Test equipment manufacturer, Peak Production Equipment is now among the companies benefit from additive manufacturing. Prefering Stratasys, the firm is pleased with its choice.
Manufacturing a comprehensive range of test equipment – from simple test boxes used by sub contract manufacturers to stand alone high specification test racks and systems used in the aerospace and defence industries – Peak Production services a number of high-profile clients such as Rolls Royce, Siemens and BAE Systems. With the ability to 3D print manufacturing tools in a fraction of the time using traditional methods, the company has been able to ramp up production to meet ever-decreasing turnaround times requested by customers.
“We purchased our Stratasys Fortus Production 3D Printer 18 months ago and since then it has been running 24/7, including nights, holidays and weekends,” explains Richard Bushell, Group Managing Director, Peak Group. “3D printing offers us a new level of flexibility and versatility when it comes to production. We can print complex tools of different sizes and materials on-demand in a fraction of the time compared to traditional CNC tooling.
“3D printing has also enabled us to become more efficient during production,” continues Bushell. “Due to the high-volume throughput of the Fortus Production 3D Printer and minimal operator time required, we’ve been able to produce many parts for our jigs and fixtures, often at 50% of the cost of our traditional process. We’ve also cut down on a number of manual processes, saving operator and labour hours which can now be redistributed elsewhere in the company – increasing our overall efficiency.”
