It has been two years since Printed Strong joined the Prusa household. Prusa CEO Josef Prusa and David Randolph, the CEO of Printed Strong, thought it made sense to affix forces to enhance the supply of Unique Prusa printers and filaments within the USA. They started with academic, authorities, and enterprise contracts, leveraging David’s intensive expertise in these fields. Over time, the crew, premises, product vary, and buyer base at Printed Strong have grown considerably. Printed Strong will now function as a US-based manufacturing facility for Prusa 3D printers.
Prusa Analysis is just not the primary European firm to make the transfer throughout the Atlantic. At the same time as Shapeways – one of many first to make the transfer throughout the Atlantic (from the Netherlands) simply declared chapter, others like SLM Options simply introduced a USA-based manufacturing facility trying to leverage the US’ usually a lot friendlier ecosystem for younger corporations and likewise the potential to entry protection contracts. The US continues to be a really aggressive market however one which can be very blissful to welcome producers to reshore (or on this case simply to “shore”) manufacturing and manufacturing jobs.
Printed Strong’s as soon as modest premises in Newark, Delaware, at the moment are bustling with exercise, that includes new areas for filament manufacturing traces, a print farm, a service space, and the most recent additions: model new high-speed Prusament traces and workstations for assembling Unique Prusa MK4 printers. The aim is to change into the most important producer of 3D printers and filaments within the USA inside a yr.
PR(int) USA
Within the early days, when the Prusa Mendel was the most recent addition to RepRap, most interactions with the neighborhood have been by way of IRC chat. Then, after studying in regards to the Maker Faire, Josef determined to attend, assembly many like-minded people for the primary time. Apparently, many individuals thought “Prusa” was quick for “Print USA,” which made plenty of sense from an outsider’s perspective.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t till 2021/2022 that increasing abroad grew to become a severe consideration. The USA market is a serious marketplace for Prusa, prompting the seek for methods to streamline operations. Round 30 individuals are working within the American facility, with plans to create extra job alternatives within the USA quickly. The method is to keep up an affordable progress charge, making certain high quality and experience stay excessive. For example, regardless of an expanded crew and product portfolio, Prusa’s tech assist continues to be extremely praised. The corporate prefers a steadier, individualized method to onboarding, avoiding the pitfalls of speedy, large-scale hiring.
European tech welcome
The identical ideas are utilized to manufacturing. Quite than outsourcing to satisfy excessive demand, Prusa expanded its manufacturing facility in Prague, sustaining high quality requirements. This method is now mirrored at Printed Strong.
Unique Prusa MK4 3D printers can be assembled in Delaware with the identical talent, precision, and instruments as in Prague. All workbenches and testing instruments are similar, making certain the identical degree of high quality for machines assembled within the USA. Moreover, efforts are underway to incorporate native American part suppliers.
Subsequent is Prusament manufacturing. With years of expertise making Jessie filaments, David and his crew have the identical filament extrusion traces as these in Prague, down to each tiny tweak and alter. They may manufacture Prusament utilizing the similar manufacturing course of and high quality requirements acquainted to Prusa clients.
Lastly, the official Prusa Analysis restore middle is increasing at Printed Strong, offering knowledgeable companies for Prusa 3D printers instantly in the USA.
