Imagination goes hand in hand with 3D printing, as does accelerated growth in product development on the epic level, and especially in industrial manufacturing. Companies like Mimaki, however, also really know how to bring on the excitement. Their name is synonymous with powerful, quality printing accompanied by vibrant colors—and 3D printing in ten million colors to be exact.
Mimaki, Quite Simply, Knows What They Are Doing
For over 25 years, Mimaki has specialized in full color inkjet printing. They hold numerous patents, maintain a large presence in signage and graphics, industrial printing, and textile printing too. In 2017, the Japanese company entered the 3D printing industry—and they weren’t exactly low-key about it. After all, no one else has come even close to offering such exciting, and vast, options in color.
Undeniably, Mimaki has made a solid arrival into the 3D printing market. They aren’t new to industrial printing, and they aren’t still working out the kinks on customers either. Josh Hope, Senior Manager for Digital Imaging and Innovation at Mimaki, is clear about what makes Mimaki different:
“We’re coming at it from a very different perspective, and that perspective is that we have many many years of experience in how to reproduce color accurately, how to manage that color, and how to provide a workflow that allows for the most accurate reproduction of color possible.”
There are already so many different elements, techniques, and players within the industry that it is impossible to keep track; however, companies like Mimaki didn’t just pop up out of nowhere. Even after so many years in the printing industry, their vision continues to be ‘something new, something different,’ demonstrating the power of a company that knows how to make solid promises—and live up to them fully.
COVID-19 Isolation Brought New Interest—Especially from Tabletop Gamers
With the insurgence of COVID, millions of people have been home, bringing greater demand and more time for purchasing and customizing gaming miniatures and other types of game-related prints. With the resurgence of role-playing games (RPGs) at the tabletop, more players than ever have been ‘getting together,’ often through live streaming online.
For the gaming community over the past year, what some people considered challenges in being stuck at home turned into an idyllic situation where it really wasn’t all that hard to entertain or distract themselves.
“People were really diving deeper into 3D printing technology,” said Hope.
During this time, Mimaki and Shapeways were solidifying their partnership too, with Shapeways releasing High Definition Full Color and marketing to consumers and businesses engaged in applications like gaming, medicine, architecture, education, and more. Hope stresses that the point really is to get 3D prints into the hands of people and companies who cannot afford to invest in a commercial Mimaki 3D printer.
And while there is other powerful, comparable technology out there, the multi-color factor causes Mimaki prints to stand apart—along with the robustness of the technology—and the company itself.
Enjoy the benefits of this advanced technology and a wide range of materials from Shapeways for 3D printing your creations with accuracy, complex detail, and no minimum or limits in terms of mass customization or single part orders. Shapeways has worked with over 1 million customers in 160 countries to 3D print over 20 million parts! Read about case studies, find out more about Shapeways solutions, and get instant quotes here.