Ultimaker is a 3D printer-manufacturing company based in the Netherlands, with offices and assembly line in the US. They make FFF 3D printers, develop 3D printing software, and sell branded 3D printing materials. Their product line includes the Ultimaker S5 and S3, Ultimaker 3 series, Ultimaker 2+ series and Ultimaker Original+. These products are used by industries such as automotive, architecture, healthcare, education, and small scale manufacturing.
History
Ultimaker BV is a Dutch3D printer company that was founded in 2011 by Martijn Elserman, Erik de Bruijn, and Siert Wijnia. Ultimaker started selling their products in May 2011. The company's foundation was laid at ProtoSpace Utrecht where Wijnia organized two workshops to build the RepRap Darwin 3D printer. Two Beta-workshops were organized at ProtoSpace Utrecht starting in September and December 2010, each consisting of 10 Monday evenings. Erik de Bruijn and Martijn Elserman assisted at those workshops. Frustration from their inability to get the Darwin design to work led to the inspiration to create their own design. Instead of sticking to the RepRap principle that their printer should be able to print its own parts, they designed their printer to be built mostly of laser cut plywood parts, that could be produced orders of magnitude faster than printed parts at the time. Their first prototypes bore the name "Ultimaker protobox" but newer prototypes were just titled "Ultimaker". In March 2011, Ultimaker ltd. released their first complete product, the "Ultimaker" under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. The Ultimaker Original was distributed as a Do It Yourself kit that hobbyists and technicians assembled themselves. It could print files up to 210 mm x 210 mm x 205 mm at a maximum resolution of 20 microns.
Company Milestones
2013 - The Ultimaker 2 was released. The target market was home-users, schools, and libraries, small businesses, and industrial designers who used 3D printing for rapid prototyping and production. 2015 - In 2015 Ultimaker's revenue doubled, with 35% of new customers coming from the North American market. 2017 - Ultimaker's U.S. presence grew to include a network of 37 re-sellers. 2018 - Partners with material manufacturers DSM, BASF, DuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers, Owens Corning, Mitsubishi, Henkel, Kuraray, Solvay and Clariant to create material profiles for printing high-level engineering plastics and composites. Opens facility in Singapore to service Asia, Pacific and China markets and expands manufacturing presence to three continents. 2019 - Arkema joins material alliance program and releases FluorX filament. The company moved its headquarters to Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Software
Their first software ran under a modified version of Replicator-G. They changed this later to Cura because more and more users started using this software in favor of Replicator-G, which was originally produced with Makerbot in mind. When the lead developer for Cura started working for Ultimaker, Ultimaker Cura became the lead software product for Ultimaker. Cura rapidly became a favorite of 3D printing enthusiasts. A YouMagine Survey found that 58% of users surveyed used Cura, compared to 23% that used Slic3r. On September 26, 2017 the company announced that Cura had achieved one million users. This announcement was made at the TCT show. With the release of Cura 4.0, Ultimaker users were finally able to back up their files to the cloud. As of 2020 the software was processing 1.4 million jobs per week.
Products
Unlike the RepRap project, Ultimaker is not focused on the end-goal of self-replication. Ultimaker printers are designed to make high quality prints easy and hassle free. Ultimaker sells the Ultimaker Original family as a DIY kit and the Ultimaker 2 and 3 family as pre-assembled machines. One of the distinctive properties of Ultimaker printers is that vertical movement is accomplished by moving the print platform, not the nozzle. The products are manufactured at three facilities: Netherlands, U.S. and Singapore
Ultimaker Original
Ultimaker Original is a predecessor of Ultimaker 2 and was released a few months after the company was founded. Because the Ultimaker Original is sold as a kit it must be assembled by the user and can be modified to the user's preference. In 2012, the Ultimaker Original was awarded Fastest and Most Accurate 3D printer available by MAKE Magazine.
Ultimaker 2
Ultimaker 2 is the successor to the Ultimaker Original and was released in September 2013. MAKE magazine classified the Ultimaker 2 as the "best open-architecture 3D printer of 2014" and named it runner-up in the category "Prosumer FFF".
Ultimaker 2 Go
The Ultimaker 2 Go is a compact and portable design that comes with a travel case for easy transportation. Released date April 2015. This printer along with the Ultimaker 2 Extended are the newest additions to the Ultimaker family of printers. Awarded 2nd place in the Most Portable category in MAKE Magazine's Digital Fabrication Shootout 2015.
Ultimaker 2 Extended
Released date April 2015. Awarded 1st place in the Best Large Format category in MAKE Magazine's Digital Fabrication Shootout 2015. Rated as a top 5 3D printer by 3DForged.com. Otherwise similar to normal Ultimaker 2 except for its 100 mm higher build volume and somewhat larger frame.
Ultimaker 3 and Ultimaker 3 Extended
The Ultimaker 3 was released on 18 October 2016 and introduced professional dual extrusion 3D printing for the desktop. It was named the best 3D printer for 2017 by All3DP. In 2019, The Mediahq recognized the Ultimaker 3 as the Best 3D Printer of 2019 for Enthusiasts.
Ultimaker S5
The Ultimaker S5 was introduced in April 2018. It increased the build area of the X axis while maintaining the build area of the Z axis and introduced a feeder system that pauses when material runs out and resumes when new material is loaded. This is the only model made by Ultimaker that is certified by Materialise for FDA-approved medical applications. In July 2019, this model was named Best Enthusiast 3D Printer by Tom's Guide in their annual rankings.
Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle
The S5 Pro Bundle option was announced at the TCT Show in September 2019. The Pro Bundle is an upgrade of the S5. It includes the S5 Air Manager to provide a closed environment for printing to keep ultrafine particles from the air while printing and the S5 Material Station that can hold up to 6 spools of filament for continuous 24/7 printing. The company developed the model as a bridge between industrial 3D printers and desktop printers.
Ultimaker S3
In September 2019, the S3 was introduced as a smaller alternative to the S5. Like the S5, it was developed for the professional market and not the casual hobbyist. The S3 occupies a smaller footprint than the S5 and offers a smaller build volume. The dual extruders print using almost any 2.85 filament, including abrasive filaments.
