3D printing company Stratasys, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SSYS) revealed their new app, GrabCAD Print, which addresses problems with connectivity and workflow.
The cloud-based app will ease workflow challenges by allowing users to easily prepare, schedule and monitor 3D printing jobs. Generally, 3D printing forces businesses to come up with their own expensive manual solutions to solve workflow issues that are brought about by the time needed to do model fixing.
When Stratasys acquired GrabCAD, they also acquired technology on which they based GrabCAD Print. The app is the first Stratasys app to be based on the GrabCAD SaaS platform.
GrabCAD print can read some of the most popular CAD formats like PTC Creo, Dassault Systemes’ SOLIDWORKS, CATIA and Autodesk Inventor. The app enables users to easily 3D print objects from CAD files by eliminating the need to translate or repair these files.
GrabCAD eliminates the need to translate using STL files. The finished products are better because STL files only estimate details such as color and texture. There is also no more need to do further modifications since it works with most types of printers. CAD files can now be sent to a Stratasys 3D Printer or service bureau straight from their CAD environments.
The app improves workflow and creates more connectivity.
Through the app, designers can schedule a print job, the printer operator can also manage all the jobs in the printer network, and everyone involved will also be able to check the status of the job. This is a big improvement compared to how it used to be when users had to physically check the status of the job.
Through the app, information can also be obtained from the printers. For example, the efficiency of the printers can be analyzed.
Stratasys aims to do more in simplifying CAD-to-3D print workflow by developing value-added applications based on the GrabCAD platform. To do this, they will be working with other CAD solution providers, starting with PTC and Solidworks.
For their first quarter earnings call, Stratasys announced their net sales to be at $167.9 million year-on-year. This is a decline of around 3% from last year’s $172.7 million but a bit better than forecasts of $164 million. Losses were at $0.44 per share. Full-year earnings are expected to be around $0.17 to $0.43. Their shares have dropped by 40% in the past 12 months and also decreased by 10% since the start of the year.
