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Startups Push 3D Printers As Industry Leaders Falter
gthuang88 writes: Given the hype around 3D printing, you'd never guess that established leaders like 3D Systems and Stratasys have seen their stock fall by 75 percent in the last year. Big companies like HP, Amazon, and Boeing are getting into the field, too, but startups are still where a lot of the action is. Now Formlabs, a Boston-area startup, has released a new 3D printer that is supposed to be more reliable and higher quality than its predecessors. The device uses stereolithography and is aimed at professional designers and engineers. The question is whether Formlabs---and other startups like MarkForged, Voxel8, and Desktop Metal---can find enough of a market to survive until 3D printing becomes a more mainstream form of manufacturing.
It's the only thing that can save the industry.
So you can't make a business off of selling crummy printers to print crummy plastic parts? Too bad, I was hoping my "maker" 3D printed drone company that was going to deliver wireless to IoT in the cloud was going to go public soon. I guess I better hold off buying that fixie bike.
... and that right there is why this is a "No Shit, Sherlock" moment. Stock fell 75%. /sarcasm You don't say!
3D Printing is still too expensive, and a niche market for the general masses.
Given the hype around 3D printing, you'd never guess that established leaders like 3D Systems and Stratasys have seen their stock fall by 75 percent in the last year
Hype is the reason the stocks were overinflated to begin with. It was easy to predict. These companies business model was rapid expansion via buyouts, but the problem is that the technology is evolving and improving, which de-values the technology they acquired.
There are are a few other companies worth mentioning too. New Matter is one of them. They seem to have raised the bar /standard of affordable 3d printing. It's a pretty looking printer too. http://newmatter.com/
Right now in the world, Every business required digital marketing and This Digital marketing needs graphic designer to show-off best the design for better business running on the road, television, newspaper. Which helps a lot to increase sales and queries. So These kind of 3D printer is helpful for us.
It's not some fundamental, game-changing, society-sweeping, post-scarcity, engineering miracle.
Except for a few specialized uses, 3D printing is the 2010's equivalent of the Pet Rock.
Get over it, nerds. And you might as well cancel your vacation on Mars too, you delusional loons.
3d printing will _never_ be a mainstream form of manufacturing.
It lives in the prototyping space. For finished parts it can't compete with other forms, with the narrow exception of un-moldable or un-machinable parts.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
has released a new 3D printer that is supposed to be more reliable and higher quality than its predecessors.
I'm glad they haven't started to release products that are less reliable and lower quality than its predecessors; that's the sign of a mature field...
To me, 3D printing is very similar to photo printing. Most people don't print enough that it makes sense to have their own printer at home. Just like there are some people who are really into photography, and own their own photo printers, or even their own dark room, there are enthusiasts who really want to build their own stuff that would really get a use out of a 3D printer. But the majority of people who just want to print off a new battery cover for their remote control, or knob for the clothes dryer would be much better off just going down to the local Walmart or Costco and getting them to print out the object, just like they currently do with photos.
I'm not going to spend $200+ on a photo printer when I could easily get better prints by going down to Walmart and getting pictures for 10 cents a piece. Similarly, I'm not going to spend $500 on a 3D printer when I could go down to Staples, Home Depot, Walmart, Costco, or whoever is providing the service and get access to a much higher quality 3D printer. Even my local library has a 3D printer I can use for the cost of the consumables.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
What do you use one for? Why all the hype? What would the average face book addicted soccer mom need one of these for? 3d printers sure are trendy, but they lack a "killer app".
There is no way that 3d printing will hold a candle to "mainstream manufacturing". Many manufactured parts are made very quickly, and at scale. If you take common plastic molded part, they are likely to be running cycle times of under a minute and have multiple parts coming out of the mold simultaneously. Sure, the mold and the injection molding machine aren't cheap, but they can pound out a lot of copies of your plastic part for a long time and get the unit cost down really low. You will also get better surface finish and appearance than a 3d printed part, as well as having little or no waste (depending on mold design/part geometry) and very consistent material properties in your part.
This doesn't even get into manufacturing things made out of metal. I know there are various cool 3d printers that are using lasers and other stuff to make metal parts, but that's not going to hold a candle to the manufacturing processes that give you many of the common metal things you use every day, or that you rely on every day (think of all the manufactured metal things in a car, bus, or even a bicycle).
