Formlabs Automation Ecosystem

Formlabs launches three new products for the automation of your business: The Formlabs Ecosystem, consisting of the Form Auto, Fleet Control and the High Volume Resin System. This system enables highly productive 3D serial printing with lower unit costs and convenient SLA printer management.

Form Auto
The hardware extension for Form 3/+ and Form 3B/+ 3D printers automatically removes your finished prints from the Build Platform 2 and starts the next print – without manual intervention. The device can be purchased separately for your existing Form 3 or can be ordered directly as a package together with a new printer.

Fleet Control
The extension for PreForm and Dashboard lets you manage your printer fleet more easily with new functions – thanks to sophisticated queue management and automatic printer assignment.

High Volume Resin System
The 5 liter resin container is connected to your printer with a resin pump and thus increases the standard resin capacity of Formlabs SLA printers. The system reduces waste and minimizes the constant effort of changing materials.

The three new products can either be used independently of each other in your business or as a fully functioning ecosystem to optimize your production work processes. The Form Auto, Fleet Control and the High Volume Resin System reduce the unit costs of production and increase throughput with minimal effort.

Functions and advantages

Form car

Once connected to a Form 3/+ and Form 3B/+ printer, Form Auto automatically removes the printed parts from Build Platform 2, whereupon they are placed in a collection container ready for the Form Wash. Without any manual intervention, the build platform is placed back into the printer and the next print is started. An integrated camera allows the parts removal process to be tracked and monitored from any location.

Once a print job is complete, Form Auto lifts the orange printer cover, removes the parts from the build platform 2 and places them in the collection container provided.

Automation does not automatically mean space-consuming robotic structures, complicated protocols and prohibitive prices – because the Form Auto allows continuous printing at an affordable price and takes up hardly any space. This means that the expected production volume can be achieved more quickly, while you can devote yourself to more important tasks.

In the table below you can see the comparison of a production of 1000 swivel arms with Grey Resin in 3 days – with and without Ecosystem:

The Form Auto can be used in local mode without an Internet connection, guaranteeing you privacy on the Internet, IP protection and guaranteed release protocols.

Independent production can be managed from any location without the need for an employee to operate the machine or increase your working hours and workforce. Thanks to the Formlabs Ecosystem, part removal is completely manual-free and far more efficient.

Request a quote for the Form Auto

Fleet Control

Fleet Control is a set of advanced features in PreForm, the pre-press software, and Dashboard, the online printer and consumables management tool, that enables centralized management of multiple Form 3 Generation printers and user groups.

Fleet Control simplifies the management and monitoring of your Generation Form 3 printer fleet by determining which printer is best suited for each print job and by creating a continuously moving sequence for all printers. With the Fleet Control extension in Dashboard, you can view the queue for your printer group, edit it, duplicate jobs or create new ones without having to reopen PreForm.

These functions can be accessed from anywhere, so that queue management can be carried out at any location. This allows you to ensure the smooth operation of the printer fleet without having to be on site in person.

 

Fleet Control is a suite of advanced software features in PreForm and Dashboard designed to optimize and organize a high-volume printing system.

Normally, the next free printer was selected manually and the material changed to start the next print. This time is drastically reduced thanks to Fleet Control. Automating immediate printer assignment and queue management potentially eliminates several hours per day of manual monitoring, allowing you to focus on more important tasks such as design and planning.

At the same time, the wear and tear on your devices caused by unnecessarily frequent changes of consumables is also minimized. With Fleet Control, the process is optimized so that print jobs with the same materials are placed in the queue together and the consumables are only changed when necessary.

Request a quote for Fleet Control

High Volume Resin System

The new High Volume Resin System from Formlabs ensures that your printers never run out of material and that production is continuous. The Fleet Control functions warn you when the consumables need to be refilled soon, so that the resin can always be changed in good time. The High Volume Resin System holds five liters of resin in one container, enabling multiple print jobs and days of productivity without changing materials, complemented by a resin pump for fast and efficient dispensing.

The High Volume Resin System reduces packaging waste by a whopping 90+% and requires less space for storage. The system is available at an affordable price, so you can plan ahead with consistent and reliable production volumes and reduce ongoing material costs.

Case study: Spectra

In the Formlabs Manufacturing Service Bureau, over 180 SLA and SLS printers run around the clock to produce sample parts. Of these 3D printers, the 140 Form 3 series printers are operated by a single person and produce around 440 parts per day, while a second person operates all Form Wash and Form Cure. The team has been running beta units of Form Auto and testing Fleet Control since July 2020. Chris Pauwels, Print Farm Manager, says: “They’re a huge help to us – they’re worth five printers in a way, because there’s no need to scrape parts, clean the build platform or wash each print job individually as we do it in larger batches.”

Formlabs MSB prints hundreds of sample parts every day, such as these Grey Resin sample parts, and the Formlabs Ecosystem helps streamline the process and improve efficiency.

The automated Formlabs Ecosystem aims to reduce the number of manual operations required to keep the printers running continuously. “It has helped us eliminate miscommunication and printer management is now more efficient as we no longer have to spend time thinking or agreeing which file is sent to which printer. It’s also useful for file control because we can now duplicate print jobs directly in Fleet Control,” explains Pauwels.

New standards of productivity with reduced costs

Your workload is significantly reduced, more flexibility is enabled and your 3D printing workflow is streamlined. This allows you to focus on more important tasks that are more time-consuming and relevant to your business. By automating part removal, queue management and print preparation tasks, you can reduce part costs. Formlabs Ecosystem enables companies to utilize 3D printing for production, providing greater value to customers.

Automation makes 3D printing even easier and more efficient, and Form Auto, Fleet Control and the High Volume Resin System work together efficiently to reduce your costs and increase the productivity of your operation.

Request a quote for the Formlabs Ecosystem