Kratzer, German Manufacturer of Highly Complex Precision Parts, Enjoys 90% Time Savings on Fixture Production With Stratasys Additive Manufacturing Technology

Increased production line efficiency through immediate additively
manufactured fixture replacements

MINNEAPOLIS & REHOVOT, Israel–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Stratasys
Ltd. (Nasdaq:SSYS), a global leader in applied additive technology
solutions, today announced that German industrial parts manufacturer,
Kratzer GmbH & Co. KG, has significantly enhanced workflow efficiencies
by additively manufacturing fixtures for its assembly lines. Thanks to
the installation of a Stratasys Fortus
450mc Production 3D Printer, the company has reduced fixture
production time from a few days to just a few hours, delivering time
savings of up to 90% compared to traditional methods.

The integration of Stratasys additive manufacturing has allowed the
company to produce highly complex, customized assembly line fixtures
quickly and with complete design flexibility, replacing milled fixtures
in Kratzer’s laser and measurement machines.

“Since the installation of our new Fortus 450mc 3D Printer, we can have
the fixture ready the next day, which results in time savings of up to
90%,” says Christian Maier, Division Manager Fixture Construction and
Training Supervisor, Kratzer.

Specializing in the production of customized and on-demand turned,
milled, honed and grinded parts, Kratzer uses its fixtures as part of
the process to create highly complex production parts that span implants
for the dental market to brake housings for the automotive and aerospace
sectors. Catering to such different industries and applications, the
ability to design fit-for-purpose fixtures in short lead times is
crucial.

Using its Stratasys Fortus 450mc Production 3D Printer, Kratzer is able
to produce durable fixtures in the most complex geometries, without
compromising quality. While printing most parts out of Polycarbonate and
ABS, ULTEM material has also proved to be invaluable for certain
production requirements – in particular for parts requiring resistance
to extreme temperatures or chemical solutions.

“We have traditionally manufactured parts, which over time naturally
start to crack and break,” Maier explains. “Previously, we had to wait
for the team to manufacture another fixture, which delayed the
production process by several days. Now, we have the file, we can have
the fixture in just a few hours. This dramatically enhances our
production flow.”

The ability to customize fixtures for specific parts with the Fortus
450mc Production 3D Printer is especially important to the company’s
business and delivers increased flexibility by allowing them to process
and complete customer jobs faster. The laser devices in Kratzer’s
production line is just one area to have benefited from additive
manufactured fixtures.

“Very often, our customers require parts that need a serial number, logo
or writing applied to them, which is undertaken by our laser machines,”
Maier says. “Prior to having our Fortus 450mc, we had to put each part
separately into the laser device, or mill customized fixtures for every
job to hold several parts. Obviously, this was extremely tedious and
time-consuming, but with additive manufacturing, we can create holding
fixtures to laser 30 parts simultaneously, saving us an incredible
amount of time and labor.”

In addition to making the production line workflow more efficient, the
Stratasys 3D Printer has elevated the level of in-house training. For
Maier, the Fortus 450mc Production 3D Printer has had an even more
profound impact: “This technology has enabled a fundamental new way of
additive thinking and to apply additive across the design process,” he
concludes.

Andy Middleton, President EMEA, Stratasys, comments: “Cases like Kratzer
show the tremendous impact that additive manufacturing can have on
overall production line efficiency. The significant time and cost
savings, as well as the added flexibility and design freedom achievable,
offer companies the opportunity to increase competitiveness and enable
their engineers to adopt an additive mindset.”

About Stratasys

Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) is a global leader in applied additive
technology solutions for industries including Aerospace, Automotive,
Healthcare, Consumer Products and Education. For nearly 30 years, a deep
and ongoing focus on customers’ business requirements has fueled
purposeful innovations—1,200 granted and pending additive technology
patents to date—that create new value across product lifecycle
processes, from design prototypes to manufacturing tools and final
production parts. The Stratasys 3D printing ecosystem of solutions and
expertise—advanced materials; software with voxel level control;
precise, repeatable and reliable FDM and PolyJet 3D printers;
application-based expert services; on-demand parts and industry-defining
partnerships—works to ensure seamless integration into each customer’s
evolving workflow. Fulfilling the real-world potential of additive,
Stratasys delivers breakthrough industry-specific applications that
accelerate business processes, optimize value chains and drive business
performance improvements for thousands of future-ready leaders around
the world.

Corporate Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minnesota and Rehovot, Israel.

Online at: www.stratasys.com,
http://blog.stratasys.com and
LinkedIn.

Stratasys is a registered trademark and Fortus and Stratasys signet
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Stratasys Ltd. and or its
subsidiaries or affiliates. All other trademarks belong to their
respective owners.

Attention Editors, if you publish reader-contact information, please use:

• USA 1-877-489-9449
• Europe/Middle East/Africa +49-7229-7772-0
• Asia Pacific +852 3944-8888

Contacts

Stratasys Media Contacts
Stratasys
Arita
Mattsoff, +972 74 745 4000 (IL)
[email protected]
or
Joe
Hiemenz, +1 952-906-2726 (US)
[email protected]
or
Greater
China, Southeast Asia, ANZ, and India
Alison Yin,
+86-21-33196051
[email protected]
or
Brazil
GPCOM
Clezia
Martins Gomes, +55 (11) 3129 5158
[email protected]
or
North
America
Stratasys
Craig Librett, +1 518-424-2497
[email protected]
or
Japan
and Korea
Stratasys Japan
Aya Yoshizawa, +81 90 6473 1812
[email protected]
or
Europe
Jonathan
Wake / Miguel Afonso
Incus Media, +44 1737 215200
[email protected]
or
Mexico,
Central America, Caribe and South America
Stratasys Mexico
Yair
Canedo, +52 55 4169 4181
[email protected]