Our company’s founding dates back to 2017 when we founded Digital Artisan Co., Ltd., which conducts research and development, focusing on manufacturing using 3D technology, human resource development, and joint projects with companies. It started with the idea of ”I want to make a large 3D printer that can recycle materials,” which I had been considering from the beginning.
Since hardware development requires a large amount of funds, it was incorporated in December 2017 as a separate company from Digital Artisan, and its main business is the use of 3D technology and the research and development of large 3D printers. increase.
The founder, Yuji Hara, has experience in prototyping and CAD design at a major telecommunications equipment manufacturer. After that, he worked as a development manager at a CAD / CAM manufacturer for molds, and has been involved in digital manufacturing for over 30 years, including business related to 3D data and 3D printers as a manager. In the process, we were faced with a business model based on the premise of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal. We foresaw that reducing environmental impact and shifting to sustainable manufacturing would be essential for next-generation manufacturing.
As one means of achieving this, we have begun developing a large-scale 3D printer that uses recyclable resin pellets. Problems with conventional FFF (Fused Fused Lamination) 3D printers include the fact that the modeling quality has not reached the industrial grade level and the length of time required for modeling. For this reason, the scenes where 3D printers are introduced are still limited, and they have not spread like general machine tools such as machining centers and laser processing machines.
On the other hand, resin waste generated in the manufacturing process is also a big issue in the manufacturing industry. Companies account for approximately 54%* of the plastic waste generated annually in Japan. Waste plastics discharged by individuals require a number of processes, such as cleaning and sorting, to make them reusable, but plastics discharged at production sites can be reused in a small number of processes. Hara found a way out in low-cost, reusable plastic waste.
Widespread use of 3D printers in the manufacturing industry, which are industrial grade and capable of rapid modeling and minimize resin waste loss. This will accelerate the departure from mass production and mass consumption.
This was our vision.