Bridging the Gap: STEP Accelerates Part Production With Lower Manufacturing Lifecycle Costs.
Current additive manufacturing solutions allow manufacturers to print geometrically complex and highly customizable parts at low volumes. On the other end of the spectrum is injection molding. Injection molding is the lowest-cost means to produce standard (not customized) parts with lower complexity at high volumes.
Evolve’s Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP) technology solves the challenges of the gap left in the manufacturing world where high complexity and mass customization more frequently need to be achieved across a wider range of quantities in a cost effective manner.
Evolve’s technology was developed to be an additive manufacturing solution that prints at production quantities. Prototyping with injection molding is a costly process in both time and money. So today, it is most common to use additive manufacturing for this. However, when moving from additive prototypes to injection molding for production, a new material must be chosen, tested, and parts may need to be redesigned in order to be moldable. Then the mold is made, and there is always an iteration or three on the making of the mold. This process is expensive and can delay new product introduction.
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STEP can print a high-quality prototype, in multiple versions, to help fine tune the part, and have it in production in the time it would take for an injection mold to be made, let alone perfected. By using STEP for product development through initial production, manufacturers don’t have to risk big investments in injection molds, or keep excess product on hand during early stages of market release.
These qualities are what make STEP perfect for bridging the gap between prototype and production. STEP can produce the detail and functionality of a commercial product with shorter lead time, scale up to early market offerings, and eventually go into full production.
Other AM's cannot bridge this gap of quality, materials, and time to production all together. You can have fine detail with UV polymerization, but not tough thermoplastic materials. You can have thermoplastics with FDM, but not detail, full density, and smooth surfaces. With powder bed fusion, you get PA-11 but it is not amorphous and tough. Instead it is porous and not as smooth or detailed.
STEP can print black ABS, gray ABS, and black PA-11. And more engineering thermoplastics are in the later stages of development.
STEP can create 'unmoldable' geometries with molded quality. Featuring very thick and very thin features in the same part, enclosed cavities, and threads in multiple orientations.
Historically, manufacturers have had to make the difficult choice between quality material or high fidelity. Now with STEP, you don’t have to be limited between part complexity, part quality, time to market, or significant lifetime product development costs.
Let the parts speak for themselves. Get a quote today to see the difference on a custom part made with STEP technology. Use the link below:
Senior Marketing Specialist
7 个月Great article!