A new family of 3-D printers is promising to put unmatched prototyping power at the hands of engineers, making additive manufacturing (AM) technology available to a wider range of users than ever before.

The upgraded Stratasys J-Series, available in the UK and Ireland from Derbyshire-based SYS Systems, now features the J850 Pro, a multi-material enterprise-level system that offers a more affordable way to produce functional models and product design validations.

With a large build capacity and the ability to print up to seven materials simultaneously, the J850 Pro brings the speed, precision and versatility typical of a PolyJet machine to more demanding engineering applications, an area which was once only served by the FDM technique.

The J850 Pro is well-suited to the consumer products, electronics, medical devices, automotive and education sectors, which often require accurate simulation of textures, product labelling and shock absorption in fit and functional testing, moulding applications and more.

Shamir Shoham, Stratasys’ design vice president, said: “We have seen the value to customers of our PolyJet 3-D printers – in throughput, accuracy, reliability, and multi-material capabilities – and are excited to have the J850 Pro now bring that value to our engineering customers, at an attractive price.”

Ofer Libo, product manager for the J850 Pro, said: “The ability to easily create prototypes delivers great value to engineering teams in different stages of the development cycle. In addition, the J850 Pro’s multi-material capabilities and large throughput enables them to test different designs, textures and material properties to accelerate time to market and precisely deliver on user needs.”

The J850 Pro can 3-D print in transparent VeroClear and VeroUltra Clear, the entire grayscale range of the Vero rigid family, the Agilus30 family and Digital ABS materials.