IFPL Invests In 3D Printing Technology

Aug 2010. Isle of Wight, UK. - IFPL, the company that brings you cool and imaginative ways to connect your passengers to the IFE&C system, has invested in a new 3D printer to speed up development of its products. Already known as a company that continuously innovates, IFPL’s investment allows rapid development lead times of custom-made products such as iPod docking stations, PCUs, dataports and video monitor arms.

The 3D printer has already received a royal introduction. The Duke of Kent recently visited IFPL’s offices as part of his tour of three Isle of Wight businesses who have received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise. During his visit, the Duke saw the 3D printer is action as it produced a replica tennis ball, which came apart to reveal ‘IFPL’ lettering holding the two sides together. The Duke was later presented with ‘one that was made earlier’ in recognition of his role as President of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

A 3D printer is just as the name suggests. Once a 3D engineering design has been created on screen all the engineer needs to do is click ‘print’, just like on any other printer, and the design is produced as a physical 3D model within a matter of hours.

Geoff Underwood, IFPL’s Managing Director, said, “we are always coming up with new ideas and concepts, but sometimes find that we simply don’t have the time to prove the concept. This great new piece of kit allows our engineers to build a finished product in just a few hours”. IFPL has customers who are asking for models of products to ‘see what it looks like’, and can now be provided with a number of options in a very short time.