PROTIQ News - 3D Printing for SMEs

PROTIQ Creates New Perspectives for SMEs

Industrial 3D printing offers considerable opportunities for almost every industry and makes a significant contribution to the competitiveness of companies. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) also benefit from additive manufacturing processes.

3D Printing Offers Significant Advantages for SMEs

Until a few years ago, additive manufacturing processes were reserved for financially strong industrial corporations. In particular, the high acquisition costs of 3D printers, which still often reach six-figure amounts today, made access to the technology difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises. Although there are more affordable alternatives, such as FDM printers and now even the first laser sintering systems, the end products are generally not suitable for use in industrial environments. On the one hand, these low-cost printers cannot produce components with the required precision and stability; on the other hand, they do not provide sufficient performance to process materials relevant to industrial applications. Despite the high costs, however, 3D printing offers major advantages that smaller companies will increasingly be unable and unwilling to do without in the future: When conventional manufacturing processes such as milling, turning, or filing reach their technical and economic limits with complex structures, the strengths of 3D printing become particularly evident. The additive construction of a workpiece enables the integration of highly complex geometries and structures that were previously considered almost impossible. Undercuts or internal cooling channels can be created in a single manufacturing step and without the use of special tools.

Cost and Efficiency Benefits of 3D Printing

According to the “IT Innovation Readiness Index”, 45% of the surveyed German SMEs see potential in additive manufacturing processes for their businesses. Their use enables significant cost and efficiency advantages: Producing transparent demonstration models that make internal functions visible, or functional prototypes that already possess the characteristics of the final production product during early development phases, significantly reduces product development process times. Changes to prototypes can be transferred directly to the CAD model and implemented in the next step.
Achieving market readiness as quickly as possible means gaining a clear competitive advantage over competitors. This is why small and medium-sized enterprises will increasingly depend on additive manufacturing in the future to remain competitive and avoid being left behind. Many OEMs are increasingly relying on the advantages of industrial 3D printing and expect the same from their SME suppliers.

PROTIQ Is a Professional 3D Printing Provider for SMEs

Purchasing suitable 3D printing systems still requires a significant financial investment from small and medium-sized enterprises. For this reason, PROTIQ, as an expert in industrial 3D printing, offers its customers comprehensive services covering all aspects of 3D printing. Over the years, we have built up our expertise and equipped our machinery with the latest technology. Companies that do not own their own 3D printers can conveniently order and have 3D components manufactured by us. We specialize in the requirements of SMEs and offer a simple ordering process through our user-friendly configurator: simply upload your CAD data and customize your 3D models online according to your needs. At PROTIQ, you also have the opportunity to benefit from personal consulting services or participate in customized 3D printing training courses. With our service offerings, we enable small and medium-sized enterprises to take advantage of the many benefits of 3D printing without any financial risk.

PROTIQ is more than a 3D printing service provider. Through our commitment to research and development and our first-class service, we aim to help establish additive manufacturing as an Industry 4.0 application. That is why PROTIQ offers comprehensive support for your project. We respond to your requirements individually and work with you to develop your desired object.
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