Case Study: Monarch achieves rapid, low-cost custom drone production with Stratasys 3D printing

Monarch - Customer Case Study

Monarch, a specialist drone manufacturer, faced a fragmented market where each application often required its own custom model and unique cocoon housing for sensors. To avoid the high tooling cost and long lead times of injection molding, Monarch brought 3D printing in-house using Stratasys’ Fortus 400mc to produce most drone components, enabling rapid, application-focused designs and one-off custom builds.

Using the Stratasys Fortus 400mc, Monarch prints cocoons, motor housings, speed controllers and gimbals, allowing them to deliver custom drones in as little as a day and a half. Compared with injection molding (28 days and $40,000 per part), 3D printing reduced first-part time to 1 day and cost to about $50—saving 27 days (96%) and $39,950 (99%)—and gave Monarch the flexibility to profitably produce many specialized and single-quantity models.

Monarch

Eileen Shibley

Founder