Customer
IPC, Innovation Plasturgie Composites
Location
Bellignat, France
Industry
Plastics and Composites
Equipment
2 × FUNMAT PRO 610HT
About the Customer
IPC – France’s Centre Technique Industriel (CTI) de la Plasturgie et des Composites – is the country’s nationally recognized industrial technical center for plastics and composites, helping industrial companies stay competitive through research and development, innovation, technology transfer, and skills development.
IPC’s expertise covers the entire plastics and composites value chain—from material formulation, design, and process simulation to prototyping, characterization, testing, and end-of-life management. The center operates three specialized platforms:
DIS30
Circular economy and sustainable materials
PRINTER
Industry 4.0 and additive manufacturing
HYPROD²
High-value-added products and advanced processes
A driving force for innovation, IPC acts as a catalyst for technology transfer and the adoption of new technologies—strengthening the sector’s competitiveness in France and across Europe.
The Challenge
High-performance thermoplastics such as PEEK, PEKK, and ULTEM™ 9085 offer exceptional mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties—but they are among the most demanding materials to process in additive manufacturing. They require extremely precise control of extrusion temperature, chamber environment, and cooling to manage crystallization, thermal stress, and part warpage.
For many of the companies IPC supports, accessing these materials meant high tooling costs, long lead times, and limited design freedom with traditional manufacturing routes.
IPC needed an industrial-grade FFF platform that could process high-performance polymers repeatably, while remaining open and flexible enough for engineers to tune parameters for each application—and reliable enough for collaborative R&D projects with real industrial deadlines.
Why INTAMSYS and CAD Vision?
IPC found its answer through CAD Vision, INTAMSYS’s strategic partner in France. CAD Vision has specialized in additive manufacturing for 25 years, with a team of sales representatives and technical experts covering the entire French territory to advise and support industrial companies.
For a technical center that runs collaborative R&D projects with real industrial deadlines, the choice of platform came down to four decisive criteria—and INTAMSYS, delivered through CAD Vision, met them all.
REASON 01
For a national technical center, equipment downtime is not an inconvenience—it is a broken promise to industrial partners. Collaborative R&D projects run on fixed schedules, and the additive manufacturing unit has become a key part of IPC’s workshop, handling a constant stream of customer requests. IPC needed machines that stay in service, print after print, project after project. INTAMSYS’s reputation as one of today’s world leaders in high-temperature FFF 3D printers rests precisely on this kind of dependable, production-grade performance—which is why reliability was the first argument in the selection.
“The additive manufacturing unit has become a key part of our workshop. We need equipment that is reliable, flexible, and capable of supporting the different products and applications our customers bring to us.”
Mathieu Thevenot · Production Manager, IPC
REASON 02
IPC’s members come from aerospace, automotive, medical, and packaging—sectors where PEEK, PEKK, and ULTEM™ 9085 are not optional extras but baseline requirements. These are among the hardest thermoplastics to process in FFF. The FUNMAT PRO 610HT was purpose-built for exactly this class of materials, and INTAMSYS is recognized for its ability to print them repeatably—turning materials that were once laboratory curiosities into dependable engineering options for IPC’s customers.
REASON 03
For most manufacturers, an open material system is a cost advantage. For a technical center, it is a working method. IPC’s engineers do not just print parts—they study how materials behave, tune process parameters for each application, and change the manufacturing substrate freely to support whatever a partner brings. A closed ecosystem would make that impossible. INTAMSYS’s platform is open to all materials compatible with FFF technology, giving IPC the experimental freedom its R&D and technology-transfer mission demands.
“This machine is crucial for us. It allows us to use a wide variety of materials, manufacture large-dimension parts, and change the manufacturing substrate freely—all within a totally open environment.”
Tanguy Ladde · Production Technician, IPC
REASON 04
Behind the machines stands CAD Vision, INTAMSYS’s official and expert partner in France. With over 20 years of additive manufacturing specialization and a nationwide team of sales representatives and technical experts, CAD Vision provides what a global vendor alone cannot: a strong local presence that helps INTAMSYS carry out installation, training, and after-sales support faster, smoother, and more effectively. For IPC, that means service and advice delivered in its own language and time zone, with no barrier and no delay.
“We chose INTAMSYS because it is today one of the world leaders in high-temperature FFF 3D printers, particularly recognized for their reliability, their ability to print high-performance materials (PEEK, ULTEM, etc.), and above all because INTAMSYS is highly adaptable and open to all materials compatible with FFF technology.”
