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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