Based in the northwest of the UK, GJ Plastics LTD has over 30 years of experience producing a variety of acrylic display products, signage, promotional displays, and correx printing.
The Director of GJ Plastics, Graham Croston, was originally a keen hobbyist 3D printer. From his 3D printing hobby, Croston was able to see the potential and benefits of investing in a dual extrusion 3D printer. A dual extruder 3D printer could produce virtually « injection molded quality » components for his company, GJ Plastics. Before incorporating an industrial 3D printer, Graham Croston paid £1.50 per unit for one of his components. His goal was to save time and become more cost-efficient by manufacturing parts and components in-house using 3D printing. By introducing the Raise3D Pro2, Croston was able to achieve his goal.
GJ Plastics Wanted to Use Small-Batch Production to Contribute to the Fight Against COVID-19
During the COVID-19 outbreak, Croston saw an opportunity to help protect people who are regularly in direct contact with the public. Norton thought to adapt products that were originally meant for the display market to manufacture COVID-19 protection screens. However, this production change needed to have a fast turn-around time, be cost-effective, and easy to perform.
GJ Plastics Used the Pro2 Dual Extruder 3D Printer to Produce Protective Screens Against COVID-19
GJ Plastics used their Raise3D Pro2 dual extruder 3D printer to quickly adapt production and supply their customers with their version of COVID-19 protection screens. Since the Pro2 is an industrial 3D printer it has a higher quality and more printing capabilities than Croston’s original hobbyist printer. With the Pro2, Croston designed various fixtures/fixing prototypes to develop cost-effective PLA solutions in-house instead of manufacturing aluminum parts somewhere else.
Printing Batch of Plastic Fixtures with the Raise3D Pro2 Printer
“The reason we buy from 3DGBIRE is that not only do they stock a lot of parts for the machine, the support they give is a lifetime support. That’s absolutely fantastic – they are only a phone call away and are happy to profile a material for us. I give 3DGBIRE 10 out of 10. They are the kind of company you want to deal with.”
– Director Graham Croston
Production Results After Incorporating the Pro2 Dual Extruder 3D Printer
GJ Plastics found the introduction of the Raise3D Pro2 to be extremely cost-effective while saving on labor. For example, a component that the company originally outsourced cost £1.50 per unit is now printed in-house. In the last 10 weeks, GJ Plastics produced 20,000 of these same components for 25p each. That is a saving of £2500 per week!
Graham Croston found the Pro2 dual extruder 3D printers easy to use and reliable, significantly lessening the downtime for production, and enabling the company to keep their profit margins. In addition, the company found the Pro2 to be one of the best dual extruder 3D printers on the market, delivering excellent print quality and reliable dual extrusion printing. As such, Croston plans to purchase more machines in the next 12 months.
“COVID-19 protection screens are in demand at hospitals, universities, airports etc, we can now fabricate the components for our screens in-house, quickly and extremely cost effectively”
– Director Graham Croston
Graham Croston is printing components for screens with the Raise3D Pro2 Printer
This case study is shared by 3DGBIRE, a Raise3D’s UK distributor. You can find this case study here.
