Automaker is Stratasys Inc's 10,000th Installation
PSA Peugeot Citroen, Brazil, Selects FDM 400mc for Prototyping and Direct Digital Manufacturing
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
(NASDAQ: SSYS) From the floor of the Nasdaq stock exchange, Stratasys announced that PSA Peugeot Citroen, Brazil, has purchased Stratasys' 10,000th additive fabrication machine. The landmark system sale was a high-precision FDM 400mc(TM) for the automaker's Product Engineering Facility in Porto Real City, Rio de Janeiro State.
The automaker is a business unit of PSA Peugeot Citroen, France, the second-largest European automaker, and a strong competitor in the Mercosur Market. The company produces both the Peugeot and the Citroen lines of automobiles.
Stratasys CEO, Scott Crump, announced the milestone today during the closing bell ceremony at Nasdaq.
Prototyping & Direct Digital Manufacturing
Design engineers will perform both rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing with the equipment. Engineers will mainly prototype components like grilles, trim, and mirrors, but also interior and drive-train parts.
"We'll also use the equipment to pioneer direct digital manufacturing at PSA Peugeot Citroen Brazil," says Mr. Milton Bueno da Silva Neto, who is responsible for the prototype development division in Mercosur country plants, Argentina and Brazil. "Building fabrication and assembly tools like jigs and fixtures for the production process can deliver immediate ROI by eliminating the time and expense of machining."
Direct digital manufacturing (DDM) is the technique of feeding CAD data directly to additive fabrication machines to produce components for end use. Although many manufacturers install the components in their products, even more build fabrication and assembly tools for their production processes. For low-volume production, DDM has numerous benefits, including the elimination of machining and tooling.
"It's a faster and more economical method of producing parts than other manufacturing processes," says da Silva Neto. "And the number of high-performance materials available with our new system - such as ABS, PC, PPSF, and blends -- gives us flexibility to create parts for a variety of functions."
Worldwide, PSA Peugeot Citroen owns 14 Stratasys additive fabrication machines at various locations. This includes six Dimension 3D printers and eight high-precision FDM systems.
Of 34 Manufacturers, Stratasys is Only One to Reach 10,000 Unit Mark
Of the 34 manufacturers of additive fabrication equipment worldwide, Stratasys is the only one to have reached 10,000 installations.
"Stratasys continues to stand out in unit sales," said industry consultant Terry Wohlers, president of Wohlers Associates, Inc. "No other company in the business has come close to selling similar volumes in recent years." This is largely due to Dimension 3D Printer sales.
The system purchased by PSA Peugeot Citroen, Brazil, the Stratasys FDM 400mc, is among the most accurate and repeatable additive fabrication systems available. And when used in conjunction with the company's new thermoplastic formulation -- ABS-M30 -- it creates parts up to 67 percent stronger than the standard Stratasys ABS formulation.
Stratasys Inc., Minneapolis, manufactures additive fabrication machines for 3D printing, prototyping and direct digital manufacturing. It also offers prototype and part manufacturing services through its RedEye RPM business unit. According to Wohlers Report 2008, Stratasys supplied 44 percent of all additive fabrication systems installed worldwide in 2007, making it the unit market leader for the sixth consecutive year. Stratasys patented and owns the rapid prototyping process known as fused deposition modeling (FDM(R)). The process creates functional prototypes and end-use parts directly from any 3D CAD program, using ABS plastic, polycarbonate, PPSF, and blends. The company holds more than 180 granted or pending additive fabrication patents globally. Stratasys products are used in the aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, education, electronic, and consumer product industries. On the Web: www.Stratasys.com, www.DimensionPrinting.com, and www.RedEyeRPM.com.
FDM 400mc and Dimension are trademarks, and FDM is a registered trademark, of Stratasys, Inc.
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Source: Stratasys Inc.
Released June 2, 2008