3d printing has a number of applications for one-off parts, prototyping and low volume work. It's definitely a great thing, the first company I worked for in the 90's paid out the nose for a Stratasys machine because they recognized the value of the tool for prototyping and getting to market faster -- but the 3d printer in no way would have ever made production parts. I'm sure people will dream up new and novel ways of using the technology, but it's going to be a long time before 3d printing ever supplants traditional volume manufacturing methods and techniques, if ever.
From TFA of this Slashvertisement: "The Form 2 sells for $3,499."
Even if aimed at professionals generally, prices still have to come much lower before it's a tool for anything but the dedicated hobbyist.
How many non-news articles can you possibly print about 3d printing.
I worked for 3d systems in the 90s, it was fun and vaguely novel back then. I have been hearing about this stuff like its the next new thing for over 2 decades, and what are the fantastic advances we've had during that time.. no, don't tell me, please, seriously, don't. We don't get 5 articles a week about virtual reality, or jetpacks, or flying cars,
http://rareformnewmedia.com/
I would have expected stocks to fall more than 75%.
Had one - never turned out anything other than a pile of goo. Tried two units, same results. They blamed it on bad materials, bad setup, etc. After that was all covered and eliminated, it was a factory-misaligned mirror - and I was supposed to spend the 5-6 hours to try to calibrate it. Took 6 months of fighting to get them to take it back.
Went to a Stratasys and never looked back.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
3D printing becomes a more mainstream form of manufacturing.
Why would it?
You can't print things fast enough with consumer level gear to make it a business, they are too expensive to be anything other than a spendy hobbyist toy.
If you are referring to industrial 3d printing that already occurs.
Not to mention most of the 3d printed stuff I come across is of lower quality than already existing manufacturing techniques.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Years from now - possibly fewer than most of us think - everyone may have and use a 3d printer all the time. (Or multiple ones.) They're obviously just not ready for mass consumption. These are the "5 MB hard drives the size of a desk" generation. (Some printer makers may be upset with that because they're way more advanced / affordable / etc.; they are the "30 MB hard drives the size of a suitcase" generation.)
Comments about limitations and sacrifice of floor space and niche and whatnot are all appropriate right now. But I think we should remember many technologies (or technology families) were like that. Telegraphs were groundbreaking but limited. Some people didn't see the need to have a telephone in their own house. Later, nobody could see the reason for a telephone in every room. Now, most of us carry our telephone around in our pockets and many of them can connect up to two completely different kinds of networks for making phone calls, and video calls, and downloading updates to Candy Crush. Rinse and repeat for many other technologies in our day-to-day lives. (Remember when the idea of adding a second, smaller oven to your kitchen which couldn't - and still can't - cook evenly seemed about pointless?)
I think just like Internet-installation of games has nearly finished off physical media installation, 3d printers will supplant going to stores for small things whose purpose is to be entirely or largely structural. Not long after that, basic electronics with no precision moving parts may follow suit. And more advanced electronics may come in kit form, with bits you arrange into a skeleton you print in step 1 in your 3d printer, to then be incorporated into the finished device.
Of course the first wave of big innovators may be long gone and forgotten. Aren't they usually?
Most items start out without a market and then acquire a following. When rifles first existed a bow and arrow might have seemed like a better choice. But as rifles became perfected there was a point at which a bow and arrow was no match at all. 3D printing has a huge potential in creating housing and large objects rather than tiny projects might be where 3D printing first disrupts a major industry.
I just got my printer this week. It's a home printer that's pretty much 'point and click' for operation. Thingiverse has a lot of files to use as I learn CAD.
The niche I see is toys. Lots and lots of toys. Different kinds of toys. If you have kids this is a great option. They don't need to be perfect, the filament runs me about $15 per kilo, and once it's running it just runs.
I'm planning on using it for prototyping some things for my business but the quality isn't there for production. But I can get the items right before sending them off to be printed on a 'real' 3D printer and save myself money and headache.
Was it worth it? Can I decide that after less than a week? Yes and yes. I think it's worth what I paid for what I want. And I won't use it all the time but I will use it consistently.