Derbyshire-based SYS Systems (www.sys-uk.com/additive), a 3-D printing specialist, has been re-accredited with a coveted industry standard from one of the the world’s largest additive manufacturing companies.

The Stratasys reseller has been awarded UK platinum partner status – the eighth consecutive year that the honour has been bestowed on the company.

The status – the highest possible recognition from Stratasys - is only awarded to high-performing partners based on strict proficiency criteria, including exceptional levels of customer service, training and support to back up machine sales.

Stratasys was also impressed with SYS Systems’s Additive Manufacturing Centre, a ‘state of the art’ demonstration and production facility in Foston (near Derby), which contains the very latest 3-D printing technology from across the Stratasys range.

Matt Fulton, managing director of SYS Systems parent company the Carfulan Group, said: “After the challenges brought by the global coronavirus pandemic, it was fantastic to receive official word that we had been awarded Stratasys platinum partner status for 2020.

“I am incredibly proud of all of our teams, from sales and marketing to service and accounts, whose hard work has been pivotal in helping us to gain this standard.

“As a company, we consistently receive an amazing level of support from Stratasys both here in the UK and from overseas, and we are sincerely thankful for that. Our relationship continues to go from strength-to-strength.”

For the past 15 years, SYS Systems has been supplying, installing and supporting the full Stratasys range in the UK and Ireland. Its experienced engineers are called on to solve unique customer challenges, enabling them to create lifelike prototypes, tooling, manufacturing aids and end-use parts.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, SYS Systems recently put its range of on-site Stratasys 3-D printers to work, with the aim of creating hundreds of face masks a week and getting them to those in need – including at both the Royal Derby Hospital and Sheffield Teaching Hospital's NHS Foundation Trust.

It also rallied customers to support the PPE effort by sending them clear, Stratasys-approved designs and instructions on how to make the masks themselves. Among those to back the challenge by donating visors for distribution were Caterpillar, Dualit, Bri-Stor Systems and the Diamond Trading Company.

Initially to ease the pressure being heaped on UK manufacturers by the coronavirus pandemic, SYS Systems has now made its 3-D printers available for bureau services as a new arm to its operations.

Engineers are ready to work on everything from single parts or short production runs to large-scale projects, with the aim of providing a long-term shot in the arm for businesses requiring extra capacity.