How companies can speed up their prototyping process

APL Window Solutions is New Zealand's largest window and door solutions supplier, and the parent company of popular window brands Altherm Window Systems, First Windows - Doors and Vantage Windows - Doors.

Wanting to achieve a better turnaround time, APL dabbled in using home hobbyist style 3D printers a couple of years ago.

But removing the supports from the printed output was a painstaking manual process that didn't always produce a standard, usable result.

However, the company soon discovered the Fuji Xerox ProJet MJP 2500 Series.

It is designed to combine professional-grade 3D printing capabilities with an affordable price, an office-friendly footprint and easy part processing.

APL design and Innovation manager Darryl Vooght says, "With the ProJet it only takes about a day to output a whole plate's worth of prototypes.

"We can now print multiple iterations or design on one build, just to see which one does work slightly better."

"If we find our models fall short during testing, we can make changes right away, reprint them overnight, and have the successful design ready to sell to our customers the next day."

This device completely changed the game for APL and helped elevate their business to new heights.