Designed to work in tandem with Mimaki’s own UJF family of LED UV printers, the 3DFF-222 is a co-branded development with South Korean manufacturer Sindoh that will be distributed in the UK by Hybrid Services from May.

Able to print parts up to 210x200x195mm, it allows jigs to be produced quickly and in-house so printers can immediately accommodate specific DTO applications. The machine made its UK debut at the Birmingham NEC last week during Sign & Digital UK 2019.

Hybrid chief operations officer Brett Newman said: “With the variety of internal shapes and recesses it can produce within jigs, the 3DFF-222 has an endless list of applications it can support including toothbrushes, yo-yos, pens and more.

“Personalisation is a big drive for us and Mimaki. Specifically, that is emotional personalisation in which customers are happy to pay more if you have added personal value for them to an item, which in turn is profitable. It also opens up avenues in corporate branding by putting logos onto merchandise.

“It also allows for shorter-run production by cutting out the expensive, time-consuming need to outsource jig production. For instance, a local plumber may want to give out promotional pens but only want 50 printed – this makes that cost-effective.”

He added: “Mimaki is committed to its marketplaces and will always work to develop software and complementary hardware that will simplify ease of use.”

The Mimaki/Sindoh 3DFF-222 uses a poly-lactic acid filament, a plant-based eco-plastic derived from corn and potato starch, to create objects. The machine can be monitored remotely with a specially-designed Mimaki app for smartphones.

It follows in the footsteps of Mimaki’s previous foray into 3D printing, the flagship 3DUJ-553, a system based on UV inkjet resin technology that can print objects in full colour and was unveiled in 2017.