UltiMaker launched the Factor 4 Plus on May 21, positioning it for continuous factory and defense production with up to twice the print speed of the standard Factor 4. Alongside the speed increase, the machine ships with TRACE, short for Technical Reporting And Certification Engine, a built-in system that monitors four print parameters in real time and produces a CAD-validation report at the end of each job.

TRACE continuously logs extrusion factor, nozzle temperature, chamber temperature, and build plate temperature throughout a print. What's new here is that the validation record is drawn directly from the printer's own hardware, eliminating any need for a separate inspection step. "Pulling validation data straight from the hardware gives customers the confidence and traceability they need to scale additive manufacturing into true production environments," said Arjen Dirks, UltiMaker's CTO.

The speed gain comes from the Cheetah motion planner, which eliminates abrupt direction changes that generate vibrations in conventional systems. The Factor 4 Plus supports new AA+ and CC+ high-flow print cores and works with more than 200 materials, including PPS-CF, a polyphenylene sulfide carbon-fiber composite that runs at nozzle temperatures up to 340°C on the CC+ core. The build volume is 330 x 240 x 300 mm, the thermally isolated chamber reaches 70°C, and the heated bed reaches 120°C.

For defense deployments, UltiMaker redesigned the gantry to absorb vibration at high print speeds, and says the architecture was lifetime-tested to 15,000 hours. The printer handles up to six material spools automatically, maintains them below 15 percent relative humidity regardless of ambient conditions, and includes an integrated HEPA H13 filter rated to capture up to 95 percent of ultrafine particles. Minimal-training setup is highlighted as an advantage for forward operations and temporary field sites.

The launch reflects broader pressure on additive manufacturing suppliers to provide part-traceability documentation on par with what conventional subtractive operations generate for aerospace and defense qualification. No pricing was disclosed, though the company describes the platform as significantly more cost-efficient than comparable industrial 3D printing systems.