• Field Service Technicians: These users rely on interactive 3D instructions and animations to perform repairs, maintenance, and diagnostics efficiently—often in high-pressure environments where accuracy matters most.
• Technical Illustrators & Documentation Teams: this tool helps technical communicators transform CAD data into professional illustrations, exploded views, and animated sequences for use in service manuals, parts catalogs, and user guides.
• Manufacturing Teams: On the shop floor, Creo Illustrate is used to deliver clear, visual work instructions that reduce assembly time, training effort, and human error.
• Training & Onboarding Teams: Organizations use Creo Illustrate to develop immersive training content that accelerates learning curves and boosts retention by showing—rather than just telling—how a product works.
• Product Support & Customer Service: Teams leverage visual content created in Creo Illustrate to enhance self-service portals and reduce support call volume by providing customers with intuitive instructions and part identification.

The truth is, the small footprint and the simple setup of a 3D printer, such as Formlabs’ Form 2 SLA desktop 3D printer can drastically streamline your design process and impact your business.

Businesses of all sizes have started to realize the need for scalable production and a fast return on investment – eventually turning to desktop 3d printers as a solution.

Desktop 3D printers make high precision 3D printing affordable for everyone, while they deliver a range of operational and business benefits.

Discover the 5 Business benefits of a 3D Desktop Printer.

1. Desktop 3D printers save you money

Desktop 3D printing empowers engineers and product designers to rapidly prototype in-house, saving time and costs at every stage of product development. Here’s how.

For starters, the low upfront costs of 3D printers represent just the tip of the many tangible benefits.

3D desktop printers come at a desktop price and are able to produce industrial quality parts. This allows the development of high-resolution prints for a fraction of the cost of traditional manufacturing.

A desktop printer can pay for itself by printing things or parts you would ordinarily outsource. This cuts out any potential outsourcing fees or shipping costs you might incur.

3D desktop printers also enable the ability to test parts for a device before mass production – quickly. This reduces the costs and risks associated with reworking a design and increases innovation.

You can also save money on material costs by using a 3d desktop printer. Desktop printers use raw materials that can be recycled and re-used in more than one build. Why not make the most out of the materials you paid for?

Affordable materials and accessible machine prices make 3D desktop printers a cost-effective and scalable digital solution for many businesses.

2.  Desktop 3D printers save time

One of the greatest benefits of having a desktop 3D printer is speed.

Forget all the obstacles that come along with needing a replacement part from a backed-up manufacture. If you need a part you can create it. It’s that simple.

And if you already have a full sized industrial 3D printer… Well, that’s even better.

Desktop 3D printers can create custom fixtures, tools, and prototypes in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods. Why not boost your efficiency and manage multiple machines at once?!

3D desktop printers are designed to quickly integrate 3D printing into your workflow with a range of different materials.

3. Desktop 3D printers help design

With a 3D Desktop printer, you can rapidly develop, evaluate, and iterate a range of designs in-house.

This allows designers to have greater control over the final product.

For instance, additive manufacturing places a model in the hands of the designer in just a few hours.

This allows the designer to be able to continuously improve products and respond quickly and effectively to issues, perhaps by using jigs and fixtures.

3D Desktop printers also provide designers with design freedom.

Design freedom enables a team to quickly create, perfect, and optimize parts with complex geometries.

In fact, you could create small-batch runs or one-off custom solutions for comprehensive field and in-house testing before investing in expensive tooling for production.

By using 3D desktop printer, designers are able to entirely control and rapidly manipulate design.

4. Desktop 3D printers keep all engineering assets in-house

You work hard to keep your trade secrets, so why put any of them at risk.

By controlling all your engineering assets and keeping every process in-house you will reduce your risk.

Using an in-house 3d printer allows you to maintain control over your manufacturing process from beginning to end.

5. Desktop 3D printers don’t need specialized operators

3D Desktop printers don’t require any skilled machinists or machine operators during the building phase.

In fact, the machines follow a completely automated process to print parts. Therefore, anyone that can press a start button can manage the process.

Just imagine the ability to create exhibition-quality parts, in a range of materials with specific properties, with an easy to use machine.

