RedEye On Demand, a business unit of Stratasys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSYS), has been named Emerging Manufacturer of the Year as part of the 2012 Minnesota Manufacturing Awards. The company is recognized by Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association and Minnesota Business Magazine for its accomplishment in creating a revolutionary alternative to traditional manufacturing by building a factory of the future. The factory gives companies in all industries and markets the ability to manufacture globally through the internet using additive manufacturing (3D printing) technologies and processes.

Founded in 2005, RedEye On Demand has already become the world's largest provider of rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing (DDM) services. With a 45,000 square foot factory based in Minnesota housing more than 100 industrial 3D printers, RedEye On Demand is the world's single largest additive manufacturing facility, and has more than double the capacity of the nearest competitor. Additionally, the company operates more than 130 Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing systems globally, making it the most advanced 3D printing service organization in the world.

Award winners were selected by a panel of nine executive-level judges who work in or serve the manufacturing industry. The Emerging Manufacturer of the Year was chosen based on a series of criteria including:

  • Years in business (less than 10 years required)
  • Percentage increase in revenues, capital investment and total employment from 2010 to 2011.
  • Forecasted increase in revenues for next three years
  • Programs to attract, retain or train employees
  • Efforts to increase productivity and quality
  • New services or product development efforts

"The Minnesota Manufacturing Awards program has created a standard of achievement in a sector that is extremely important to the state's economy," said Jaime Nolan, CAE, executive director at Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association. "RedEye On Demand represents the best of the best in being a leader in their space and was selected because of their outstanding achievements and success, and especially in a difficult economic time when so many other firms were struggling to stay afloat."

"We are very proud to be a part of, and to be recognized by the manufacturing community in Minnesota," said Jeff Hanson, business development manager at RedEye On Demand. "Ten years from now, additive manufacturing will have caused so much disruption in the supply chain that it will be a widely used tool among manufacturers to boost productivity."

Hanson went on to say, that the company already has the necessary capabilities to accomplish this disruption and that they are excited to get to share the journey with their customers who are just beginning to see how transformative additive manufacturing is for producing low volumes of complex prototype and production parts, as well as large parts, fast.

According to Hanson, what sets the company apart from others providing additive manufacturing services is its capacity, as well as its unique ability to create high quality, complex models and working parts made from one of the largest selections of real, durable thermoplastic materials.

Here is how 3D printing at RedEye On Demand works: from customers' digital 3D CAD files, RedEye On Demand quickly builds models and parts of virtually any size with precision, speed and accuracy. This ability provides product engineers the freedom to design and innovate for multiple iterations throughout the product development process, supports green manufacturing and increases the bottom line for customers by mitigating risk and saving time and costs to market. RedEye On Demand is able to achieve this by leveraging unique research and development efforts with Stratasys, as well as its own global network to apply innovative Internet Communication Technologies (ICT), and a real-time quoting engine. With RedEye On Demand's global network, custom parts can be produced in other RedEye On Demand facilities throughout the world, including, the closest possible point to assembly plants. This helps avoid global transportation costs and increases speed of delivery.

Learn more about RedEye On Demand's rapid prototyping and digital manufacturing services:

  • Video - Take a Tour of RedEye On Demand
  • White Paper: Direct Digital Manufacturing: Impact and Opportunity Part 1 - Freedom to Redesign
  • Case Study: RedEye defines museum-quality additive manufacturing in the creation of a life-sized Thomas Jefferson model for the Smithsonian Institute

RedEye On Demand, by Stratasys, makes rapid prototyping and the production of low-volume, complex parts fast and easy. RedEye assists engineers in all phases of product development from conceptual modeling to the production of end-use parts. As the leader in on-demand, 3D printing services and powered by the innovation of Stratasys, product developers rely on RedEye for the breadth and reach of its manufacturing technologies. These technologies include Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), PolyJet and cast urethane molding. RedEye's global distributive manufacturing network includes more than 130 additive manufacturing systems worldwide. Through its vast network, RedEye is able to streamline and expedite the development time for parts, reducing costs and time to market. Online at www.RedEyeOnDemand.com

Stratasys, Inc., Minneapolis, is a maker of additive-manufacturing machines for prototyping and producing plastic parts. The company markets under the brands uPrint and Dimension 3D Printers and Fortus Production 3D Printers. Stratasys manufactures 3D printers for Hewlett Packard, which it sells under the brand Designjet3D. In 2011, Stratasys acquired 3D printer maker Solidscape Inc. According to Wohlers Report 2011, Stratasys had a 41-percent market share in 2010, and has been the unit market leader for the ninth consecutive year. Stratasys patented and owns the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM®) process. The process creates functional prototypes and manufactured goods directly from any 3D CAD program, using high-performance industrial thermoplastics. The company holds more than 285 granted or pending additive-manufacturing patents globally. Stratasys products are used in the aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, business and industrial equipment, education, architecture, and consumer-product industries. Online at: www.Stratasys.com

RedEye, FDM, Stratasys, Fortus and Dimension are registered trademarks, and RedEye On Demand and FDM Technology are trademarks, of Stratasys Inc.

Attention Editors: If you wish to publish contact information, please use: godigital@redeyeondemand.com, 1-866-882-6934, www.RedEyeOnDemand.com

Forward Looking Statements
All statements herein that are not historical facts or that include such words as "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "estimates," "vision," "could," "potential," "planning", "intends", "desires", "assume" or "believes" or similar words constitute forward-looking statements covered by the safe harbor protection of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except for the historical information herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These include statements regarding projected revenue and income in future quarters; the size of the 3D printing market; our objectives for the marketing and sale of our Dimension(R) and uPrint(R) 3D Printers; our support removal systems; and our Fortus(R) 3D Production Systems, particularly for use in direct digital manufacturing (DDM); the demand for our proprietary consumables; the expansion of our paid parts service; and our beliefs with respect to the growth in the demand for our products. Other risks and uncertainties that may affect our business include our ability to penetrate the 3D printing market; the success of our distribution agreement with HP; our ability to achieve the growth rates experienced in preceding quarters; our ability to introduce, produce and market consumable materials, and the market acceptance of these materials; the impact of competitive products and pricing; our timely development of new products and materials and market acceptance of those products and materials; the success of our recent R&D initiative to expand the DDM capabilities of our core FDM technology; and the success of our RedEye On DemandTM and other paid parts services. They also include statements about future financial and operating results of our company after the acquisition of Solidscape and anticipated benefits of the acquisition. Actual results may differ from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which may cause our actual results to differ materially from those discussed in a forward-looking statement. Such risk factors include our ability to successfully integrate and market Solidscape products, our ability to retain management and our ability to protect and defend intellectual property. These statements represent beliefs and expectations only as of the date they were made. We may elect to update forward-looking statements, but we expressly disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our beliefs and expectations change. In addition to the statements described above, such forward-looking statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties described more fully in our current report on Form 8-K filed in connection with the completion of our acquisition of Solidscape and in our reports filed or to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

For RedEye On Demand
Editorial Contacts:
Stephani Simon, 612-677-2012
ssimon@orange77.com
or
Melissa Hanson, 952-294-3643
melissa.hanson@redeyeondemand.com
or
Investor Contact:
Shane Glenn, 952-294-3416
shane.glenn@stratasys.com