Stratasys to Offer Universal Design-to-3D Print Software with GrabCAD Print

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA and REHOVOT, Israel, May 18, 2016 - Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq:SSYS), the 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company, unveiled a bold, new software strategy designed to make 3D printing significantly easier, more intuitive and highly accessible. The approach is powered by a new, open architecture "design-to-3D print" workflow application, GrabCAD Print* - residing on the popular GrabCAD SaaS platform and supported by a community of more than 3 million designers, engineers and students.

Unified Platform for Job Preparation, Scheduling and Monitoring

3D printing techniques are typically characterized by significant "model fixing" time which forces businesses to devise costly, manual solutions to construct an acceptable workflow. GrabCAD Print is designed to make 3D printing fast and easy-to-use, while reducing errors by eliminating requirements to translate and repair computer-aided design (CAD) files. Product designers, engineers, and 3D printer operators can now send native CAD files to Stratasys 3D Printer or service bureau directly from their familiar CAD environments. Further bolstered by an extensive new business intelligence environment, the application also accelerates data-driven decision-making.

"When we acquired GrabCAD two years ago, our vision was to provide a digital manufacturing backbone to support adoption of 3D printing technologies," said Josh Claman, Chief Business Officer, Stratasys. "Underscoring the critical nature of software as an essential ingredient for complete and smooth 3D printing workflow, GrabCAD Print is our first new application built on the GrabCAD platform - empowering customers with a single, open, cloud-based environment for job preparation, scheduling and monitoring. Accelerating integration of additive manufacturing on the shop floor, GrabCAD Print also generates real-time business intelligence which can be prepared in actionable reports for Stratasys 3D Printers on the user's GrabCAD Print network."

The GrabCAD Print solution’s easy-to-use and intuitive print preparation environment removes typical complexities from the design-to-3D print process.

An Open Environment for 3D Printing Expansion

GrabCAD Print works with a variety of Stratasys FDM and PolyJet 3D Printers and can natively read several popular CAD formats from PTC Creo, Dassault Systems' SOLIDWORKS, Siemens PLM Software's NX software, CATIA and Autodesk Inventor. The application also facilitates data sharing related to job scheduling, print queue status, material usage and historical usage. All information is readily available via standard Web browsers, mobile applications or locally installed clients while securely managed through the GrabCAD Platform.

New GrabCAD Print simplifies the 3D printing process with an intuitive, streamlined workflow that includes actionable business intelligence.

Committed to architecting an open and partner-friendly solution, Stratasys is making full use of a powerful 3D design ecosystem - creating additional value-added applications based on the GrabCAD Platform. Industry leading CAD solution providers such as PTC, Dassault Systems' SOLIDWORKS, and Siemens PLM Software will be collaborating with Stratasys to further simplify key functions in CAD-to-3D print workflow. Users of these offerings will be able to access Stratasys 3D printing solutions, analyse designs for 3D printability, and prepare and print jobs from their native CAD environment.

"When keeping up with fast paced development, frequently things will change in the last minute. In the past when a build had to be switched to a different 3D printer I'd have to do a clean restart - redo all of that file preparation work. With GrabCAD Print it's easy to switch between 3D printers within a single app. That's a huge step forward in improving the workflow," said Jimmy Callaway, Design Engineer, Joe Gibbs Racing.

*The GrabCAD Print application is planned for public beta in North America this summer with additional releases planned throughout the year alongside new language and regional support.

For more information, visit www.grabcad.com/print. 

About Stratasys Ltd.

For more than 25 years, Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS) has been a defining force and dominant player in 3D printing and additive manufacturing - shaping the way things are made. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Rehovot, Israel, the company empowers customers across a broad range of vertical markets by enabling new paradigms for design and manufacturing. The company's solutions provide customers with unmatched design freedom and manufacturing flexibility - reducing time-to-market and lowering development costs, while improving designs and communications. 

Stratasys subsidiaries include MakerBot and SolidScape, and the Stratasys ecosystem includes 3D printers for prototyping and production; a wide range of 3D printing materials; parts on-demand via Stratasys Direct Manufacturing; strategic consulting and professional services; the GrabCAD platform with over 3 million professional users; and the Thingiverse and GrabCAD communities with over 2 million 3D printable files for free designs. With more than 2,700 employees and 800 granted or pending additive manufacturing patents, Stratasys has received more than 30 technology and leadership awards. For more information, visit www.stratasys.com or http://blog.stratasys.com/.

ZW3D 2016 Released

GUANGZHOU, China, Mar 30, 2016 - ZW3D, one of the world's leading suppliers of advanced CAD/CAM solutions for the manufacturing industry, announced the availability of ZW3D 2016, a full-featured & pro-level CAD/CAM program designed for Product Design and Operations alike, to smoothen interaction and shorten time-to-market.

Like most of 3D CAD programs, ZW3D 2016 is embedded with numerous powerful & comprehensive functionalities, like new 3D sketch for efficient piping design, new alignment for quicker assembly and expansive FTI for much-advanced sheet metal etc., allowing mechanics & engineers to explore design ideas, visualize concepts, and simulate designs. It also includes some easy-to-learn & entry-level functions to link operation departments in the following approaches:

Import & Healing

Data interoperability matters a lot in product development. For the engineering department, the ability to reuse rather than re-create modeling data will save countless hours; for others, the ability to access internal and external data will minimize communication costs.

In ZW3D 2016, the built-in file translator ensures seamless data exchange with mainstream CAD programs, like Catia, NX, Creo, SoldWorks, STEP, JT, Parasolid and much more, in latest file formats. Plus, abundance of healing & freeform tools enables quick detection & restoration of imported models.

Drawing Review & Direct Edit

Model Checking is vital to safeguard the manufacturability & quality of products. For procurement, ZW3D can help calculate mass properties and stock size of geometries before purchasing; for CAD managers, a series of verification tools, like thickness analysis, interference check & dynamic section view, etc., are provided to inspect product structure and assembly reasonability before releasing the design data downstream.

Plus, with the much-more stable Direct Edit technologies in ZW3D 2016, the pinpointed problems in the previous checking process can be easily fine-tuned, if required.

3D Annotation

Annotating is to upgrade the paper-based collaboration into digital one. Engineers can define dimensions & annotations vividly on 3D models with the newly-developed PMI in ZW3D 2016, which allows their collaborators who don’t work with CAD to be highly engaged in product development. This will help speed up interaction, avoid project delays and boost productivity.

File Output

Offering proper files to corresponding users is crucial to the cross-department and cross-company interactions. ZW3D 2016 comes with much improved 2D sheet, delivering rapid and precise generation of various standard 2D sheets and BOM table from parts or assembly. Moreover, designs in ZW3D can be exported to STEP, IGES, STL, Parasolid, SAT, CATIA & 3D PDF files etc.

“This new release is our attempt to expand the reach of ZW3D,” said Colin Lin, Director of ZW3D Overseas Business. “By developing simple-to-learn & use solutions to both CAD users and ordinary people.”

About ZW3D CAD/CAM

ZW3D is cost-effective CAD/CAM software for 3D modeling, mold design, and machining, which takes engineers from concept to finished product in one easy-to-use, single collaborative environment. For more information, visit http://www.zwsoft.com/ZW3D/ or follow ZWSOFT on facebook.