Ultimaker has this week announced the availability of a new print management system called Cura Connect.
Cura Connect was first shown off at TCT Show 2017. It is an advanced print management system for Ultimaker 3 and Ultimaker 3 Extended users that’s designed to make print management easier.
Ultimaker users will already be familiar with Cura, which is Ultimaker’s proprietary software. Cura Connect represents a significant leap forward for the software, however. It has been developed for prototyping and small-scale production across an organisation, with the ability to select and group printers to queue jobs and monitor progress from one interface. It offers the ability to maximise uptime, streamline workflow and scale up operations.
The user experience itself has been optimised for group sizes of 1 to 15 people sharing 1 to 5 printers. This makes it an ideal software solution for small-scale production and collaboration. You can also group Ultimaker 3 and Ultimaker 3 Extended printers together, since the G-code for both machines is cross-compatible.
In addition to its networking features, Cura Connect also monitors the 3D printers it is connected to and schedules maintenance for them, to assist in keeping hardware in the best condition. But for many users, Cura Connect’s queueing function, automatic job assignment and automatic printer assignment features will be worth upgrading for alone.
Discussing Cura Connect, Paul Heiden, Senior Vice President Product Management at Ultimaker, said: “Making professional 3D printing accessible, that’s what we are working on every day at Ultimaker. By continuously developing our hardware, software, materials and services we are making 3D printing a hassle-free solution in any office or workshop. A lot was invested in user research to make sure that Cura Connect fits our users’ needs exactly. We are positive that Cura Connect gives businesses a competitive edge with a reduced time to market, cutting costs, and an improved product life cycle with faster iterative prototyping, ability to customise and efficient spare part delivery.”
You can find out more about Cura Connect on the Ultimaker website.