Common Questions about 3D Printing Answered
There is plenty of talk these days about 3D printing. More than a year ago at Photizo’s Transform Global 2013 conference, I spent thirty minutes in one of the educational sessions detailing to an audience of imaging and IT representatives how 3D printing might become a real opportunity for their businesses in the near future. Many were genuinely interested, but few probably gave the topic much thought after walking out of that room.
Today, however, it seems that this proposition is near the top of their minds. As the 3D printing industry matures, its indirect sales network is expanding, with the business models of leading incumbents looking more familiar. As a research manager for a company that has made its name consulting with some of the biggest names in imaging and IT and the lead analyst for Photizo Group in the 3D printing industry, the interest in 3D from all kinds of businesses has naturally brought a lot of questions to my e-mail inbox.
Most of those questions tend to be the same, and thus this article was born. Few technologies are as misrepresented and misunderstood as 3D printing, especially in the age of media and social sharing. In an attempt to set the record straight, I have outlined some guidance on some of the most common questions about 3D printing that I have fielded from the office technology and IT reseller crowds over the past 18 months.
How will the printing gurus adopt 3D printing?
The simplified answer is “in all sorts of ways.” But different portions of the industry will likely adopt in different ways, or choose not to adopt at all. We all know that traditional hard copy imaging is not the business it once was even just a decade ago, which is forcing one of the biggest industries in the world to open its doors to new opportunities.
Thanks to parallels in business models, integration of print-head technology, and customer segments that are looking more familiar every month, 3D printing represents a potential growth opportunity for many different imaging players.
Beginning at the top of the imaging food chain, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are going to have to make a critical decision if they want to play directly in the 3D printing hardware market in some way.
Some will see print technology synergies with their existing products and decide to develop their own additive fabrication technologies based off their own engineering prowess. Others may choose not to develop new hardware directly, but rather acquire or license an existing technology or brand as a quick way to start building this business. The key choice that OEMs will face is which 3D customer segments to attack—no single 3D printing technology is the solution to every 3D printing opportunity.
Surprisingly, however, OEMs have not really been the leaders to bring the imaging industry into 3D printing. There are technology resellers that have been into 3D printing for many years, supporting 3D printer manufacturers as they have embraced indirect sales networks. Several pioneers have taken this business model a step further to provide localized 3D print services. T
The truth is that there is no simple answer to the question—but a definite relationship has been established between the two industries, and it is continuing to grow.
Is 3D printing in plastic yesterday’s news?
The short and sweet answer to this question is “no,” but the longer and more deliberate answer needs to be understood.
I hear this question in various forms fairly often from business owners or investors interested in getting into 3D. While it certainly is a valid question, a lot of perceptions of additive manufacturing have been tainted by media reporting on 3D print applications that only seek to provide an exciting headline. The recent flurry of news over “3D printed houses” comes to mind.S
Sure, if you’re talking about the “replicate anything” future of 3D printing where nearly anything can be made with a 3D printer, then fabricating in materials other than plastics is paramount. Today, there are a whole lot of research dollars being spent by universities, governments and private entities on printing with new materials, and printing with various metals is already a well-documented process to some degree.
But plastics and other similar materials, like nylon and polymers, are still the 3D printing materials of today’s world, and they are not going anywhere. A small empire has been built on the idea of prototyping products and parts in plastics, and that empire is not saturated…not by a long shot. However, the application does not have to be just about prototyping anymore when it comes to plastics. There are numerous end-use cases in 3D printing with plastics, especially in the medical industry.
As a rule of thumb, during the product development process, around 5 percent of money spent bringing a new product to market goes to designing (i.e. prototyping) the product, and the remaining 95 percent of expenses live in the manufacturing of the finalized product. But what this often-cited statistic does not really convey is the sheer volume of opportunities in product design with a 3D printer. You have to own the start of the development process before you can own the rest of it…and it starts with plastics.
Which is the better opportunity market for 3D printing—consumers or businesses?
This is probably the most pondered question, especially for businesses interested in getting into 3D printing. It is especially interesting to OEMs in the imaging industry, because many of them play in the consumer and B2B arenas. I believe that the typical impression of most that are asking this question is that 3D printing is a very strong opportunity in manufacturing, a pretty good opportunity in some other vertical markets, and not a viable opportunity for consumers.
This assumption is usually based around the printers themselves, driven by the idea that professional 3D printers are significantly more refined and more capable than desktop 3D printers targeted at home use. While this is true today, it is not really the right way to think about the business opportunity for 3D. While personal 3D printers are still a few steps behind in their development when compared to their larger and more expensive counterparts, consumers are still a huge opportunity.
The market for desktop, sub-$5,000 3D printers is currently small but growing very quickly. But that is not necessarily why consumers are a big opportunity for 3D. The more complete answer is that consumers are going to be big end-users of 3D printed products in the future.This trend means the opportunity in consumer-focused 3D printing is broader than just manufacturing desktop 3D printers.
It could mean enabling consumers to create through providing 3D printing services, or it could mean bringing business model changes to retailers that serve consumers by producing customizable 3D printed products. And finally, it could mean a very widespread change in how consumer products are designed from the beginning to take advantage of 3D printing technology and bringing more value to the end user.
So which one is better? That is a trick question. They are the same opportunity. Having a good plan to address one really means having a plan to address all of them.
What’s the biggest challenge for technology resellers when it comes to succeeding in 3D printing?
The biggest challenge is understanding that 3D printing is an application-specific process, where no single 3D printing technology can serve all 3D printing needs. This is very different, in general, than most of the office products that the industry has become famous for selling. It takes a very deep understanding of the customer’s business, products, and internal processes, and also of what each printing technology is capable (and not capable) of to truly succeed.
Consequently, the entire business model of selling 3D printers needs to be built around a different sales process than that which the typical technology reseller is accustomed. The decision maker is different. The sales cycle is different. The process is consultative. The idea that the printing industry can just simply move on to selling 3D printers without as much as a second thought is ridiculous—while this transition most certainly can be done, it takes a lot of investment, planning, and commitment to change.
Despite all this, the opportunity is real. With a few adjustments, 3D printing fits well within the existing infrastructure of technology resellers but offers a totally new sales opportunity, many times within existing accounts. 3D printing can also open all kinds of new doors leading back into traditional products in accounts that may have been otherwise unreachable before.
Final Thoughts
In closing, I want to impress that I do believe that the 3D printing industry will continue to integrate into more familiar areas. It likely will never be the centerpiece of every business like the copier or the PC, but make no mistake; it will not be long before there are more businesses with a 3D printer than without. The real key to 3D printing is understanding its potential as a transformative technology that can alter your business. Embracing 3D printing means different things to different businesses. It could mean innovation of the supply chain for one, while it could mean creating entirely new business models to serve new customers to another. The time to start gaining a deep understanding of 3D is yesterday, so keep asking questions. I expect many reading this still have many more questions that I have not addressed. To those, I encourage you to attend the Transform Global Conference from Photizo Group in Louisville, Kentucky, June 2-4, 2014.
