Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based Stratasys Inc has bought new rapid prototyping technology from an undisclosed source, which it says should significantly enhance its product mix and capabilities. It has spent $6.5m on the RP technology, which was developed by a private research and development company. Stratasys claims to be the second largest rapid prototyping vendor in the world after Valencia, California-based 3D Systems Corp, and holds a 25% market share. Its products, used by companies such as General Motors, 3M, Motorola Inc, Whirlpool, Chrysler Corp and Xerox Corp, enable engineers to create physical models directly from CAD workstations. Back in 1995, Stratasys acquired rapid prototyping technology from IBM Corp in return for a stake in the company (CI No 2,618), and later released its Genisys tool using the technology. Products based on the newly acquired technology should emerge in about a year, the company said. The purchase will be accounted for as in-process engineering costs, negatively impacting the company’s year-end net earnings to December 31 1998. Stratasys says it expects to be operationally profitable for its fourth quarter and for the year.
