Incase will have access to Carbon M2 printers and programmable UV-curable resins.
Manufacturer of device protection solutions, Incase has teamed up with Carbon to change the way it manufactures protective cases for mobile devices. The multi-year partnership, announced just in time for CES, will see Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis 3D printing technology used to fundamentally alter the material composition and development of their products.
Incase will be adopting Carbon’s algorithm-based design and simulation software which uses diamond-like lattice structures to create shapes that are optimised to absorb achieve maximum impact and drop protection in the lightest frame possible. The company will have access to 20 Carbon M2 printers and range of programmable UV-curable resins, which can be engineered to create semi-rigid structures and complex material compositions.
Building on Carbon’s ethos that you can prototype on the same system and with the same materials with which you manufacture, the partnership will allow Incase to design and iterate products much faster than with injection moulding.
“With Carbon, we’re rewriting the playbook on device protection, marking a new era in the mobility industry, covering every aspect of the business,” said Andy Fathollahi, Chief Executive Officer, Incase. “In addition to redefining device protection from a material level, our partnership with Carbon significantly changes the mobility space operationally, delivering benefits such as faster go-to market strategies, on-demand supply chain simplification, reduced tooling and prototyping stages and customisation opportunities for our customers. Together, we are effectively changing the way mobile device protection will be thought of in the future.”
Incase products printing on the Carbon M2 printer.
The partnership is one of a growing number for the Silicon Valley 3D printing company which last year began a collaboration with adidas on its Futurecraft 4D shoe, one of the highest volume production applications for 3D manufacturing to date.
“We are unlocking a new era in design and manufacturing, enabling designers and engineers to create previously impossible products and open up entirely new business models,” said Phil DeSimone, Vice President of Business Development and Co-founder, Carbon. “We are very excited to partner with Incase, fundamentally changing how device protection is designed, engineered, made, and delivered. The age of digital 3D Manufacturing is here, and we believe this will profoundly disrupt traditional manufacturing methods used to develop device protection today.”
The collaboration gives Incase the exclusive right to co-brand printed protective mobile solutions with the Carbon name. More details on the partnership will be released this week during CES 2018.
