Desktop 3D printing leaders MakerBot and Ultimaker have agreed a business combination agreement that will see them merge, with $62.4 million in additional funding announced for the new entity.
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Ahead of opening this year's RAPID + TCT conference, TCT caught up with Barbara Humpton, President and CEO of Siemens USA, to discuss 'glocal manufacturing', additive manufacturing, and more.
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The portable fume extraction and filtration specialist will introduce a new patented technology designed specifically for high temperature 3D printing processes.
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How Astoria-Pacific, a developer of wet chemistry analyzers, turned to additive manufacturing and EPX 86FR to deliver critical UL-V0 90, high-performance components on time.
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I always considered popularizing 3D printing and making it accessible and comprehensive to "normal" people (read: not hardcore nerds ;-)) as an equally important mission… The post Welcome to Prusa Academy: online courses on various 3D printing related topics appeared first on Original Prusa 3D Printers.
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Markforged Holding Corporation (NYSE: MKFG), creator of the integrated metal and carbon fiber additive manufacturing platform, generated $21.9 million in revenues during the fiscal first quarter, which ended March 31, …
Sintavia, LLC, a designer and additive manufacturer of advanced propulsion and thermodynamic systems for the Aerospace, Defense, & Space industry, has been chosen to represent the AM supply chain in …
Photocentric, inventor of LCD 3D printing, will showcase its latest additive manufacturing technologies at RAPID+TCT, on 17-19 May, in Michigan, Detroit. There will be Photocentric Additive software developed with CoreTechnologie, …
Osseus, an innovative spinal solutions company, obtained FDA 510(k) clearance and launch of the Pisces-SA Standalone ALIF Interbody System. The Pisces-SA interbody can be used with both bone screws and …
Spanish 3D printing filament manufacturer Recreus is adding a new material to its growing portfolio of products: the new PLA-LW (Light Weight) filament. A light PLA filament that reduces the …
DMG MORI, a worldwide leader in metal cutting machine tools and hybrid metal AM systems, has committed to a technology development partnership in Morf3D’s new Applied Digital Manufacturing Center (ADMC) …
3D printer hardware OEM, Roboze, has been selected among hundreds of candidates as one of the World Economic Forum's "Technology Pioneers". Roboze’s main goal is to shape a new paradigm …
Mimaki Europe, a leading manufacturer of inkjet printing, cutting, and 3D printing technologies, has launched its brand-new pure clear material for 3D printing, called MH-110PCL. Created with designers in mind, …
The company offered a live, virtual press conference the day before the event, and Stratasys CEO Dr. Yoav Zeif told attendees that Stratasys is working to advance polymer additive manufacturing and “taking this industry from prototyping to manufacturing.”
“We are offering our customers a solution to what they need,” he said. “We are not selling what we have, we are addressing what they need.”
As such, the company has developed 16 new materials across three of its AM technologies—FDM, SAF, and P3—which will majorly increase the types of use cases with which Stratasys can work. Additionally, these include the first validated, third-party materials for the company’s FDM systems.
“When customers identify opportunities for how polymer 3D printing can transform their manufacturing, we want them to have the confidence that Stratasys has the solutions – that's what leaders do. With five 3D printing technologies that address the vast majority of the industrial polymer market and an open software ecosystem across the entire digital thread, our growing material ecosystem means customers are getting more materials faster, allowing them to quickly turn their additive manufacturing ideas into reality,” Dr. Zeif said in a press release.
Stratasys has introduced 16 new manufacturing materials across three different 3D printing technologies, including third-party materials for FDM 3D printers for the first time.
Last fall, Stratasys introduced an annual Open Material License (OML), which was, as Adam Pawloski, Vice President of Manufacturing Solutions for Stratasys, explained during the press event, a “significant and fundamental change to our materials model.” In this three-tiered structure around its materials, Stratasys Preferred Materials are at the top, and Validated Materials, developed with various suppliers and basic reliability testing, are in the middle, while Open Materials, which are not validated, are at the bottom. Now, Stratasys is partnering with Covestro, Kimya, and Victrex plc to enable the availability of its Validated Materials for FDM systems, beginning with the Fortus 450mc.
