Manufacturing Today - November/December 2016 - 91
Stacker LLC
Midwest
A Diverse Market
Today, Stacker makes the most affordable industrial grade 3-D printer, Fontaine claims. Although its customers
include government agencies, "We've
also been dealing with some very large
companies, along with small-time
manufacturers," he says.
"A lot of prototyping shops and a lot
of print houses use our printers," he
says, noting that the creation of prototypes represents the largest market
for Stacker's products.
But it is a market in decline. "Twenty years ago, prototyping was 100 percent of the market," he recalls, noting
that this has dropped to 50 percent as
more clients are using the printers to
manufacture their own products.
For example, major companies like
Ford Motor Co. and General Electric
print thousands of parts daily for their
manufacturing process "because it's
cheaper and better" than buying them,
Fontaine says. "We expect in the next
five years for these products to be 50
percent of our market," he says.
Stacker recently showed an aluminum extrusion company the benefits
of a 3-D printer when it helped them
print gears for their facility. "The
plant is 100 percent giant hydraulics
and steel," he recalls. "Because they
didn't have the expertise to do this, we
printed the gears for them.
"They were up and running the next
day," Fontaine continues, noting that
the company has since purchased its
own printer. "Contrary to what you
might think, you may still need a little plastic part where everything is
[mostly] steel and hydraulics."
Printing Advantages
Many prototyping shops and print
houses use Stacker's products since
its products can provide performance all day long. They also provide
stacker's printers are known
for their performance, but
are also competitive on price
and efficiency.
a high-quality level at a low cost, Fontaine says.
Stacker's S2 printer sells for $7,000,
and its S4 printer runs for $10,000.
But it competitors' products "start at
$75,000 at a similar build volume and
go up into $100,000," he reports.
The company also beats its competitors in the area of efficiency, Fontaine says. Not only can its machines
print four objects at once, but it also
is working on a 25-head printer. "Let's
say you needed 25 parts," he says.
"That's 25 times faster than if you just
printed one at a time."
This ability has benefited many
Stacker clients, including a lighting
manufacturer in Europe, Fontaine
says. "They can use 3-D printing to
save them a tremendous amount of
money in tooling costs," he says.
But it also gives them the ability to
be more creative. "You can change
your colors, you can customize it and
you can experiment with different
materials," he says.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 manufacturing-today.com
91
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Manufacturing Today - November/December 2016
Table Of Contents
Manufacturing Today - November/December 2016 - Cover1
Manufacturing Today - November/December 2016 - Cover2
Manufacturing Today - November/December 2016 - 1
Manufacturing Today - November/December 2016 - Table Of Contents
Manufacturing Today - November/December 2016 - 3
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Manufacturing Today - November/December 2016 - Cover3
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