Skorpion Engineering Accelerates Development of Luxury Car Prototypes by 50% Using Stratasys Additive Technologies

Ability to respond to customer demands within 24-hours streamlines
supply chain efficiency, optimizing production time and accelerating
time-to-market

Additive technologies offer improved accuracy, performance and
weight-saving, compared to traditional clay counterparts

MINNEAPOLIS & REHOVOT, Israel–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Stratasys
Ltd. (Nasdaq:SSYS), a global leader in applied additive technology
solutions, today announced that specialist automotive service bureau, Skorpion
Engineering, is producing complex automotive prototypes 50% faster
than would be achievable through traditional methods.

With offices in Milan and Turin, Italy, the company deploys its arsenal
of six Stratasys 3D printers to fulfil a vast gamut of both exterior and
interior automotive prototypes – from door handles to full-size seat
frames. More specifically, using its FDM 3D printers, Skorpion
Engineering can respond to customer requests within 24-hours while its
PolyJet 3D printers are driving greater part complexity and precision
compared to traditional prototypes.

High-Performance Automotive Components Produced 50% Faster

According to Italo Moriggi, General Manager, Skorpion Engineering, the
company witnessed a surge in business as customer requirements shifted
from rudimentary clay models to high-performance prototypes, with
shorter deadlines.

This is exemplified by a recent project which saw the company produce a
full-sized car bumper. Utilizing the large build tray of its Fortus
900mc Production 3D Printer, Skorpion Engineering produced the part 50%
faster compared to the time it would have taken to make the bumper from
clay. Moriggi explains: “In the context of the end-to-end manufacturing
workflow, the level of time-saving enjoyed with 3D printing isn’t merely
improvement or progression – it’s transformational. In fact, with 3D
printing we can send prototypes to our customers the very next day.”

According to Moriggi, beyond the incredible time-savings, the ability to
replace heavy clay prototypes with lightweight yet robust FDM materials,
is integral to providing customers with improved part aerodynamics while
offering the same mechanical characteristics as the final component.

“Crucially, this ability to produce fully-functional parts with improved
performance allows our customers to undergo aesthetic and functionality
verification significantly faster. This directly enhances their overall
production cycle and helps accelerate their time-to-market,” he adds.

Customized, Precise Prototypes

When it comes to customized, precise prototypes, the company calls upon
its haul of PolyJet 3D printers. A recent project saw the company deploy
its Objet350 Connex3 3D Printer to simultaneously combine varying
textures of rigid and soft material to produce a highly-accurate vehicle
dashboard in one print.

“The ability to combine contrasting material characteristics permits us
to optimize parts and indicate how our customers can save both time and
capital by overcoming engineering challenges early in the design phase.
In terms of the dashboard, we could deliver this to our customer 50%
faster compared to traditional methods,” explains Moriggi.

“As we continue to push the prototyping capabilities of our 3D printers,
we are discovering the wider manufacturing potential they possess,” he
adds. “In fact, our goal is to utilize additive manufacturing to realize
the production of a fully-functional concept car within the next five
years.”

Zehavit Reisin, Vice President, Materials Business Unit, Stratasys
concludes, “Skorpion Engineering is the perfect example of how a number
of future-ready companies are not merely exploring the use of our
complete 3D printing solutions to solve traditional prototyping
challenges but are discovering the unparalleled capabilities for the
manufacture of final parts. This demonstrates how Stratasys applies
purposeful innovation to customers’ goals and aspirations.”

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.

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