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Ricoh Modernizes Manufacturing Facility and Boosts Productivity by Replacing Metal Tools with Stratasys 3D Printed Customized, Lightweight ToolsStratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS), a global leader in applied additive technology solutions, today announced that Ricoh (News - Alert) Japan is replacing traditional metal tooling with customized, lightweight 3D printed jigs and fixtures for its Production Technology Center assembly line - improving manufacturing efficiency while minimizing manual tooling errors. The assembly line, located in the northeast branch of Ricoh Industries in Miyagi prefecture, Japan, is dedicated to manufacturing large-format printers. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170912005448/en/ Assembling an electronic component using a 3D printed fixture produced in anti-static ABS (News - Alert) plastic on the Stratasys Fortus 900mc Production 3D Printer improves manufacturing efficiency (Photo: Ricoh) Watch the video to see how Ricoh transforms its assembly line for its large-format printers with Stratasys (News - Alert) additive technology By producing the tools in durable ABS thermoplastic on its Stratasys Fortus 900mc Production 3D Printer, Ricoh is able to customize each tool precisely according to the part geometry while reducing the tool's weight. This has enabled Ricoh to accelerate the manufacturing process in which an operator typically handles more than 200 parts each day. Ricoh develops and manufactures high quality office equipment such as copiers, fax machines and projectors. The competitive nature of the electronics industry led the company to look for new ways to accelerate product launches while maintaining or lowering its production costs. "Because we are producing an enormous number of parts, it takes a lot of time and effort to identify the right jigs and fixtures for each one. This manual process has become even lengthier as the number of components grows, requiring that an operator examine the shape, orientation and angle of each part before taking out a tool and placing it back in its original fixture. The operators wereoccasionally annoyed with the many different tools, and we were looking for a way to accelerate tooling to match our manufacturing schedule," said Taizo Sakaki, Senior Manager of Business Development at Ricoh Group. "Now with Stratasys 3D printing, we are able to customize the tools according to the part and produce them on demand which is helping us restructure and modernize our production process."
Geometric Design Freedom: Optimize the Workbench with 3D Printed
Fixtures "The Stratasys Fortus 900mc 3D printing solution enables us to realize designs that are difficult for conventional cutting methods to replicate, such as hollow interiors, curves or complex shapes. The material used to 3D print the tools is very strong and anti-static which is important due to the large number of electronic components we are assembling, adding to the advantages of Stratasys 3D printing," explained Sakaki.
A Catalyst for Innovation with Digital Manufacturing "Ricoh embraces technology and we are delighted to lead the industry in adopting innovation in our business. Our workbench has become more flexible and more efficiently organized, and our operators are all happy about that," said Masami Hirama, Director of Production Innovation Center at Ricoh. "At Stratasys, we are committed to helping our customers overcome the constraints of traditional workflows and processes with a complete ecosystem of 3D printing expertise, technologies and services. Ricoh illustrates perfectly how manufacturing aids 3D printed with Stratasys additive technology empower manufacturers to increase their efficiency and flexibility while ultimately becoming more competitive," commented Omer Krieger, President of Stratasys Asia Pacific & Japan. "Customized 3D printed jigs and fixtures can play an important role in enabling companies to get products to market faster and are a great example of how Stratasys applies purposeful innovation to manufacturers' goals and aspirations. Whenever you can reduce a process from weeks to days - that is a solution worth exploring." Video: Watch how Ricoh modernizes its assembly line for its large-format printers with Stratasys additive technology
About Stratasys Corporate Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minnesota and Rehovot, Israel Online at: http://www.stratasys.com, http://blog.stratasys.com and LinkedIn Stratasys and Fortus are registered trademarks, and the Stratasys signet is a trademark 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:
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170912005448/en/ |