Dealers who attended the BTA Grand Slam event in Baltimore last week expecting to hear how easy it is to make the transition into 3D printing during Airwolf 3D President Mark Mathews’ presentation on 3D printing heard some sobering words instead.
It was great to see Mathews, former president of Toshiba Americas Business Solutions, back in action after nearly two years on the sidelines.
It wasn’t like he was telling dealers to forget about 3D printing either. He just didn’t paint a rosy picture or over hype the opportunity. Instead het focused on the harsh realities of selling a technology that’s generating a lot of buzz but not a lot of business yet in office imaging circles.
One hears the word ‘print’ and the logical assumption is it’s just another printer. But as Mathews said, “This is very different than anything you do today.”
The technology may be different, but the similarity is that 3D printing offers a recurring revenue model for hardware, consumables, and service. It’s also a B2B sale something most dealers understand. So what’s not to like about it?
“It’s a technical sale, which means you must understand materials, CAD, and the vertical you’re selling to,” emphasized Mathews.
Equally sobering is that 80 percent of service calls are related to the print process, and that’s where things can get complicated.
Despite that, Mathews reported that every channel in America is interested in this space. For dealers considering getting into this space, it helps to know who you’re up against. Mathews reports that those selling 3D printers encompass 3D printer dealers, established distributors, educational VARs, FabLabs, industrial machine resellers, startups, CAD resellers, direct, and service bureaus.
Still interested?
Consider that this market is expected to grow between 25 and 50 percent over the next five years with the potential to become a $13-$22 billion market in this time frame. Another plus for the imaging dealer community is that Mathews noted that the channels are in flux with no clear leader.
Target markets include corporations, educational institutions, government agencies, healthcare, manufacturing, and consumers to name just a few.
“A customer with engineers on staff doing CAD work is your target,” said Mathews.”There are 20-million CAD seats worldwide with 35 percent of those in the U.S.”
Even though everybody is talking about 3D printing, it’s not a brand new technology. 3D printers have been around since 1984.
If the technology has been around for 20 years, why the big interest now?
To hear Mathews tell it, we’re in the midst of the third industrial revolution—digitalization of manufacturing. This is causing mass customization and he foresees a time when centralized production will deteriorate and move to small companies. Other factors driving this revolution is mistrust of China, expiration of patents, maker movement, Internet software, new materials, improving economics, and economic pressures leading to shorter and quicker development cycles.
Airwolf 3D develops and markets desktop engineering 3D printers. Currently, 90 percent of its sales are over the Internet and Mathews is looking to build a distribution channel.
He shared a few questions that dealers need to ask themselves to help decide if 3D printing is right for them.
- Do I have the right customer base?
- Do I have similar products?
- Am I willing to commit and develop the resources? “It will take time, money, and manpower, “said Mathews. Resources are in the market if you want them. Plan on one to two years to be fully competent.”
- How do I want to get in? (Sales, FabLab, Service Bureau)
- What brand do I sell? He pointed out there are a couple of full-line providers such as 3D Systems and Stratays that are making noise in the office imaging space, but on the desktop side where Airwolf 3D plays, Mathews reports there are 250 options although less than 20 of these are what he describes as “ongoing concerns.”
He closed his presentation with positive words for dealers to ponder.
“It’s a huge market, it’s growing, fascinating, and fun, and if you have the right skill set and are willing to make the investment, it’s worth it. But compared to MPS on the difficulty scale, where MPS is a 3, 3D printing is a 10.”
The truth sometimes hurts, but for any dealer considering 3D printing, honesty about the opportunity, particularly from a standup guy like Mathews, was in all dealer’s best interest.
