- Konica Minolta is promoting 3D printing to the industry.
- Konica Minolta is promoting 3D printing to the industry.
3D printing is the sizzle of the industry at present, even as more printers recognise that accretive manufacturing has little to do with actual printing.
With more industry suppliers picking up 3D printing technology – such as Konica Minolta which sold in excess of 20 units into the local market last year, although none to printers – printers are faced with a choice to explore new products and business models utilising the new technology … or not. Leveraging the industry’s capability of handling large data files and different outputs, 3D printing has the potential to transform the printing.
The latest entrant into the sector is software and wide format giant, EFI, which has bought Optitex, a 3D design software company that operates in the textile space. "We are thrilled to add the Optitex team and it's fast growing base of industry leading customers to the EFI family," said Gabriel Matsliach, senior vice president and general manager, EFI Productivity Software.
"Optitex technology, combined with EFI Reggiani digital printers will expand our textile ecosystem and help our customers set new standards for time-to-market, on-demand manufacturing, cost efficiency and automation in the Textile industry"
Optitex's 3D digital apparel simulation, combined with its 2D pattern making software, provides a robust solution that accelerates the fashion industry's high volume product development. Additionally, these technologies deliver scalable and transformational benefits throughout the organization, digitally optimizing the global supply chain, merchandising and wholesaling. Leading retailers, brands, and manufacturers can now:
- Iterate designs in minutes, instead of waiting weeks for a new prototype
- See and validate entire collections three weeks after design, instead of waiting four to six months
- Reduce sampling by more than 50%, reducing product development costs
- Significantly shrink overall cycle times, and consequently, time to market
- Present and market collections' sales samples four months earlier than previously possible
- Replace photography with on-demand photorealistic digital images for eCommerce, catalogs, and packaging at a fraction of the time and cost.