D printer; In contrast their new product, the Mimaki 3DGD-1800 is a large-sized/high-speed 3D printer, to be precise a machine that can print at a maximum speed of 35cm (height) per hour, this in a special UV curing resin.

The Mimaki 3DGD-1800 is a solution developed in association with Massivit 3D, the pioneer in large format 3D printers, the printer’s available molding area is 1.45 x 1.11 x 1.8 meters (57.1 x 43.7 x 70.9"), the printer has 2 gel dispensing extruders giving the machine the ability to print 2 different objects at the same time, basically the same specs the Massivit 1800.

Just like the Massivit 1800, the Mimaki 3DGD-1800 uses the Gel Dispensing Printing (GDP) technology developed by Massivit, this guarantees fast curing times and reduces the need for support material, this is done thanks to an ultraviolet photosensitive gel-type curable resin, the resin is laid out in a similar way as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printers do, with the difference being the material used.

Mimaki first announced their latest 3D printer, the 3DGD-1800, back in march, and has made it available since April 1st 2020

In the following table you can see the complete specs of the Mimaki 3Dgd-1800: