Reliability
Todd Grimm, president of T.A. Associates, who reviewed a beta version of the Mojo prior to its release, explained the driver behind the need for reliability in these machines.
"[Crump's] point was that to go lower in price, you have to make a system that is rock solid and easy to use," he said. "It's counter-intuitive, but the lower the price, the less tolerant people are of hiccups, glitches, problems and challenges."
"When I was working with Mojo," he said, "Scott Crump's vision was painted all over this thing. From set up to operation to the quality of parts, it was transparent."
For Stratasys customers, the added reliability this adds is absolutely necessary.
"We're looking at putting products into a professional space," Cobb said. "What we're really talking about here is a professional group of people that are looking to design products for their companies, their clients and do it on a day-in-and-day-out basis and have a piece of equipment that delivers what they want, which is reliability," he said.
"Reliability is absolutely critical. How the product works, how the material is delivered, how you get the supports off, every single facet of that," he added.
So with all of this, we may very well be seeing some flashy "revolution" headlines and a lot more talk about epoch changes. More importantly, though, is that this may mean more people will have access to high quality 3D printing technology with this machine and with the whole new industry it creates.
As Cobb said, "This is the beginning of a brand new platform."
We can certainly hope so.