CAD Vision
Reliability to keep the workshop running, material capability to serve demanding industries, openness to fuel research, and local expertise to make it all work—together, these four strengths made INTAMSYS and CAD Vision the clear choice for IPC.
The Solution
In collaboration with CAD Vision, IPC integrated two INTAMSYS FUNMAT PRO 610HT systems into its additive manufacturing unit—a reliable, high-temperature FFF solution for high-performance polymer applications and a demonstration of how such equipment integrates into R&D and application-development workflows.
| FUNMAT PRO 610HT | |
| Build Volume | 610 × 508 × 508 mm |
| Chamber Temperature | Up to 300°C |
| Nozzle Temperature | Up to 500°C |
| Material System | Open—PEEK, PEKK, ULTEM™ 9085, ULTEM™ 1010, PPSU, PPS, PPA-CF/GF, PC, PC-ABS, ABS, and more |
The large build volume, advanced thermal management, and open material system let IPC process a wide range of high-performance materials on the same platform. Engineers prepare parts in INTAMSUITE NEO for slicing, orientation, and process preparation, load INTAM™ filament, and launch jobs directly from the machine’s touchscreen interface.
Applications
The two 610HT systems now serve the full spectrum of IPC’s mission: rapid prototypes for feasibility studies, functional parts for pilot series, and technology-transfer projects for industrial partners across aerospace, automotive, medical, and packaging.
Radiation Resistance
Material and process capabilities for demanding operating environments.
Biocompatibility
Support for application development where material selection is critical.
Fire & Low Smoke
High-performance polymers for safety-sensitive industrial applications.
It’s a quick and flexible solution. It lets us respond to the different needs and applications of our partners, whether we are validating a design, producing functional prototypes, or supporting technology-transfer projects.
Justine Papillion · Project Manager, IPC
Delivered Value
01
Prototypes and functional parts delivered in days, not weeks, keeping collaborative R&D projects on schedule.
02
A single platform covering ULTEM™ 9085, PEEK, PEKK, and standard engineering polymers—ready for the next material challenge.
03
Engineers freely tune process parameters, experiment with new materials, and adapt the substrate for each application.
04
The systems show member companies how high-performance polymer 3D printing integrates into real industrial workflows.
Looking Ahead
With two FUNMAT PRO 610HT systems now in operation, IPC plans to keep expanding its high-performance polymer additive manufacturing services—testing new materials, supporting new sectors, and helping more industrial companies move from concept to qualified part, and from qualified part to production.
The combination of INTAMSYS hardware, CAD Vision’s local expertise, and IPC’s deep knowledge of plastics and composites is helping French industry adopt high-performance polymer additive manufacturing with confidence.
Centre Technique Industriel de la Plasturgie et des Composites (IPC) is France’s leading industrial technical center for plastics and composites, supporting more than 3,000 companies through R&D, innovation, technology transfer, and skills development. Learn more at www.ct-ipc.com.
CAD Vision is a leading French specialist in additive manufacturing and the strategic partner for the full INTAMSYS range in France. With over 20 years of experience, its nationwide team provides sales, technical support, and consulting to industrial companies across the country.
INTAMSYS is a global leader in industrial-grade high-temperature FFF 3D printing solutions, specializing in high-performance and engineering materials 3D printing. Its comprehensive product portfolio includes industrial FFF 3D printers, open 3D printing material system, printing services, and 3D printing software ecosystem, widely applied in aerospace, automotive, healthcare, humanoid robotics, electronics, and education. With marketing and service centers in Shanghai, Dongguan, Stuttgart (Germany), and Minnesota (USA), the company has built a global service network. Learn more at www.intamsys.com.
Explore how the FUNMAT PRO 610HT can support your high-temperature FFF applications—from functional prototyping to production.
Explore FUNMAT PRO 610HT
The tank holder is a new part in this year´s racing car. The part is printed on the FUNMAT PRO 610HT with the material choice of ABS. For the driverless disciplines, the team uses pressurized air to activate the brakes in an emergency. This year, they changed the concept of how pressurized air is stored, which required a new mounting solution. The tank holder is designed to solve this challenge.
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Other 3D printed parts, using the FUNMAT PRO 610HT and PC material, are the flap ribs that play a crucial role in the construction of the car’s side wing. These ribs are glued into the carbon-fiber shells and incorporate threaded inserts for attaching the wing to the chassis.
While the team has used these ribs for years, they have redesigned for this season to accommodate changes in the aerodynamic shape of the wings. Using INTAMSUITE™ NEO and the 3D printing technology, they conducted topology optimization to achieve the lightest possible geometry, resulting in an organic shape that would not be possible to manufacture by milling.
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