Stratasys has become the first 3D printer company to offer a monthly lease option for bundled printer, software, and supplies. For less than the average monthly cost of outsourcing a single model or part, engineers can lease a professional uPrint printer, software, and all necessary supplies. The move comes as a logical extension of existing trends.
Bundled uPrint Print Packs include new special-edition versions of the company's uPrint 3D printer, the uPrint SE and uPrint SE Plus. Also included are CatalystEX software, startup supplies, a support removal system, and a cleaning station. The monthly lease price is $290 and $380, respectively, compared to the average price for getting a part made in a service bureau, which is $400, Jon Cobb, vice president of marketing for Stratasys, told Design News.
"There are three main differences between this offering and the previous uPrint printer," says Cobb. "We lowered the price on the 3D printing product by about 10 percent. We also increased the volume of the canister, the filament supply, by 30 percent. We added a new support material, based on a new filament called SR-30, which allows supports in both uPrint SE and uPrint SE Plus to be dissolved using water, a faster way than in the past."
The uPrint SE Print Pack is one of two professional 3D printer models Stratasys is offering in a fixed-price, monthly lease program that bundles printer, software and supplies.
Source: Stratasys
The new uPrint special edition machines replace the original uPrint and uPrint Plus. Instead of the 30 cubic inches available in the original uPrint series, material spools now contain 42 cubic inches of material. This requires less frequent spool changes and gives engineers the option of longer unattended print runs than before. Both printers use SR-30 soluble support material, which dissolves up to 50 percent faster in an agitation tank than the older support material, speeding part production. Like previous models, the new printers are designed for office use without the need for a dedicated operator, and maintain the small footprint of 25 inches by 26 inches.
Alex, another scenario is that there will be other technologies that superdeed 3D printing. I am thinking of real 3D visualization. There may always be a use for both, but 3D printing is not as mainstream as it might seem.
Chuck, the situation here is not very linear. The high end can mean either the materials or the users, but as far as who buys the equipment versus who uses a service bureau, that depends primarily on company size, not industry or application.
Ann: Do we have a sense of who the big companies are who were willing to make the necessary capital outlay? What industrioes were they from and will this open up new opportunities in other industries?
I think Beth's point paralleling what happened with high-end copiers and what's happening now with low-enbd 3D printers is well taken. In fact, Cobb gave that same parallel during the interview.
To Alex's comment about market bifurcation, that's a good question. I think the market is already bifurcating, but in a slightly different way: between low-end cheaply produced products for Everyman and Everywoman from either service bureaus or one's own 3D printer, versus higher-end commercial applications, both in-house and through service bureaus.
As Beth notes, this is of a piece with the mainstreaming of 3D printing. I'd also point out, though, that mainstreaming is just a smidgen away from commoditization, and when that happens, the margins tighten, there's less profit to be made, and innovation similarly slows. So what does this mean as far as 3D printing for prototyping? Will we have a bifurcated market, where low-end products are prototyped using cheap services, and high-quality, high-end stuff is done in-house or at more sophisticated service bureaus? That may not be bad, but then what happens to the middle (user)?
This is a really cool strategy and yet another example of just how quickly 3D printing is advancing into mainstream organizations. Offering a packaged solution with all the fixings as a lease option is the way high-end copiers made their way into organizations and now they're a fixture. While the numbers around leasing may not hold up long term compared to a capital expenditure on a 3D printer, my guess is the trend will get companies in the door to try the technology. Over time, they'll likely replace the lease option with a price-competitive 3D printer offering, but they won't likely give up the 3D print capabilities.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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