Toro Implements Automated 3D Post-Printing Technology

The Toro Company has collaborated with PostProcess Technologies to implement automated post-printing into Toro's additive manufacturing (ie 3D printing) workflow. PostProcess' BASE technology is a support removal solution which helps eliminate the manual post-printing for 3D printed FDM (fused deposition modeling) parts. 

PostProcess' full-stack solution uses the company's patent-pending AUTOMAT3D software to control removal of supports from 3D printed parts. 

The use of 3D printing has grown in manufacturing applications in recent years due to the benefits it provides to both engineering and manufacturing processes. It can help decrease the amount of time necessary to create a prototype, and enables the creation of more intricate part designs.

However, depending on the part being printed there are supports used or created during the 3D printing process that must then be removed, which can add time. 

Time studies conducted by Toro found significant decreases in the amount of labor needed, as well as total cycle times, when using the BASE technology for post-print support removal. Even for the most time-consuming parts Toro said the support-removal time was reduced from days to hours. 

"Toro performance standards require a degree of precision that can only be achieved through an automated solution," says Rob McArdell, The Toro Company. "PostProcess delivers an unprecedented level of precision that is paving the way for the digital manufacturing revolution, and Toro is excited to be a part of it."