Accelerating Prototyping

Grohe Water Technology AG & Co. is a world leader in supplying sanitary and water fittings for private and public sectors. The company utilizes new technology to maintain its leadership position in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

With a goal of accelerating product innovation by 20 percent in their new design center, the Grohe group in Hemer, Germany examined new technologies that would make their design, development and production process more stream-lined and cost-efficient.

The Dimension Solution:

Before discovering the Dimension 3D Printer, it was much more time and cost consuming using Grohe's toolmakers or external suppliers to produce prototypes. During the first four months of use, the Dimension 3D Printer ran for more than 380 hours. In contrast, a milling cutter, installed at the same time, was used only a couple of hours.

"We reduced the time to develop a flushing system by 50 percent. Product samples could be produced at an early stage of the development process" explains Friedrich Imhoff, a Grohe product development manager. And Dimension has reduced time related to making production budget decisions. Imhoff adds, "The product can be presented within a short amount of time and our product managers are able to identify themselves with the product at a very early stage."

An essential tool for everyone on the design team.

Dimension 3D printing can help you quickly fine tune designs and cut weeks - even months - from your development schedule. Now you can test form, fit and function and explore as many design iterations as you like - over your network, right from your desktop.