Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, allows for production of highly complex shapes and structures without the need for an elaborate and expensive tool. However, not all requirements for industrial series production can be met by that technology. The processing is still too slow and the component size too limited. In order to increase the speed of additive manufacturing according to melt strand deposition and to enable the production of bigger prototypes, a novel filament extruder has been developed. The novel extruder processes a thermoplastic filament which is conveyed by a specially developed feed zone, wherein the filament is not shredded. The extruder achieves a maximum melting capacity through the use of a grooved plasticizing zone in combination with a barrier screw. The developed extruder is supposed to be suitable for robot-based 3D printing where the processing of the filament guarantees its functionality, independent from any position. Initial tests with the feed zone show that the key conveyor principle works. On that basis, further experiments with the high performance plasticizing zone is planned.