Quadpack’s department of Design and Advanced Technologies has invested over €200k in the latest 3D printing technology at its UK research & design facility. The Stratasys J750 will accelerate the early stages of bespoke package design and development, while helping to test new ideas.

The department has started using the new machine for three kinds of model-making. Prototype models help trial ideas for new references in Quadpack’s own Q-Line range of packaging solutions. Development samples are created for bespoke models for clients. Closer to production, trial moulds can now be printed for low-volume testing of the final product, in the end material. The trial moulds are compatible with the production lines at the Quadpack Plastics injection-moulding plant.

Jeremy Garrard, Director of Design and Advanced Technologies, said: “It is our mission to deliver true innovation. With 3D models and trial moulds, we can make ideas a reality faster, helping us to develop the right products for our Q-Line range, with an efficient and accelerated industrialisation.”

The new printer is also expected to speed up bespoke projects. “The Stratasys J750 is key to achieving faster time to market, making visualisation of bespoke products easier. For clients, a high-quality 3D model is a sure way to see what the finished product will look like. You can see it, feel it, touch it. It makes the idea real,” said Garrard.

The J750 is the world’s only ‘all-in-one’ 3D printer capable of producing full-colour, multi-material prototypes in a single print for initial product testing, as well as injection moulds for low-volume testing of the final product. Faster and more cost-effective than standard trial moulds, 3D printed moulds can be produced in less than 24 hours in digital ABS, for production runs of up to 100 items at the Quadpack Plastics factory in Spain.