Zhuhai CTC Electronic Aims to Manufacture 500 Riverbase Industrial 3D Printers Annually

3D printer manufacturer Zhuhai CTC Electronic, headquartered in China, has been one to keep your eyes on for quite some time now. We’ve been following as they’ve launched the Walnut line of 3D printers, started offering OEM services, and introduced their first industrial printer, the Riverbase 500.

Now the Riverbase has been the star attraction at a smart equipment fair in Wuhu, Anhui province, China as visitors viewed the latest in high-tech hardware. And it sounds as if though even with the price of 500,000 yuan (approximately $72,570 USD), enthusiasts were not daunted. As we reported earlier in the year, this industrial SLA printer includes laser galvanometer scanning technology, operating from RiverOS, which is the proprietary operating system of CTC.

As China puts the focus more on industrial 3D printers instead of just those meant for the educational system, CTC has fallen into line with that path. The Riverbase is an excellent example, showing how they changed direction with both research and development, along with changing marketing efforts.

“We have successfully increased our production capacity for industrial 3D printers following relocation of part of the production activities to the Wuhu facility,” said He Siyi, an executive at CTC. “Monthly output is expected to reach 40 units starting from next month and we expect to be able to clear our backlog of orders in two months.”

“Hand mold factories across the Pearl River Delta, for the most part, are using SLA 3D printers to replace traditional CNC machining and are reducing material processing. This has brought about a revolution in terms of 3D printers in the vertical segments. We did not expect to see such a rapid growth in demand,” said He.

With manufacturing increasing at such an accelerated rate, CTC is predicting that they will be pumping out 500 3D printers per year, with the Riverbase 500 boasting a print size of 50 x 40 x 40 cm. It’s also unique due to its compatibility, as well as its use of photosensitive resin, which according to CTC will make it suitable for applications such as hand and footwear mold making.

China sees this 3D printer as opening new doors into 3D printing, via the industrial market. With CTC’s metal technology and their proprietary software, they will be forging ahead as leaders in the marketplace for their country. They announced their ambitions with speeding up manufacturing for the industrial 3D printer early in the year. This is something China has never done before, so it will be interesting to see how their commitment to the industrial 3D printing market continues in the future.

Currently, both China and CTC seem very committed to the industrial realm, and they’ve already received a ‘record-size order’ from a company in the UK that is ordering 30 of their 3D printers, yielding a sale of 10 million yuan. Discuss in the CTC forum at 3DPB.com.