Ultimaker 3 Ext
Ultimaker 3 Extended
Bosch, the German engineering and electronics company, has made a global investment in Ultimaker 3 Extended printing machines.
The printers will be deployed in a variety of Bosch facilities around the world, including Germany, Hungary, China, India, the US, and Mexico. They will be utilised for the manufacture of tooling, jigs and fixtures, as well as for producing prototypes, and are expected to contribute to the reductions of manufacturing and design costs.
Bosch is said to have selected the Ultimaker machine after testing several desktop platforms. The company says the Ultimaker 3 Extended solutions are the most reliable and easy-to-use professional grade machines it tested, and will now use them to enhance its services to the automotive, consumer and energy industries, among others. In addition to the cost-savings, Bosch is also wanting to take advantage of the time savings, getting products to market faster and supplying them across the world.
For Ultimaker, its further validation that its 3D printing equipment can be harnessed for industrial use. John Kawola, Ultimaker’s North America President, speaking to TCT last autumn highlighted how desktop 3D printers can enable professionals to achieve the ideas they’ve had for 15 – 20 years, at the affordable price they’ve always wanted. It’s exemplified in the volume manufacture of jigs and fixtures, like Volkswagen Autoeuropa has been doing, and now, as Bosch is set to replicate.
“We are very happy that this well-respected, leading supplier of technology and services chose our desktop 3D printers after an intensive selection procedure by its Additive Manufacturing department,” said Jos Burger, CEO at Ultimaker. “The team at Ultimaker is working hard to make 3D printing accessible by continuously improving our hardware, software, materials and services. This global investment of Bosch confirms that our 3D printing ecosystem is ready to advance innovation on a global scale. The quality and speed of our service is the same in all countries, which helps our clients to go from an idea to manufacturing validation in just a few data, no matter where they are in the world.”
The Ultimaker 3 Extended model is a slightly larger machine than the standard 3 product. It boasts a build volume of 215 x 215 x 300 mm (197 x 215 x 300 mm when dual extrusion is used), compared to the standard 215 x 215 x 200 mm (197 x 215 x 200 mm dual extrusion) dimensions.