Check out the most affordable, high-precision SLA 3D desktop printer on the market – the Form 2 by Formlabs… Or better yet.. request a free sample.

Industrial Design has always been an important element of successful product development. Aesthetically and functionally pleasing products are important to customer perception and ultimately may add to increased acceptance and improved sales.

The Engineering Services Group at EAC Product Solutions solved such an industrial design challenge for a valued customer, Bob Barker Company, Inc. Bob Barker is America’s leading detention supplier and maker of the Vancell, which is a prisoner transport unit that is installed in commercial vans. They approached EAC to create a successor, which ultimately became the Vancell Elite.

Bob Barker wanted the new version of the Vancell to fit newer, redesigned van models. At the same time, they requested upgrades to several user features. They wanted to incorporate design elements to differentiate the redesign of the Vancell from its competitors. The redesign was required to invoke feelings of ruggedness, strength, and security.

With those challenging requirements, the Designers in the Engineering Services Group started by selecting diamond plate panels for the exterior of the access doors to elude to the element of ruggedness. The diamond shaped patterns were then carried through to the ventilation cutouts in wall panels for continuity of theme. A new logo, designed by Bob Barker Company, was added to the access doors as well as laser cut sheet metal brackets. The bracket was painted black with another bracket behind painted orange for a bold, three-dimensional look. A small Bob Barker decal was placed nearby to increase brand awareness. The Designers also added chrome paddle latches and bright screw heads to accent the diamond patterns and create a sense of security.

Next, a new base color was needed for the exterior of the unit. The competitor’s prisoner transport unit was painted a sterile white that easily showed dirt and wear. The old Vancell was painted a dull gray. Bob Barker Company wanted to set themselves apart from both of these units with a bold and dynamic color. Using CAD models created in PTC Creo, the Designers rendered images in different colors to help the company determine which color was best. A medium matte blue was selected.

Upon agreement of design features and colors, manufacturing drawings were released to a third-party fabrication shop. The prototype of the first transport unit was completed in time for display and demonstration at a large trade show. The Marketing and Sales team at Bob Barker Company were excited about the appearance and function of the completed Vancell Elite and confirmed that it met their requirements — rugged, strong, and secure. They also received many positive comments from prospective customers at the trade show.

The VanCell Elite difference is not only through its new and improved design, but it’s features as well. The VanCell Elite provides improved visibility for greater officer security through controlled viewing, PREA compliant segregation compartments, and an enhanced 4 Camera Viewing System and optional DVR upgrade.

Learn more about the VanCell Elite here.

If you have industrial design or engineering project, the Engineering Services Group can step in and mentor you throughout your design process or act as your engineering team. The innovative engineers and designs can help realize your ideas and transform the way you design your products. For more information, contact us here or learn more about our Design and Engineering services here.

3D printing has been considered a tool to quickly design and create prototypes. It is redefining the way we design products and here’s why:

Faster Design

3D printing allows designers to go directly from design to manufacturing. When you 3D print in-house instead of outsourcing your projects to a third party you can reduce print cycles up to 75%.
Reference: Save Time and Money with the Form 2

Innovation on the Fly

Companies are able to test their prototypes before committing to a specific design. 3D printing welcomes the age of rapid prototyping. Through rapid prototyping, designers are able to evaluate print failures more efficiently and improve their design.

Use Resources Efficiently

3D printing can produce the same technology as other types of heavy machinery at a fraction of the cost.3D printing in-house rather than outsourcing to a third party allows significant cost savings. According to a case study evaluated by one of our customers, they saved 93% by printing in-house. 3D printing in house allows your design to make design improvements quickly and cost efficiently.
Reference: Save Time and Money with the Form 2 

To learn more about 3D printing in house and when to outsource, you may be interested in the white paper, ‘When to 3D Print In House and When to Outsource.’ The white paper reviews three 3D printing methods and presents a pros and cons list comparing the methods.

While I’d like to think I’m a good storyteller and an artist, I’m pretty sure I’m not ‘awesome’ at either. That’s one more reason to pay attention to Augmented Reality (AR) these days.

