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by Michał Lelinski (Lifted from zortrax.com)

Zortrax M200 Plus is a 3D printer capable of wireless connectivity. This new feature supports assembling a network of 3D printers to create a large 3D printing farm speeding up your manufacturing process.

Farming 24/7

In print rooms at Zortrax headquarters, our most reliable 3D printers work virtually 24/7. With multiple M200 Plus 3D printers connected over Wi-Fi we can upload and manage prints remotely; slice larger models up and manufacture their different parts simultaneously or make as many copies or variations of one model as necessary at the same time.

Our 3D printing farm consists of 36 Zortrax M200 Plus printers which are wirelessly connected to our employees’ computers. The printers are integrated with Zortrax Ecosystem and can be managed via their dedicated Z-SUITE software.

We can upload our projects to any given 3D printer that is currently available and start production immediately. The software is also connected with the built-in camera placed inside the printing chamber of each M200 Plus to provide live feed of the entire 3D printing process. Keeping tabs on what’s going on in the printers, we can pause the printing if maintenance or any quick changes are needed.

One Man Show

One person can easily check up on the equipment, clean the chambers, change the filaments, and follow safety procedures having the majority of 3D printing done in one room. Zortrax M200 Plus can even pause automatically and notify the user when the material has run out. Maintenance is much more streamlined with a 3D printing farm.

A 3D printing farm is not only about convenience, though. It speeds up the low-volume production by multiplying the number of products one can make in one go with the sheer number of printers available.

Savings in time are equally important in industrial design. Having just one 3D printer assigned, designers need to wait until the printing of their current project is done before they can upload a new design. With a 3D printing farm, designers have the freedom to use any of the available printers at any given time.

They can also quickly test different variations of their designs to find the best possible solution. Rapid prototyping is a crucial stage of modern product development and it’s far more efficient and faster with a 3D printing farm.

Benefits of 3D Printing Farms

A network of wirelessly connected 3D printers working together is a huge boost to any production process both in terms of time management and manufacturing output. It allows for low-volume production of multiple items. It also lets you implement a rapid prototyping phase in your product development cycle.