3D Technology Ltd., Ireland’s leading provider of 3D printers and related services, has announced the installation of 3 separate Markforged printers over the course of the last 12 months at the Galway site of Integer, a global leader in the manufacture of medical devices with 15 global manufacturing sites.

Ireland’s vibrant medtech ecosystem, meanwhile, has developed steadily over the last 40 years and has played a significant role in Ireland’s economic development over the same period, now accounting for €12.6bn in annual exports. With the world’s top 10 biopharmaceutical companies and 14 of the world’s top 15 medical technology companies operating in Ireland the adoption of 3D printing by the sector has become commonplace.

“Integer Galway introduced Markforged 3D printing technology,” says Alex Bravo of Integer. “The target of the NPI business is to provide solutions for customers in the quickest and most reliable way possible. A key starting point for this is to put prototypes in the hands of customers, supporting open discussions and information sharing. In the past without the 3D printer these discussions were resolved around sketches and we had to wait until machined parts are produced, often a lengthy process”.

“We have also saving resulting from introducing the 3D printing technology. This gain result in reducing the spend for fixturing within the production area. In 2020 up to 1-December-2020 a total of 90k expense was paid to a local tooling workshop. This spend is made up of design, fabrication and rework of fixtures for the operations area. It is projected that the introduction of the 3D printing system would reduce this cost. This reduction would be due to reduced design costs for the vendor and reduced rework requirement for fixtures which are not right first time.”

With 3D printing offering significant benefits in terms of time and cost savings, Mr. Bravo also sees improvements in turnaround times and less need to redesign and rework prototype parts.

“Integer is able to test out fixtures through 3D printing so higher potential to get it right first time, reduce rework and take out a substantial amount of design work from the supplier. Our opinion now is without this infrastructure other competitors with 3D printing capability have an extra advantage and are better positioned to have earlier and more comprehensive discussions with customers and thus an increased chance to win the business.”

“The 3D Technology team is strong, we have worked with Martin Downey & James Wall with the service and support always efficient and of a premium standard.”

To learn more about the range of 3D printers and services available from 3D Technology Ltd. visit www.3dtechnology.ie