Joint CEOs and founders of 3D Printing Studios, Howard Wood and Stuart Grover began their business with a mission to help customers “bring their ideas to life” by leveraging the latest technologies in additive manufacturing.
Their 3D printing bureau offers services such as rapid prototyping, functional production items and short-run manufacturing. Due to customer demand they also offer reverse engineering, as well as 3D design, equipment hire and training. The business was established in Sydney in 2013. It was Australia’s first ever 3D printing retail shop and the fifth worldwide. The business expanded to Perth a year later, and then to Melbourne in 2017.
In December, Howard and Stuart realised their vision to open a factory of the future where they specialise in mass personalisation – that is, functional items personalised for customers. Repeat short-run products can save customers large production set-up costs and cut down on waste with a just-in-time production approach.
Howard and Stuart’s factory of the future vision was realised with a world-class additive manufacturing solution supplied by John Hart: an EOS P396 industrial 3D printer, capable of producing thousands of high-quality plastic parts per week.
“We purchased the EOS because we needed this type of machine to continue our expansion,” says Howard. “We have been involved with additive manufacturing for a number of years and EOS has a reputation of producing reliable high-quality machines. This machine is renowned for reliability and when we did the ROI (return on investment) it made a lot of sense. It also has a large build area, suitable to our plan for high volume production.”
With total build size of 340mm x 340mm x 600mm, the EOS P396 covers the medium build volume range and sets the manufacturing standard for many industries like medical, defence and aerospace. The EOS P 396 processes an extensive portfolio of thermoplastic materials on an industrial scale, and is acclaimed for reproducible and constant component quality, cost-effective manufacturing and high productivity.
“The success of the Australian manufacturing sector relies on the momentum created by advanced manufacturing technologies such as selective laser sintering (SLS) and direct metal laser sintering (DMLS),” says Glenn Evans, John Hart’s NSW Branch Manager. “Companies like 3D Printing Studios are key to this success as they bring a lot of experience to the table and have supported hundreds of others in their journey to creating competitive advantages with additive manufacturing.”