The word 'collaboration' gets bandied around a lot in the additive manufacturing (AM) industry, with lots of promise but not always a lot of proof. But 10 years ago, when Dallas Martin, Additive Manufacturing Engineer at Toyota North America began working with Stratasys to build out the automotive company’s AM capacity – not just as a necessary tool, but as a new manufacturing platform – the act of collaboration was central.
Back then, Toyota’s print capabilities were sparse. At Martin’s former plant in Erlanger, Kentucky, it consisted of a Stratasys Connex 500, used for prototyping, in the corner of the room. Toyota eventually moved its facility to Georgetown, with a bigger maker space kitted out with a pair of Stratasys F370 systems, which were being tested as part of Stratasys’ beta programme. Seeing the technology starting to take off, Martin decided, they needed more.