As an engineer and a designer, I frequently find myself trying to explain a widget, a feature, or a design to someone. Often this takes lots of hand-waving, white-board markers, and innumerable sketches. This got better over time with improved drawing skills and communication techniques. It was even better still when I could put a physical model in someone’s hands by using a 3D printer for rapid prototyping. Well, things just got a lot more interesting when we started using AR through ThingWorx Studio to do virtual prototyping.

While I spend most of my time designing business strategies for the IoT and connecting products using ThingWorx as an IoT platform, the AR portion of ThingWorx is simply fun to use. One great way to employ the tool is to super-impose streaming data and information directly onto the product while looking through a mobile device. AR Prototyping, on the other hand, is the ability to superimpose alternate designs into the real world through a mobile device such that you can experience a design as it was intended. The kicker is that you can whip together a couple dozen designs, review them virtually — in person or remotely — and have a fabulous understanding of the design in less time than it takes to print even one prototype.

In the video below we’re playing with the app ThingWorx View by PTC. Watch this model of a motorcycle come to life with Augmented Reality (AR). We’ve used this technology for virtual prototyping. For some of our customers we are able to swap in and out CAD models to virtually prototype new designs and configurations.

So, if you’re like me and you want to convey a design idea in a hurry — even faster than a rapid prototype — you should really look into AR Prototyping. This has sliced-bread beat no problem.

If you want to start virtual prototyping, ask us how here! We’d love to help you transform the way you design and connect to your products.

The increased use of 3D printing, from hobbyists to professionals, has revolutionized the way ideas and products are brought to life. Multiple websites (GrabCAD, Thingiverse, etc.) provide over a million free downloadable files that can be printed on a variety of 3D printers. Everything from miniature drone blades to sci-fi figures to replacement parts for your vacuum cleaner are readily available. The possibilities for whatever application you have are almost unlimited. Almost. 

The key to giving your 3D designs unlimited potential for customization is CAD modeling software. While there are many accessible 3D printing files created by others, the most satisfying way to bring your ideas to reality are files created by you! Files for 3D printing can be created from scratch or existing files can by modified to suit your application. Without the ability to create unique parts, a 3D printer can quickly become a novelty. As soon as the excitement of first initial prints wear off, the use and return on investment reduces as well.

Read more to see how one company unlocks the true potential of CAD with 3D Printing.

Engineering Services Customer Case Study

A company that customizes enclosure trailers recently proved to be an excellent example of this limitation and how to solve it. The company wanted to use an off-the-shelf LED lighting product to illuminate the interior of a racing trailer. They needed to mount the LED lights in a clean manner and in specific locations to satisfy the customer’s needs. The company also wanted to locate the lighting switches discreetly. Since these parts would not be mass-produced the cost of a plastic injection mold could not be justified. They decided a series of 3D printed components would be the best method to meet their needs within the given delivery timeline.

While the company had access to a 3D printer, they did not have access to CAD modeling software. Despite extensively searching online trying to fulfill the requirements for these lighting components, nothing could be found to suit their needs.

The company came across EAC and decided to utilize the Engineering Services Group to save the day. A member of the Engineering Services Team created several CAD models using PTC Creo to design the customized lighting components. Within two hours, the stylized CAD models were complete and ready for printing. Three days later the 3D prints were finished and installed in the trailer.

Figures 1 illustrates the CAD with 3D printing files and Figure 2 illustrates the finished parts installed in the trailer. The parts were 3D printed using the Form 2 by FormLabs. The Form 2 is a high-quality stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer. In this case, the parts were printed using a clear resin (GPCL02) and then painted black. The parts were quickly produced to provide the custom enclosed trailer with a lighting solution that exceeded the customers expectations.

This project demonstrates a practical application of 3D printing when paired with CAD modeling software. With PTC Creo and the Form 2, the Engineering Services team was able to quickly create finished and functional parts that can provide unique and differentiating products without the capital investment sometimes required by plastic injection molding and other manufacturing processes.

It’s important to remember that the quality of your print depends on the quality of your design. If the CAD model is poorly designed, your 3D printed product may have flaws. The cleaner your design, the cleaner your print. Luckily for you, we can help! Find out why you should design your products using PTC Creo here. If you think you already have a great CAD modeling software and want to explore the Form 2 instead, go here.