HP Jet Fusion 3D Is ‘First Production Ready’ Commercial 3D Printer

HP is releasing what it claims is the world’s first ‘production-ready’ commercial 3D printer and already has support from several big name customers, including Nike, Siemens and BMW.

HP says the HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution represents a marked improvement over other 3D printers as it delivers superior quality products up to ten times faster and at half the cost.

Detailed

It’s able to do this by printing parts at an individual voxel level – a voxel is the 3D equivalent of a traditional 2D pixel.

HP says that this ability offers customers an unprecedented ability to transform part properties and deliver mass customisation, making it more attractive to businesses.

The 3D printer comes in two varieties. The HP Jet Fusion 3D 3200 is intended for prototyping and the HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 is designed for both prototyping and short-run manufacturing needs.

The HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 Printer will go on sale in the UK and other European markets in late 2016, with the HP Jet Fusion 3D 3200 Printer following in 2017. Exact UK prices are unknown as yet, but the system is not cheap at €120,000 (£94,000) for the 3200 and €145,000 (£114,000) for the 4200.

“Our 3D printing platform is unique in its ability to address over 340 million voxels per second, versus one point at a time, giving our prototyping and manufacturing partners radically faster build speeds, functional parts and breakthrough economics,” said Stephen Nigro, president of HP’s 3D printing business.

“The new HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution delivers a combination of speed, quality, and cost never seen in the industry. Businesses and manufacturers can completely rethink how they design and deliver solutions to their customers.”

A recent report from Gartner predictst 3D printers are set to become a common presence in homes and businesses. Analysts forecast shipments will more than double every year between 2016 and 2019, reaching more than 5.6 million.Overall, worldwide shipments of 3D printers will reach 496,475 units in 2016, up 103 percent from the predicted 244,533 units in 2015.

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