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"Engineer's Guide to the Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP)"

This white paper provides an introduction to STEP, how it compares to other processes for producing ABS parts and how it’s currently being used today to produce end-use ABS parts at scale.

When it comes to manufacturing ABS parts, engineers have several tried-and-true options from which to choose: injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, vacuum forming and thermoforming. Then there’s the emerging alternative: 3D printing, more commonly referred to at scale as additive manufacturing (AM).

Which of these processes is right for you depends, of course, on your application. For example, if you need high-volume production for end-use parts, injection molding is the obvious way to go. At the other end of the production spectrum, AM is typically understood as the best bet for prototyping and short runs.

While these two processes should ideally pair well, the differences between the two processes and their capabilities can make scaling difficult.

Rather than trying to bridge the gap between these two technologies, there is a third route engineers can take: the selective thermoplastic electrophotographic process (STEP). STEP is an additive technology, but it’s significantly different from better-known 3D printing processes.

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