AMT’s latest product is a lot smaller.
The UK-based company produces advanced post-processing equipment for parts produced with a variety of 3D printing processes, including SLS, SAF, MJF, FFF, and more. Their technology depowdering solutions, as well as advanced vapor smoothing technologies.
These processes are typically used to refine printed parts to a finished state, usually for production end use.
We’ve seen their equipment previously, and it has been designed for production-scale 3D printing operations. The idea is that production volumes require not only capacity to be processed but also to do so in a very consistent manner.
That’s why their equipment has very precise recipes to precisely handle each of the different materials compatible with their technology.
However, all of their equipment was rather large, as it was targeting production installations. What about those doing smaller volumes?
AMT then introduced a new, smaller system, the PostPro SFX. It’s a desktop-sized unit that is targeted at low-volume scenarios, like workshops, labs, or classrooms.
The SFX uses the exact same process and mechanics as its larger cousins, just in a smaller and more affordable package. We were told the MSRP on this device is US$19,999. That’s more expensive than casual operators could afford, but far less than units designed for production systems.
I asked AMT representatives what triggered the development of this smaller unit, and they offered a simple explanation: they are following the trend in desktop SLS technology.
SLS technology has traditionally been reserved for large-scale commercial systems that cost multiple six-digits. However, in recent years, there has been a bit of a revolution in the SLS world with the introduction of several low-cost SLS 3D printers from Sinterit, Formlabs, and most recently Raise3D.
All of these offer the ability to produce high-quality SLS parts at much lower cost — but in lower volumes. That’s suitable for many customers who are buying quite a few of these systems.
Each of them will need post-processing equipment to handle the output, and the SFX should hit that need quite directly.
Via AMT
