Allied Electronics, Fort Worth TX, has begun offering a line of 3D printers and supplies from 3D Systems, a leading manufacturer of the cutting-edge technology.
“This is very exciting for us,” says Allied product director Marie Dawson. “3D printing promises to revolutionize many areas of design, manufacturing and production, and we’re excited to bring this technology to a wider audience.”
Allied will carry both the Cube, an entry-level device for printing in one color, and the CubeX, a larger device that can print geometries as big as a basketball in up to three colors. Both printers utilize ABS and PLA thermoplastic material for printing, and are priced at a level that will make them attractive to a wide audience. Allied will also offer a line of 3D scanners and supplies to complement their 3D printer offerings, allowing customers to purchase an entire solutions package.
“Complementing our hardware offering is the availability of DesignSpark Mechanical, a 3D design program offered exclusively through Allied and our parent company in the UK, RS Components,” adds Elisa Weber, director of brand strategy for Allied. “A groundbreaking free software package, DesignSpark Mechanical quickly and easily builds three-dimensional models and prototypes, without the use of expensive CAD programs. It’s intuitive and easy-to-use, and the designs created in it can be output in STL format for exporting to a 3D printer.”
Rejeev Kulkarni, VP, general manager, consumer solutions business for 3D Systems says, “Partnering with Allied on the Cube and CubeX will help us reach a large and important demographic: designers and engineers who seek the ability to easily and affordably create prototypes as part of the creation of world-changing products. By working together like this, we hope to bring 3D printing to the forefront of technology, revolutionizing the industry in the same way that the introduction of laser printers revolutionized a dot-matrix world.”
