2023 Is Time to Get Practical in the Additive Manufacturing Industry
A few thoughts from our CEO Dr. Cora Leibig to close out 2022
Heading into 2023, I have one thing on my mind: How are 3D-printing companies meeting manufacturers' needs and taking their products to market?
The State of the 3D-Printing Industry
Across the board, 3D-printing companies are delivering year-over-year growth. This consistent growth indicates that, indeed, there is a need for the technology in the marketplace. However, 3D-printing companies are disappointing investors and missing revenue targets left and right. Meanwhile, companies like Daimler Truck complain that the supply chain is a mess, even after the chip shortage has been solved. So why isn't the opening for massive growth in the 3D-printing industry panning out?
When I founded Chromatic in 2016, I noticed that manufacturers don’t want to buy printers — they want to find better ways to produce their products. This market need has only increased since then.
Over the last century, the materials and plastics-processing industry has met manufacturers' needs by delivering an ever-expanding menu of materials and processes, all tailored to meet varied application needs, and at a relatively high level of service. The materials that manufacturers choose are selected for crucial, application-specific reasons: one part might need to recover quickly when squeezed, while another has to maintain its strength at high temperatures, and a third has to be optically clear. The list goes on and on.
Meanwhile, 3D-printing companies have been more focused on printing speed and resolution. The scope of materials on offer is growing, but it's most often in a mode where it's a broad, commodity-product grade — not a grade designed for use in a specific application.
Shining a Light on Manufacturers' Needs
For their highest value products, manufacturers don't settle for commodity grades of materials and machines. There's no reason for them to lower those standards when they move from conventional manufacturing to 3D printing. If 3D printing is to grow into actual manufacturing, AM suppliers need to turn their attention toward technical service to facilitate implementation on the factory floor. From there, customer needs must drive the form of the product: the resolution, printer format and materials required.
True product requirements emerge when you focus on manufacturers' needs. As Chromatic has developed its markets, we’ve adapted our products along the way. One set of customers demanded an elastomer material with very low compression set. Another set of customers didn’t require high resolution but needed parts with voids and bubbles reduced to 1 micron or less. Others required a printing resin that could penetrate a fabric, or a part to pass medical-device requirements.
Technical Service Is King
Chromatic began with a material chemistry that was adaptable for customer needs. It could even facilitate modification or customization at the printhead. I knew we had to establish a culture of attentive technical service so that customers would recognize — and value — the adaptability of our base technology and materials.
Six years later, it's clear that this attentive technical service is a mandate for our industry. Material adaptability is necessary, as is the adaptability of printers. The great thing about a 3D printer is that a single device can produce a tremendous range of manufactured goods. Its core value proposition is adaptability and capital cost savings. As an industry, we need to build upon that adaptability with a range of materials and printer configurations. And that adaptability needs to go hand-in-hand with technical service.
At Chromatic, as we look at winning each of our manufacturing customers, every single case has necessitated a full solution. Yes, the technology innovations in the additive manufacturing industry have brought tremendous progress, and they will continue to do so. But achieving our ambition of penetrating the manufacturing sector will require more than fast printers and cool designs. It will require technical service and adaptability. In 2023, it's time for us to get practical. We're going to win our customers with an intense focus on the products and applications they are bringing to market.