First, Stratasys has the new flame-resistant Covestro PA6/66 GF20 FR, a specialty, reinforced glass fiber composite, and then the standard-grade HIPS high-impact polystyrene. Kimya PC FR is a flame-resistant polycarbonate for engineering applications, and the high-performance options are two semi-crystalline polymers: Arkema/Kimya PEKK-SC is based on Arkema’s KEPSTAN, and VICTREX AM 200 is an LMPAEK thermoplastic that works with soluble supports. Additionally, the strong FDMNylon-CF10 carbon fiber composite is a new addition to the Preferred Materials tier.
When Stratasys launched its OML last year, Origin One customers got access to novel materials for the printer’s Programmable PhotoPolymerization (P3) technology. Now, the company has added eight new exploratory materials to the OML program that will welcome more demanding end-use applications. The advanced open materials, which include photopolymer resins for applications in casting, ceramics, high-temperature, elastic, electrostatics dissipative (ESD), and molding, can be purchased directly from material partners and their distributors.
The new materials for the P3-based Origin One were contributed by multiple material developers, including:
Arkema
Covestro
Evonik
BASF Forward AM
Tethon 3D
Liqcreate
polySpectra
Mechnano
Finally, Stratasys announced that its H350 printer, powered by Selective Absorption Fusion (SAF) technology for volume-grade 3D printing, now supports polypropylene (PP) and PA12 powder. Versatile PP features high chemical resistance and ductility, flexibility, and the ability to be sterilized, while PA12 offers chemical resistance, geometric accuracy, and high stiffness. These two materials will open up applications in consumer goods, prosthetics, machine components, prototyping, and more.
During the press event, Professor Neil Hopkinson, the inventor of SAF technology and VP of Technology at Stratasys, gave a few examples of what customers have been printing with SAF technology, including one that made “a half a ton of parts” on two printers in three months. This was, he said, “a fine example” of scaling up into production.
Hopkinson also mentioned a customer that placed an order for 250 parts, which is “a relatively low number” for SAF technology; however, the parts were so large that only two at a time could fit into the print bed. The customer used two SAF machines to complete 125 builds within just a few weeks, which was pretty impressive in and of itself, but they also fit random, smaller parts from other jobs on the bed around the two large parts, showcasing flexibility.
Stratasys customers can use GrabCAD Print software to access system print parameters, which will allow for part performance optimization by refining the capabilities of all these new materials.
The GrabCAD Additive Manufacturing Platform enables two-way connectivity between 3D printers, additive manufacturing and enterprise applications, and broader Industry 4.0 infrastructure.
Speaking of GrabCAD, Stratasys announced that GrabCAD Print is available for its Origin One and Origin One Dental 3D printers. This is the first step in integrating Origin One into the company’s full platform, and will give users a streamlined 3D software solution for build file preparation and post-print analysis.
GrabCAD Print is an application of the open GrabCAD Additive Manufacturing Platform, which allows for two-way connectivity between AM and enterprise applications, 3D printers, and Industry 4.0 infrastructure; a GrabCAD Software Development Kit (SDK) is used to bring together third-party GrabCAD Software Partners and GrabCAD applications. All of this is to say that manufacturers can now manage production-scale 3D printing on the Origin One and Origin One Dental from beginning to end, and users can enjoy a more consistent experience and connectivity with Stratasys.
“We are very focused on automating the workflow to make it an easier, balanced workflow for our customers,” Ronen Lebi, Head of Production Business Unit at Stratasys, explained during the event.
Stratasys says this new software enables better print preparation and automatic support generation, access to the aforementioned OML so users can develop and manage materials with optimized settings and profiles, and new functionality, including a scheduler, labeling, print status monitoring, and native CAD file support. GrabCAD Print for the Stratasys Origin One is free for existing Origin One and Origin One Dental customers.
