Treede | Shared build plate: ten parts, one plate, one setup

01 — The treede difference · Shared build plates

Ten parts.
One plate.
One setup.

Line items with the same material, rate and build volume share one build plate. Production setup is charged per plate, not per line item.

A, planned digitally: a build plate with ten parts from two line items arranged in two columns, six labelled 2 and four labelled 1, with 43 percent of the plate free. B, printed physically: the same ten parts on a 256 by 256 millimetre build volume. Line items: 2 to 1 plate, bundled automatically. Setup: once, not twice, charged per plate, not per item. Utilisation: 57 percent, costs follow the area used. — Example: 10 parts from 2 line items on one plate · Build volume size 2

How the shared build plate works

What a shared build plate is

On a shared build plate, all line items and parts of an order are grouped on one common plate and manufactured in a single run, instead of every line item getting a plate of its own.

Why it matters economically

In 3D printing, a large share of the cost is incurred per print job, not per part: data preparation, machine setup, heating up, removal and post-processing. With a shared plate these fixed costs are incurred once instead of several times. In the example above, one plate is enough for ten parts from two line items, where two plates would otherwise be needed. Machine utilisation goes up at the same time, and one-offs or small quantities become affordable.

Why it is more transparent

You see your own plate: which line items are on it, how much build space they occupy, how high the utilisation is and what share of the cost is allocated to each line item.

Who it is for

Companies that already work with 3D printing can outsource parts without planning the plates themselves or blocking their own machine capacity. Newcomers need neither a machine park nor specialist knowledge: upload the models and receive a traceable quote in which the bundling happens automatically. That keeps the risk of getting started small.