UltiMaker is reinforcing its dedication to serving the defence sector with a brand new Safe Line of desktop 3D printers, designed across the necessities of high-security environments.
Constructed for use as a “deployable tactical asset”, per UltiMaker’s announcement, the brand new machines take a extra ruggedised kind, and are stripped of options that may open programs as much as threats of espionage, information theft, or distant intrusion. Meaning no Wi-Fi, no exterior cameras, and no unverified third-party gadgets. As a substitute, these options have been changed with factory-flashed, tamper-resistant firmware, encrypted and auditable file dealing with, and hardware-sealed elements, full with Loctite screws.
Following on from the launch of the UltiMaker S6 in June, which Andy Middleton, SVP EMEA and World Advertising at UltiMaker described to TCT as making the corporate’s {hardware} providing “much more bulletproof than earlier than“, the Safe Line applies to each the UltiMaker S6 and S8 fashions. The UltiMaker S6 Safe and UltiMaker S8 Safe machines will undertake the identical UltiMaker Cheetah movement planner, excessive circulation print cores, and an improved feeder system, with 4 occasions the productiveness of the UltiMaker S5. Additionally they include a two-year UltiMakerCare service guarantee.
In a press launch, Middleton mentioned the brand new line “represents a strategic leap in making additive manufacturing a trusted and deployable asset for defence organisations.” The corporate says its machines have a historical past of getting used by NATO-aligned organisations, and the new programs are being manufactured within the Netherlands below European requirements for high quality, information safety, and compliance, in restricted batches, tailor-made to the precise necessities of defence customers. UltiMaker says broad availability of the Safe Line “for certified defence and aerospace organisations” will start instantly.
“With Safe Line, we give defence organisations one thing they haven’t had earlier than: industrial 3D printers they will totally belief wherever on the earth,” mentioned Arjen Dirks, CTO at UltiMaker. “We designed our Safe Line merchandise with safety constructed into each layer and to satisfy internationally recognised requirements, combining reproducibility and long-term reliability in a kind that ensures tactical functionality in defence environments.”
Within the battle for desktop 3D printing dominance, significantly in opposition to the rise and recognition of decrease value machines from Chinese language producers, safety, it appears, is UltiMaker’s largest mode of defence.
Jim Franz, President Americas at UltiMaker, informed TCT, ”We need to press the safety problem and make it simple for organisations to have the ability to incorporate this into their workflows with out having to leap by way of hoops to get it put in and carry extra consciousness concerning the potential safety points which can be on the market within the subject, that individuals do not even realise.”
The S6 and S8 Safe have been constructed with suggestions from defence prospects who’re reportedly utilizing UltiMaker {hardware} for purposes like upkeep jigs and fixtures and end-use half resembling firearm diversifications for consolation, antennas, and filters.
“Right here within the US, we’re working by way of one in every of our companions who have our merchandise listed on GSA,” Franz mentioned. “We have been additionally speaking very carefully with the Dutch Navy and the Dutch Military about what their necessities are. So we’re actually taking enter from each locations throughout the pond, and attempting to get the stuff that they want with a purpose to get our programs included into their workflows.”
UltiMaker is de facto making an enormous swing for defence. The Royal Netherlands Navy is deploying UltiMaker S collection 3D printers to supply spare elements on-demand, and the Dutch Air Power is utilizing UltiMaker machines to create customized instruments to take care of its fleet of helicopters, fighter jets, and cargo planes.
“We actually need to construct that presence up,” Franz added. “And I feel the safe line can actually assist us do this.”