Burlington, Mass. - March 9, 2005 - Z Corporation today announced that customer shipments of its new Spectrum Z510 3D Printing System, the first high-definition color 3D printer to hit the market, began on Feb. 25, 2005. The company has taken over 100 orders for the new system, which represents a breakthrough in prototype model quality by providing the industry's first high-definition, color 3D printing capabilities.
The Spectrum Z510 System introduces HD3DP™ (high-definition 3D printing) for rapid prototyping to designers, engineers, and product developers, and continues Z Corporation's history of industry firsts, following the company's introduction of the first color 3D printing capabilities in 2000.
Customer reaction to the system's breakthrough 3D printing technology has been very positive. "The Spectrum 3D printing system has dramatically improved the way we evaluate design concepts," says Bob Boris, Team Center Model Shop Manager with Fisher-Price, one of several beta-site customers. "The model quality, color fidelity and resolution of prototypes printed on the Spectrum system exceeded our expectations and have garnered the interest of senior management. The addition of these high-quality prototyping capabilities means we can reduce the time and expense related to hand-painting prototypes to evaluate realistic design concepts. For the first time, we have been able to release products to manufacturing after reviewing colored prototype parts that were not painted."
Terry Wohlers, President of Wohlers Associates, Inc., a leading rapid prototyping industry analyst, says, "The new Spectrum system offers much more than incremental improvements over the previous color machine from Z Corp. The system delivers unprecedented color resolution and feature detail that is sure to make an impression."
In addition to providing high-fidelity, 24-bit color, the system supports 600 X 540 dpi (dots per inch) print-head resolution while maintaining the highest print speed in the industry; the largest build size in its class, (254 mm X 356 mm X 203 mm, 10 in. X 14 in. X 8 in); improved surface finish; smaller feature resolution; and low operating costs. Using the system's intuitive, easy-to-use interface, product developers can now efficiently print 3D physical models with smaller features and more complex geometries in color with high-definition detail. The system's software also enables labeling for improved communication of designs, better representation of assemblies, enhanced texture mapping, and vibrant product coloring.
According to Tom Clay, Z Corp. President, market demand for high-quality color 3D printing continues to grow at a rapid pace. "We are seeing a dramatic shift in the way customers view the use of prototypes," Clay explains. "By using high-definition color prints with labels and annotations included directly on the model, manufacturers can substantially improve their ability to communicate design concepts throughout the product development enterprise. With the Spectrum system, we have made high-quality, color 3D printing available to everyone, offering the highest speed, lowest cost, and best part quality in the industry.
The introduction of the Spectrum Z510 System expands the Z Corp. product line, which includes the entry-level ZPrinter 310 System and the Z810 Large-Format System. The addition of color HD3DP capabilities to the product line provides customers with a complete range of options for meeting their rapid prototyping and 3D printing needs.
Pricing
The Spectrum Z510 System is currently available for a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $49,900 in the United States.
About Z Corporation
Z Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets the world's fastest, high-definition 3D printers — machines that produce 3D physical prototypes of real-world objects with the speed, ease, and affordability of 2D desktop printing. Leading manufacturers, Fortune 500 companies, and centers for research, including Sony, Fisher-Price, Adidas, Canon, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BMW, Porsche, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Harvard, MIT and Yale, rely on Z Corp.'s printers to produce prototypes as part of the development of a broad range of world-class products and technologies. Z Corp. systems are not only the fastest 3D printers on the market but also offer the only color 3D printing capabilities. Z Corp. holds patents on its proprietary 3D printing materials and equipment and licenses others from MIT, where the company's technology was originally developed.
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