Case Study: Symmons Industries achieves rapid, full-color on-demand prototyping for Design Studio Live with 3D Systems

3D printing is the heartbeat of Symmons Industries’ Design Studio Live virtual design studio

Symmons Industries, a 70‑year‑old maker of commercial and residential plumbing fixtures, launched Design Studio Live — a web-based virtual design studio that lets architects and designers create custom bathroom fittings and receive physical color 3D concepts within days. The program hinged on fast, affordable prototype production, but Symmons’ existing 3D printer took about 15 hours to print a single faucet, creating a critical bottleneck for high-volume, quick-turnaround work.

Symmons solved the problem by adopting a 3D Systems Spectrum Z510 full‑color printer, which produced 12 faucet models in 3.5 hours (roughly 48 times the throughput of the old machine). The new capability enabled on‑demand color prototypes delivered within four days, powered thousands of ZPrints for clients and tradeshows, sped design iterations and client approvals, and helped win high‑profile projects while creating new promotional and design‑exploration opportunities.

Symmons Industries

Eric Spear

Director of Custom Services