Doubling of manufacturing space is a vote of confidence in an uncertain economy
Minneapolis - Sept 27, 2011 - With a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event at its newest building today, 3D printer maker, Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS), expressed a vote of confidence in an uncertain economy.
Stratasys says the 90,000 square-foot building doubles its capacity for machine production. The company purchased the building late last year and finished outfitting it this July.
"We've said we're optimistic about the economy and our prospects," says Stratasys CEO, Scott Crump. "By opening this building, we're putting our money where our mouth is. It's evidence of our product's market acceptance."
The additional manufacturing space allows for machine production growth with a capacity of 10,000 units per year for professional- and production-grade 3D printers.
"Although we don't need the entire capacity immediately, we are planning for it now," says Larry Doerr, Stratasys Senior VP of R&D and Operations. "You don't wait until your capabilities are overwhelmed and the demand is upon you. That's how you miss opportunity."
The new facility will be used to expand production capacity for machines and consumables, as well as streamline and consolidate warehousing and shipping operations. The added space allowed a reorganization of operations among four buildings in the company's Eden Prairie campus, and it enabled expansion of machine assembly in the company's existing manufacturing building.
Stratasys says it cost approximately $6.5 million to improve and build out the facility and another $3 million for new production equipment. The building was occupied in July, and production is expected to begin later this year.
An example of a leading edge application, the 3D printing of an entire car body for the Urbee - a 200 mpg hybrid - was discussed on BBC online and Fast Company magazine last week. The Urbee was the first car to have its entire body 3D printed.
For more details on Stratasys FDM systems and services, visit the Stratasys Web site at www.Stratasys.com, or call 1-800-480-3548.
Stratasys, Inc ., Minneapolis, is a maker of additive manufacturing machines for prototyping and producing plastic parts. The company markets under the brands Dimension 3D Printers and Fortus Production 3D Printers. The company also operates RedEye On Demand, a digital manufacturing service for prototypes and production parts. Stratasys manufactures 3D printers for Hewlett Packard, which it sells under the brand Designjet3D. In 2011 Stratasys acquired 3D printer maker, Solidscape, Inc. According to Wohlers Report 2011, Stratasys had a 41 percent market share in 2010, and has been the unit market leader for the ninth consecutive year. Stratasys patented and owns the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM®) process. The process creates functional prototypes and manufactured goods directly from any 3D CAD program, using high-performance industrial thermoplastics. The company holds more than 285 granted or pending additive manufacturing patents globally. Stratasys products are used in the aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, business & industrial equipment, education, architecture, and consumer-product industries. Online at: www.stratasys.com
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Stratasys, Dimension, and Fortus are registered trademarks, and RedEye On Demand is a trademark of Stratasys, Inc.
Attention Editors: If you wish to publish reader-contact information, please use: info@stratasys.com, 952-937-3000, 1-888-480-3548, www.stratasys.com
Forward Looking Statements
All statements herein that are not historical facts or that include such words as "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "estimates," "vision," "could," "potential," "planning", "intends", "desires" or "believes" or similar words constitute forward-looking statements covered by the safe harbor protection of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except for the historical information herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These include statements regarding projected revenue and income in future quarters; the size of the 3D printing market; our objectives for the marketing and sale of our Dimension(R) and uPrint(R) 3D Printers; our support removal systems; and our Fortus(R) 3D Production Systems, particularly for use in direct digital manufacturing (DDM); the demand for our proprietary consumables; the expansion of our paid parts service; and our beliefs with respect to the growth in the demand for our products. Other risks and uncertainties that may affect our business include our ability to penetrate the 3D printing market; the success of our distribution agreement with HP; our ability to achieve the growth rates experienced in preceding quarters; our ability to introduce, produce and market consumable materials, and the market acceptance of these materials; the impact of competitive products and pricing; our timely development of new products and materials and market acceptance of those products and materials; the success of our recent R&D initiative to expand the DDM capabilities of our core FDM technology; and the success of our RedEyeOnDemandTM and other paid parts services. They also include statements about future financial and operating results of our company after the acquisition of Solidscape and anticipated benefits of the acquisition. Actual results may differ from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which may cause our actual results to differ materially from those discussed in a forward-looking statement. Such risk factors include our ability to successfully integrate and market Solidscape products, our ability to retain management and our ability to protect and defend intellectual property. These statements represent beliefs and expectations only as of the date they were made. We may elect to update forward-looking statements, but we expressly disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our beliefs and expectations change. In addition to the statements described above, such forward-looking statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties described more fully in our current report on Form 8-K filed in connection with the completion of our acquisition of Solidscape and in our reports filed or to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
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