Are color printers useless?

Watanabe, CEO of the company, recalls: "Originally, we had a full-color plaster-based printer. But at that time, there was no order requesting us to add color."
The reason is that plaster-based printers only enable users to roughly specify colors and hardly allow them to add colors that satisfy customers, and the color expression only has a level of "almost pink" or "close to red." For this reason, the company decided not to receive orders requiring coloration, while customers believed that it would be better to add color by themselves.

Considering the introduction of the printer, Watanabe asked the responsible personnel in the company about its possibility, but he received answers that denied full color, and even made them wonder what the President was thinking.
However, when he showed them the "3DUJ-553", it was highly evaluated by them as "ultrahigh-definition color" and "high speed."

Logical and robust

The most praised point by the staff members was the "appearance and feel" of output objects, he says, and the printer was hailed with surprise because "it can add color naturally to modeled objects," in addition to superior color development and data-based modeling.

He also says that the color expression of other company's 3D printer was hardly data-based, leaving details vague in terms of coloration during creation.
At first, Watanabe suspected that Mimaki may have brought champion samples, but he changed his thought when he actually saw the demonstration of modeling.

Mimaki's sales rep looks back on that time: "Basically, we do not bring champion samples, because they will reveal faults eventually. It is important to have confidence in our products and give an appropriate explanation."

Make objects beautiful and strong

How about user experience after introducing the "3DUJ-553"?
It seemed there was no doubt that its color reproducibility strongly impressed the company.
Customer's evaluation is also high, and the figure, which was once said to "not look like a dog," can reach the level where it is said to be "exactly like my dog."
Because there is no need to provide coloring experts and thus 3D-printed products can be delivered as finished items, the company has propelled the business a step ahead without making unnecessary investment.
Watanabe says of the current situation: "The times catch up with our business sense."

Also, the field site has positive things to say about convenience that is given "thanks to the invulnerability of objects" during the work process.
Plaster-based printers require delicate operation, because modeled objects are very fragile and may be partly damaged unless handled carefully.
When using the "3DUJ-553" printer, ink is firmly cured soon after completion, and objects have very high durability.
The water-soluble support material laminated during modeling to support fragile parts of an object can be removed easily, by just soaking it in the specified solution. This means there are fewer defects such as crack and chip due to removal of the support material.

What do you do by using the 3D printer?

The most common application is pet figures, followed by family photo figures. The company also anticipates that a request of 3D modeling of the beauty of body builders and the likes will be increasingly demanded in the future.
One of the most demanded pet figures is sold for tens or hundreds of thousands of yen, "more expensive than a dog you bought in a pet shop," but there are orders one after another from pet owners.

The work the responsible personnel is proud of is "a figure of a comedian."
When the 3D printer was introduced by a TV program, he created a figure of the comedian.
Under stringent conditions such as "clear painting" and "delivery time as short as the next day," the printer delivered high quality that amazed the comedian.
"Even in an urgent job in which the customer wants to fetch the ordered item, the work has become a good one, which pleased me," says the responsible person, looking back on the work.

And the fact that "customers want to fetch orders" is also a key point, because this is why the company is headquartered in Shin-Yokohama. The company located near the Shin-Yokohama station can bring products directly in a bullet train for delivery. Or, they sometimes complete their mission by picking up a created product and getting back to the office immediately.
Many such rush jobs are the character of the JMC's business.

From now on, the company aims at the immediate goal to double its current monthly production using the 3D printer.
"It is important to disseminate the fact that the full-color print quality given by a 3D printer is extremely high," says Watanabe. "Making a proposal to customers of what changes will be made and what is likely to happen when color is added, as well as focusing on narrative use, will lead to development of the potential of 3D printers, I think," Watanabe says of his vision.
"Currently, there are overwhelmingly few people to create three-dimensional data. I hope there are more places to obtain 3D data, like photo booths to take souvenir pictures or make stickers. If the general use is developed in such way, the value of Mimaki and its 3D printers will increase, won't it?" He adds a proposal as well.