When to add a second printer or a multi-color unit

Is your printer really full?

Count the hours your printer prints in a normal week, and compare them with the hours it could print. A printer that runs 40 hours a week but sits idle every night has room left: longer prints or full plates started in the evening fill the night. A printer that runs day and night, with orders still waiting, is full.

Also count the waiting: prints that you can't start because you're not there to swap the plate. A second printer doesn't help if you are the bottleneck. Then the answer is fewer, larger batches.

What a second printer adds

A second printer of the same model is the easiest: the same settings, the same spare parts and the same results. A different model makes sense when it adds something you need, such as a larger bed or an enclosure. The printer buying guide compares the Bambu Lab models, from the A1Partner link to the enclosed P2SPartner link.

• Capacity: two printers can do twice the work, but only when you have the time to keep both busy.
• Backup: when one printer needs a repair, the other keeps orders going.
• Specialization: one printer for a material or size that the other can't do, such as an enclosed printer for ASA.

What a multi-color unit adds

A multi-color unit lets one printer print several colors in one part, such as a name in a second color, or switch automatically to a new spool when one runs out. For sellers, both matter: two-color text sells well, and an automatic swap keeps long prints going overnight. See printing in more than one color.

For Bambu Lab printers, the AMS litePartner link fits the A1 and A2 series, and the AMS 2 ProPartner link fits all of them and can also dry filament. Multi-color prints waste filament on every color change, so check the purge amount in the slicer before you promise a price.

Will it pay for itself?

Work out what one more printer would earn per month: the extra orders you could take, times what you keep per order after costs and fees. Compare that with the price of the printer and its parts. The is a 3D printer worth it calculator shows how many prints it takes to earn the price back.

Be honest about the extra orders. A second printer pays for itself only if there are customers waiting. If orders are steady but not growing, a better first step may be making each print faster to handle.

Before you buy

• Do you have the room, the power outlet and good airflow for another printer?
• Can you keep both printers busy without working evenings?
• Do you have the spare parts and filament stock for two printers?
• Is there a product that needs what the new printer adds, or do you only need more of the same?

Make it

• Is a printer worth it?