Agile Manufacturing Acquires a Monster of a 3D Printer

Everything about Agile Manufacturing is big. The Toronto-area company holds the distinction of being the largest 3D printing service bureau and operating the biggest fleet of additive manufacturing equipment in Canada, and their capabilities include stereolithography (SLA), laser sintering (SLS), multi-jet printing (MJP), direct metal printing (DMP), color jet printing (CJP) and fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing technologies as well as CNC machining, injection molding and other manufacturing methods. In addition to being the go-to service bureau for industrial 3D printing, they also sell a decent range of new and used 3D printers, scanners, and software. There’s nothing small about the company, and there’s really nothing small about their printers – especially now that they’ve added the iPro 9000 XL Stereolithography Production 3D Printer.

Even its name is big. The iPro 9000 XL, a creation of 3D Systems, is a monster printer with a build capacity of 59” x 30” x 22”. With the addition of the printer to their inventory, Agile Manufacturing will be able to churn out extra large parts in one piece rather than having to print them in several bits to be assembled.

“With the increasing demand for production parts as well as very large prototypes, the addition of the XL to our fleet of production systems will help Agile offer the largest part 3D Printing solutions and shortest lead-times to our clients,” said Richard Smeenk, President of Agile Manufacturing.

According to Agile Manufacturing, the iPro 9000 XL is the largest operating 3D printer in the Americas, and – much like a Sasquatch – it’s not only big but rarely seen. The printer acquired by Agile is one of only two in North America currently being used to manufacture parts for the public, and gives the company another distinction to make them stand out as one of Canada’s premier 3D printing service bureaus. It’s a quality printer, too – in addition to its size, it produces high-resolution, smooth parts with impressive accuracy.

Agile Manufacturing is no newcomer to the 3D printing industry – they’ve been in operation for twelve years, and Smeenk has been working in the additive manufacturing field going all the way back to 1996. A few more fun numbers for you: Agile Manufacturing has 18 3D printers in operation, with the capacity for 150,000 hours and 4.2 billion cubic inches of printing each year. Their customer base spans six continents, though the majority of those customers are in Canada and the United States. Agile Manufacturing already owns iPro 8000 and iPro 9000 printers; now, with the whopping 330-pound 9000 XL added to their arsenal, there should be very little they can’t print – in the industrial sector, at least. I don’t believe Agile has any plans to 3D print human organs anytime soon, but then again, who knows? Discuss in the Largest 3D Printer forum over at 3DPB.com.