Aicomp Summit 2026 live: Stratasys showcases 3D printing innovations for packaging

Stratasys is showcasing how additive manufacturing (AM) creates added value to the packaging industry at the ongoing Aicomp Summit 2026 in Vienna, Austria (March 11–13). The company is presenting its 3D printing applications, exploring the technology’s potential for the packaging sector.

Live from the conference, Packaging Insights speaks to Stratasys, a provider of industrial 3D printing and additive printing, about the implementation of AM in packaging.

“Many people still don’t believe what you can do with 3D printing. We have materials that are stronger than carbon fiber and materials that are a lot lighter than aluminum. Some of the materials have the same stiffness as metals, and they can replace metal materials in packaging,” Stefan Zoller, senior application engineer at Stratasys, tells us.

“We have many possibilities for the packaging industry. For example, manufacturers can full-color print prototypes of bottles that are not real glass bottles. And companies can use them for marketing, design development, and faster prototypes. That’s one of the main areas that our technology can support the packaging industry.”

Advancing production efficiency

Stratasys’ session at the Aicomp Summit highlights use cases in tooling, such as mold inserts, grippers, gauges, and fixtures, as well as the flexible production of spare parts to reduce downtime.

Stratasys’ solution can enable rapid and cost-efficient production of prototypes for design.“We can develop a metal tool to replace a polymer tool. We can also produce paper pulp tools, expanded PS or expanded PP tools, as well as foam tools, and then companies can produce the packaging parts with the tools,” Zoller shares.

“If companies have a manufacturing line and some parts go missing, or something breaks, with the 3D printer, they can be directly reprinted, and the assembly line could be fixed, and then get back up to speed for production.”

Stratasys and Henkel created a rigid and chemical-resistant photopolymer for the Origin 3D printer. The material is designed for food and pharmaceutical applications with low migration to reduce leachable substances.

“The material is developed to fulfill European and US Food and Drug Administration certification standards. But we also need to obtain more certifications, such as for higher temperature food packaging or high alcoholic food packaging,” says Zoller.

Stratasys also joined forces with cosmetic packaging provider Baralan to produce end-use parts for glass and plastic containers.

With live reporting from Milana Nikolova at the Aicomp Summit 2026.