Craitor

We’re excited to attend NDIA and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s 2025 Pacific Operational Science & Technology (POST) Conference in Honolulu this week. ADM Paparo’s keynote underscored the critical importance of re-imagining how we deploy 3D printing capabilities in the USINDOPACOM AOR and we’re on the warpath to supporting that evolution. Come visit us today at the America Makes Booth or out at MCBH Kaneohe Bay this Friday for POST FX, where we’ll be printing replacement parts for other demonstrators’ capabilities in the field. Thank you, America Makes, for featuring us at the booth this week!

Edited 28 Feb: This post has been altered for correctness and clarity. ? Getting mission-critical parts into the hands of warfighters—faster, cheaper, and exactly when they need them—is where FieldFab thrives. This week, we’re honored that Craitor is supporting Operation Legal Eagle, a 21-day training exercise focused on testing the capabilities of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) with US Army. During the exercise, sUAS units developed and deployed by EchoMAV, LLC. and enabled by Civil-Military Innovation Institute Inc. will be test manufactured in the field using FieldFab and other printer systems—demonstrating how warfighters can build, iterate, and deploy in real-time. ? FieldFab is uniquely designed for expeditionary operations, built to withstand harsh environments and deliver precision manufacturing at the point of need. This exercise is about more than just printing parts—it’s about training warfighters to trust and leverage on-demand manufacturing in the field, so when it’s time to execute, they know it will deliver. Check out EchoMAV, LLC. and Civil-Military Innovation Institute Inc. for more. Learn more about OLE here: https://lnkd.in/di2sbK2m Picture Credit: U.S. Army photo at EagleWERX by Staff Sgt. Kaden Pitt, Oct. 10, 2024.?Non-Craitor personnel pictured.

What an incredible week at #MILAM25! We’re energized by the conversations and innovations happening in additive manufacturing for defense and beyond. Check out Eric Shnell's sneak peek into new features - revealed at #MILAM25—lots of insight on where the industry is headed and the exciting role Craitor is playing in shaping that future. What stood out to you at #MILAM25 this year? Drop your thoughts in the comments! Manufacture Anywhere. #MILAM2025 #FutureOfManufacturing #AdditiveManufacturing #Craitor

Live from MILAM in Tampa! We’re all set up and ready to go at Booth 207! If you’re attending MILAM this week, stop by to see FieldFab in action and chat with the team. Want to set up a time to meet? Reach out to Will Landry or swing by the booth. Let’s talk about the future of additive manufacturing for mission-critical operations. ?? Booth 207 ?? February 11 & 12 See you there!

We'll be at #MILAM25 next week! Come by the Craitor booth #207, meet the team and watch FieldFab in action, or as Eric Shnell suggests, give it a kick! Manufacture Anywhere.?

What comes to mind when you hear "3D printing"? For most people, it's probably prototyping or small, novelty items. But that’s not FieldFab. → It’s designed to survive extreme environments, from the desert to the mountains to the harshest cold. → It works on the back of a moving vehicle or in the most challenging, remote areas where supply chains are disrupted or don’t exist. → It produces parts in the field in hours, not weeks. No waiting for long lead times. We’ve spent years testing and iterating FieldFab with the Marines and Navy in places like Camp Pendleton, Okinawa, and the mountains of Bridgeport, testing real scenarios. When a drone goes down or a vehicle needs a part that’s nowhere to be found, FieldFab delivers - anywhere. Follow us at Craitor if you want to know more about how we’re shaping the future of additive manufacturing for military logistics. https://lnkd.in/gjTihmRc

We’re back this Friday with Meet a Craitor Team Member: ?? Daniel Valdes, COO A 21-year USMC vet, Dan helped integrate 3D printing into military operations. He’s focused on making sure we deploy critical parts, no matter the environment. Dan joined Craitor in 2020 as COO after retiring from the USMC. During his service, Dan operated as a technical expert in communication maintenance and was a Communications Maintenance Chief during his tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Marine Corps Forces Central Command. After returning to the States, he put his knowledge of maintenance to use in the research and development of applications for Additive Manufacturing within the USMC. Dan helped found the Additive Manufacturing Training Center at Camp Pendleton and personally developed the Additive Manufacturing Training Program that is currently used across the DoD and is recognized by the US Department of Labor. He has been a valuable contributor to the DoD Advanced Manufacturing ecosystem and has leveraged his expertise to deploy 3D printing capabilities where they are needed most.

A Marine is miles from any supply chain when their drone crashes after a critical mission. There’s a broken part that would usually take months to fix. But not this time. Instead, they grab a rugged 3D printer from their kit, tap a few buttons on its tablet, and hit print. A few hours later, the drone’s back in the air, mission accomplished. This isn’t some wild sci-fi idea. It’s the reality we created with FieldFab. Plug it in, pick the part, hit print, and you’re back in business. What once took months now takes hours—keeping legacy systems running smoothly without costly upgrades or production delays. The battlefield’s changing. And the way we support it is, too. Manufacture Anywhere.

Myth: 3D printers can’t handle the extremes. Reality: We’ve been proving the opposite for 7 years. It all started with a group of Marines from Camp Pendleton trying to use off-the-shelf 3D printers in harsh environments. They struggled. The printers failed in temperature shifts, humidity, and coastal fog. So the Craitor team rolled up our sleeves and dove in. We worked with them every day for 4 years, engineering solutions and modifying commercial printers to survive in the wild. What we realized was that the real challenge wasn’t just transporting the printer to the field — it was making it print consistently in those harsh environments. That’s what inspired us to build FieldFab: This 3D printer can print from the arctic to the jungles of the Philippines and not miss a beat. It’s what happens when you test, iterate, and collaborate. And we’re just getting started. Follow along to see where we take this technology next! Manufacture Anywhere.

Did we create the world’s most durable and portable 3D printer? In 2024, we launched FieldFab, the only 3D printer that can survive any environment — and more importantly, print in any environment. ? Freezing -40°C/F temps in the Arctic ? Sweltering 120°F in the desert ? Over rough bumps and hits in a Humvee? ? Rough waves on a ship battling the ocean Wherever our warfighters are, FieldFab prints critical parts for them consistently. It works even when it's lifted or knocked around. With FieldFab, Manufacture Anywhere. Come check it out in person at one of our upcoming trade shows in 2025: Military Additive Manufacturing Summit (MILAM) February 11-12, 2025 Tampa, FL Pacific Operational Science & Technology (POST) Conference and Field Experimentation 2025 March 3-7, 2025 Honolulu, HI Photo: Craitor was honored to receive the 2024 Award?for Expeditionary/Tactical 3D Printing Excellence at the #MILAM?3D Printing?Awards