3D printing excites Gulf Print & Pack audience

3D printing has been a hot topic in recent years, with the label and packaging market assessing how best to utilize the technology. Alexander Papantoniou, managing director of D2M Solutions, notes that the company has been involved with 3D printing for 15 years, with around 150 units installed in the GCC region to date.

‘The widespread adoption of 3D printing has been driven by the increasing affordability of the technology,’ he said. ‘We are focusing on selling machinery in the higher end of the market however, as well as offering service to the whole market, which wants high-end performance at a more affordable price. Service is the ideal way to achieve this.’

A Stratasys Dimension SST 1200es is producing components live on its stand during Gulf Print & Pack 2015. The printhead is also able to print a support substance, as well as the construction material, which Vinay Nagendra, technical consultant at Paradigm 3D, outlined as being integral during the 3D manufacturing of complex parts. The support washes away after the 3D object is cured, leaving the desired elements intact.

‘3D as a prototyping tool allows printers to present a tactile sample to customers that allows them to feel the experience that is presented,’ said Nagendra.

As well as a working 3D printing unit, D2M is showcasing a hadheld 3D scanner that can be used to measure the dimensions of an existing physical object, replicate them visually in a software tool and allow the design to be altered and amended to create a new form. This, said Nagendra, allows existing packaging structures to easily be used as the basis for creating new forms.

A Stratasys Objet30 Pro desktop 3D printer, which combines the ‘accuracy and versatility’ of a high-end rapid prototyping machine with a small footprint, is also being presented.