UltiMaker Launches S6 3D Printer for Applications in Education, Defense, & Manufacturing

UltiMaker launched its professional S5 3D printer back in 2018, and since then has also released the S7 and, just a few months ago, the S8. Today, the company continues its S series and announces the launch of the UltiMaker S6, designed for affordable and high-performance 3D printing for manufacturing, defense, and education applications, presumably at the university level or higher.

Created to help users efficiently scale production, the S6 was developed specifically for manufacturing teams, engineers, and maintenance crews who require reliable prints that can support on-demand repairs, functional prototyping, and production parts. UltiMaker says the system offers ease of use, technical performance, flexibility, and high speed, along with cost-effectiveness. It’s also fully backward compatible with the popular S5, and for added versatility, print cores, materials, air managers, and material stations across the full S series are interchangeable.

“The S6 is about giving our users more – more speed, more versatility, and more freedom – without needing to start from scratch. We’ve kept everything users love about the S5 and made it even better, while ensuring backward compatibility to protect our customers’ investments long term,” explained Marc Uyttenboogaard, Product Manager at UltiMaker.

So that larger manufacturing operations don’t have to halt production to recreate S5 files for the S6, UltiMaker has made it possible to reuse previously sliced parts. The new printer’s ecosystem and interface will be familiar to S5 users, so the learning curve isn’t too deep either. Something that’s new is an extended warranty—this is the first UltiMaker printer to be backed for 24 months, which is double the standard. However, the warranty does vary across regions, so customers should check with an authorized UltiMaker reseller for more information.

“The S6 delivers the speed and reliability we need, with the reassurance of a well-integrated, proven ecosystem,” said Sophie Grebert, Owner of France-based 3D printing service DP3D. “It has become a valuable and efficient part of our daily operations, together with the UltiMaker S8 that we recently bought.”

UltiMaker worked hard to improve productivity with this new printer, adding the new UltiMaker Cheetah motion planner to give it print speeds of up to 500 mm/s and 50,000 mm/s2 acceleration. This planner intelligently optimizes every move the S6 makes to make it print 4 times faster than the S5. Its efficiency is even greater thanks to UltiMaker’s dual extrusion capabilities, which also enable easy multimaterial printing. Plus, because both high flow print heads are supported by one material system, uptime is even further maximized.

The S6 was built at UltiMaker’s facilities in the Netherlands, which are certified by BSI Group under ISO 9001 for Quality Management and ISO 14001 for Environmental Management. The company prides itself on high standards in sustainability and performance, and these certifications match the exacting requirements of UltiMaker’s high-performance industry clients in the aerospace, defense, and automotive sectors.

“We’re excited for the UltiMaker S6,” stated Erik Schwartz, Owner/Driver of Wisconsin-based Schwartz Off Road Motorsportz. “It has the same build quality and reliability that we’ve become accustomed to over the last five years with our S5 printer. At the same time, the S6’s faster print speeds mean we can move faster and more agilely. Downtime is detrimental to our fast-paced design process, and our team doesn’t have the bandwidth to wait days for a print or perform complex repairs. This means squeezing out one more iteration on a design before leaving for a race weekend.”

Here are some other specs for the new UltiMaker S6:

• 330 x 240 x 300 mm build volume
• Award-winning touchscreen UI
• Updated feeder system
• Improved firmware
• Optional EPA filter

Finally, the new S6 3D printer has two build plates—the first is a PEI-coated, flexible plate for versatility across applications, while the glass plate should be used for prints that require enhanced hygiene, such as medical devices or food-packaging parts. The printer also offers support for over 300 different materials, and easily integrates with all of the materials, software, and hardware in the UltiMaker ecosystem, powered by UltiMaker Digital Factory and UltiMaker Cura. Cura Cloud is available through Digital Factory, which gives users the ability to slice, manage, and print from anywhere in the world. Continuing with its focus on efficiency, the S6 is said to streamline workflows across multiple teams and time zones.

Andy Middleton, UltiMaker SVP EMEA & Global Marketing, concluded, “This launch is about delivering exceptional value to customers at a time when businesses are under pressure to do more with less. With the S6, UltiMaker reaffirms its mission to make professional 3D printing more accessible, adaptable, and future-ready than ever before.”