The Realization Group uses ZPrinter ®310 Plus to quickly and affordably realize clients’ architectural visions ■ The Realization Group – A multi- dimensional visualization firm in Miami, Fla. ■ Challenge – Reducing the time and expense of physical architectural mod- els for clients facing hard deadlines ■ Solution - Using the ZPrinter 310 Plus to produce architectural models on demand ■ Results
• Models delivered to customers four
times more quickly than laser-cutting • Models cost as little as one-sixth that of stereolithography • Word of mouth spreading quickly throughout Miami architectural community • Additional customers can now afford physical architectural models The Realization Group used the ZPrinter 310 Plus to create this 28-inch-high model of “The Met” • The Realization Group can provide in Miami, in one-fourth of the time and cost of traditional architectural modeling methods. two or three models for previous price of one Architectural models breathe life into and builders since 1997, when it began abstract concepts, but they have tradition- creating computer simulation models and ally taken so long to create that clients animations for professionals who needed “Speed is the key. I can take wonder if they’re waiting for an actual a way to bring their building concepts to building to go up. life. Over the next few years, the company an order for a model today naturally branched out to physical massing and drop it off with the This pain is troublesome for architectural models. It has recently been producing firms facing important deadlines like client these models by laser-cutting plastic or customer tomorrow. Cost is presentations or public hearings. It has sending design files to an outside vendor another key ... I can make created a tremendous business opportunity, who creates physical models via expensive however, for The Realization Group, a stereolithography. Both are time-consuming that model for one-fourth multidimensional visualization firm in and expensive options. the cost of stereolithography Miami, Fla. The firm is now using in-house 3D printing to create dazzling, finely Through 2005, The Realization Group or laser-cutting.” detailed architectural models in a fraction of offered physical models primarily as a the time it takes to hand-craft those models goodwill service to satisfy customer needs – Rafael Tapanes or to delegate the work to a subcontractor. and secure business. Realization Group Owner owner Rafael Tapanes, however, spent that The Realization Group same year investigating ways to make the Challenge physical modeling business more cost- effective for both his company and his Time and Expense of Traditional clients. He’d been following the develop- 3D Model Creation ment of a new breed of fast and affordable The Realization Group has been a 3D printers, and he investigated the pros service bureau for architects, engineers and cons of various 3D printer offerings. Solution “Architects cherish tradition and are ap- propriately skeptical about new technology,” Invest in ZPrinter 310 Plus says Tapanes. “We’re earning their approval of Tapanes considered speed, printing quality 3D printing, however, by producing affordable and price to determine value. After a year of high-quality models in record time. Clients evaluation, he decided The Realization Group who were dubious at first are now saying, should invest in the ZPrinter 310 Plus from ‘You did this? That big? That fast? For how Z Corp. of Burlington, Mass. The machine was much? Oh, wow, the detail looks good!’ ” five times faster than any other system and one-sixth of the price of the runner-up in his The lower costs of creating models with the evaluation. ZPrinter 310 Plus are letting The Realization Group offer customers two or three 3D “Speed is the key,” Tapanes says. “I can take printed models for what used to be the price an order for a model today and drop it off of one. In-house 3D printing is also fueling The Realization Group printed 100 of with the customer tomorrow. News of our new sales. “I just feel more comfortable now these models in an astonishing two days new capability is spreading quickly by word when a customer or prospect starts inquiring of mouth. Cost is another key. In addition to about physical modeling. For the first time, I the low machine price, I can make that model can guarantee affordability, I can guarantee for one-fourth the cost of stereolithography or the work will be done on time, and I can guarantee there won’t be any complications “Clients love the models. laser-cutting.” because we’re doing all the work ourselves The turnaround is fabulous, in house,” says Tapanes. More customers can
the price is great, and the Results now take advantage of modeling services because The Realization Group has found detail is all they need. My Speed, Affordability, Profit and a way to make it more affordable. “We can Client Satisfaction now offer clients a wide range of models at clients are demanding, but The benefits of speed and affordability various price points and lead times, including the fastest turnaround in the greater Miami they’re delighted with this revealed themselves from the start. In early region,” Tapanes says. 2006, a real estate developer was forced to new service.” make significant revisions to a downtown The result of the new speed and affordability city block known as the Metropolitan Miami of in-house 3D printing is that The Realization – Rafael Tapanes (“The Met”) project, a mix of condos, stores Owner Group and its clients are sharing in the cost and entertainment venues in the heart of The Realization Group savings and positive impact of the new downtown. The developer needed entirely service. Demand for the service is escalating new physical models within two weeks for rapidly as architects and their clients witness an important meeting with city officials. He the speed and affordability of the models thought he was out of luck until he heard they can obtain. about The Realization Group’s new, ultra-fast architectural model turnaround. Tapanes “Clients love the models. The turnaround is produced the model of the complex, including fabulous, the price is great, and the detail is two towers that stand more than two feet tall all they need,” says Tapanes. “My clients are each, well within the deadline. The same work demanding, but they’re delighted with this would have cost four to six times as much new service.” to produce by stereolithography due to the premium for rush jobs. It would have taken The Realization Group’s dealer for four times as long with traditional laser-cut- Z Corporation products is Quantum Leap ting methods. Associates of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. In another example, a retail office and residential complex in nearby Coral Gables called Lancaster Plaza ordered a model of its premises for marketing purposes. Impressed by the speed, quality and the price of the work, the company the next day ordered 100 models – one for every new tenant. The Realization Group turned around the order in The Realization Group an astonishing two days. Miami, Fla. www.realizationgroup.com
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