Stratasys Ltd. has grown its GrabCAD® Software Partner Program to six companies in its first six months with the addition of Teton Simulation, which utilizes the new GrabCAD DFAM Software Development Kit to help customers improve the reliability of additive manufacturing builds.
The expansion of Stratasys’ line-up of manufacturing-ready 3D printers using FDM®, SAF™, and P3™ technologies is making it easier for customers to turn to additive manufacturing for more critical roles in the production process. Stratasys is now leveraging its leadership in polymer 3D printing to build ecosystems of partners, from software to materials to post-processing, to provide complete additive manufacturing solutions for its customers. A growing set of enterprise software applications through the GrabCAD Software Partner Program give customers the power to integrate, manage, and support additive manufacturing at scale.
“Our focus is on making it easier for advanced manufacturing initiatives to integrate 3D printing on the factory floor for maximum productivity,” said Paul Giaconia, Vice President of Software Products for Stratasys. “One of the keys to scaling 3D printing into production is to make it easy for engineers and designers to create and validate digital product designs using their CAD and simulation tools where additive manufacturing could provide the best solution. Adding Teton Simulation integrated with GrabCAD Print directly solves the design-for-additive-manufacturing challenge.”
The Laramie, Wyo.-based company’s SmartSlice application will be released as a plug-in to GrabCAD Print workflow software to make it easy to perform validation and optimization of print parameters for FDM 3D printing. The result is more confidence that parts meet functional and performance requirements, print as fast as possible, and minimize material waste.
“We are proud to be the first ‘design for additive manufacturing’ software partner to integrate with GrabCAD Print via the GrabCAD DFAM SDK,” said Teton Simulation CEO Doug Kenik. “Given Stratasys’ leadership position in polymer additive manufacturing, we see a very large opportunity to help customers design better parts. As additive manufacturing continues to push into production workflows, software will help to dramatically reduce cycle times and instill confidence that the printed part will function as desired. Stratasys’ commitment to develop a software ecosystem is a signal that the market is ready for additive manufacturing growth, and our SmartSlice is a key technology piece to help push the industry forward.”
“Software is central to Industry 4.0 and the additive manufacturing value proposition,” said Ryan Martin, Research Director at ABI Research. “A robust software ecosystem enables the management of networked fleets of 3D printers, improves flexibility and agility, and facilitates the level of quality and reliability expected of modern production applications. Manufacturers must consider the strength of their 3D printing partners’ software ecosystems as they look to expand their use of additive manufacturing, a trend Stratasys is well-positioned to take advantage of as AM moves from the lab and into a more prominent spot on the factory floor.”
Since Stratasys introduced its Software Partner Program in December with three initial partners, the company has also added IndusIntel and Vistory. IndusIntel’s MachineScope software provides advanced operations analytics, creating digital twins of Stratasys additive manufacturing systems to detect patterns or anomalies to help avoid production disruptions, and is deployable in the cloud or on-premise. Vistory’s MainChain application uses private blockchain technology to certify part integrity and traceability across the entire supply chain, including OEMs, design offices, marketplaces, 3D printer manufacturers, office services, and end-use customers.
Each Software Partner utilizes the GrabCAD SDK package, which includes a complete set of application programming interfaces, documentation, and code samples that enable development partners and manufacturing customers to establish two-way connectivity between Stratasys FDM 3D printers and enterprise software applications. Current SDKs include:
• GrabCAD Printer Connectivity SDK
• GrabCAD DFAM (Design for Additive Manufacturing) SDK (expected availability later this year)
• GrabCAD PLM SDK
The company plans to provide SDK support for additional Stratasys 3D printing technologies in the future.
