Manufacturers can gain a virtual insight into the benefits of using 3-D printing in a post-Covid-19 world from one of the UK's leading additive manufacturing service providers this month.

With many people working from home and unable to travel, Ricoh 3D is bringing its ‘state of the art’ facility to manufacturers around Europe. Over £1 million has been invested into the company’s Centre of Excellence in Telford to expand Ricoh's range of technologies, process controls and R&D capability.

Ricoh 3D normally welcomes hundreds of visitors from a range of sectors every year for customer seminars, events and guided tours of its site which is also home to an extensive toner bottling plant, an assembly line for bespoke commercial printers and a re-manufacturing operation. It also has its inkjet operation, which specialises in directing printing onto a variety of materials. Those visits have been placed on hold during lockdown - but Ricoh 3D is now opening its doors virtually.

The event will start on 15 July at 3pm BST and places can be reserved on the tour by visiting the Web site: (www.rapidfab.ricoh-europe.com/resources/ricoh-3d-webinar-the-virtual-tour).

Visitors will see Ricoh's in-house 3-D printing technologies in action, along with its cutting edge facilities for material characterisation, metrology and quality assurance.

Mark Dickin, Ricoh 3D additive manufacturing and moulding engineering manager, said: “Like so many, we have had no choice but to halt the numerous visits we hold for manufacturers each month, but we have been looking at innovative ways to continue to showcase the impact 3-D printing can have on production processes.

At a time when British manufacturing has really been tested, 3-D printing has proved its mettle as an agile and capable technology for localised and rapid turnaround production — both of PPE equipment and in supporting supply chain gaps.

"Our free webinar and virtual tour offers an opportunity for manufacturers to understand how an additive manufacturing service can help their business too, without the need for capital expenditure commitments, resulting in a valuable de-risking exercise during uncertain times.

"There are numerous benefits associated with 3D printing, whether that be flexibility, cost and time savings or enhanced quality control processes, but its about knowing how and when to tap into the potential of this sometimes misunderstood technology."

Webinar attendees will be able to view Ricoh 3D's portfolio of hardware, which includes SLS, MJF, FDM, injection moulding and a range of technical services and back office systems.

This unique range of technology gives Ricoh the flexibility to test and develop new materials and to create non-standard components and parts.

There is also the opportunity to talk to Ricoh's design and material experts about the application development, material characterisation and design support available.

Mr Dickin will be joined by material specialist Dr Enrico Gallino and senior design engineer Rich Minifie for the webinar.