In April, Stratasys announced the formation of a spin-off company capable of unprecedented production capabilities.
Since then, Evolve Additiveās Selective Toner Electrophotographic Process (STEP) has received validation in the form of a $19 million investment and its first alpha customer.
Ahead of the 2018 International Manufacturing Technology Show, Evolve announced that āa large manufacturing company with an iconic brand name and the undisputed leader in their fieldā had been shipped the first STEP system.
This partner is meant to help take STEP out of Evolveās lab and develop the technology for use in a manufacturing environment, including testing of STEP for new manufacturing strategies to reduce time to market and expand product design abilities.
STEP could have a big impact on the way goods are manufactured. As we described in our interview with the companyās founders, the technology āworks by electrostatically charging a roller, which then passes over the build material, attracting the plastic particles onto the roller into the shape of an individual object layer.
The particles are transferred onto a conveyor belt, which carry the layer to a build platform, where it is fused onto the preceding layers. In the existing version of the STEP machine, this reciprocating platform is moved back and forth continuously until the print job is complete. The tray then exits the machine and, using water, the supports are washed away from the printed objects.ā
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