GrabCAD Print will provide users with an integrated, all-in-one software solution for streamlining the 3D printing workflow for print build file preparation and post print analysis.
In addition to GrabCAD Print, there are two other new offerings for the Origin One printers, including an on-premise printer configuration called Origin One Local that has the printer’s same functionalities. This will allow customers in sectors with extreme IT restrictions, like defense and government, to use the Origin One. Additionally, the new ProAeroair extractor system is available for integration with the Origin One, as well as office-based PolyJet 3D printers. While the system, which extracts air from printers in order to capture and filter out dust, fumes, and odor, is a professional one, Stratasys calls it a plug-and-play. These three new Origin One offerings should be available later this year.
Finally, the company has expanded its F123 series with the introduction of the new composite-ready F190CR and the F370CR 3D printers, designed as a high-strength supplemental technology for industrial machinists and manufacturers.
“Stratasys is providing manufacturers with the 3D printers and materials to support the growth of additive manufacturing on the factory floor, including these new printers that give manufacturers the ability to build stronger, print stiffer and print more accurately. We have the verified and published data that proves these new printers have dimensional repeatability of up to 99% regardless of part size or geometric complexity. That, together with 99% uptime and unique service and support, gives manufacturers the confidence to accelerate their adoption of additive manufacturing,” stated Dick Anderson, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing for Stratasys.
New Stratasys composite-ready 3D printers are designed for manufacturers to supplement traditional fabrication technologies with high-strength composite 3D printing.
These new 3D printers are meant for fabricating end-use parts, like jigs, fixtures, and work-holding tools, faster and more cost-effectively out of high-strength and high-stiffness materials. The composite-ready F190CR and F370CR printers have a larger build volume and oven size, soluble support options, and more material availability, and taller parts can be 3D printed thanks to a larger, heated build chamber and the ability to use stabilizer walls. Additional features include:
integrated GrabCAD Print software
reusable build trays
built-in camera for remote monitoring
7″ control touchscreen
enterprise application connectivity through the MTConnect standard and GrabCAD SDK
In addition, the new F370CR includes automatic material change, so printing is not interrupted if a canister is empty; a new one replaces it, and the print goes on uninterrupted.
Dave Thompson, VP of Worldwide Engineering and Customer Care – Contractor Equipment Division for fluid handling equipment leader Graco, Inc., has worked in engineering for more than 35 years, and has enjoyed innovating with Stratasys systems for over 20 of those. Graco is an F370CR beta customer, and, as Thompson said in a press release, the printer will enable the company to “bring our AM applications to a new level, extend the life of our tools and even provide for a better surface finish.”
New printers and Nylon carbon fiber material expand applications for additive manufacturing on the factory floor.
These new 3D printers can help customers like Graco increase their AM applications in the factory, and so can FDM Nylon-CF10, another new material Stratasys is introducing. Meant for use with the F123 Series, this chopped carbon fiber composite is nearly three times as stiff, and over 60% stronger, than its nylon base, and when paired with soluble support, users should be able to easily print complex geometries.
The new FDM Nylon-CF10 material, and composite-ready F190CR and F370CR printers, are available to order, and should ship in June.
6K has just announced that it has closed the first tranche of its Series D round of financing, for $102 million. In all, the company expects to raise a total of $150 million this spring. The money will go towards speeding up the opening of cathode production plants by 6K Energy (based in North Andover, Massachusetts), as well as expanding production of metal powders for additive manufacturing (AM) by 6K Additive (based in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania).
While the money was raised from a variety of sources, including existing 6K investors, the largest portion came from Koch Strategic Platforms (KSP), which is part of Koch Industries' Koch Investments Group. Koch Industries is invested in metal 3D printing already, having led a $160 million dollar round of funding into Desktop Metal in 2019, through Koch Disruptive Technologies.
6K Additive began selling its proprietary line of metal powders for AM, made from recycled scrap, in 2019. In 2020, the company opened its 40,000-square-foot powder production plant, and last fall, it purchased another Pennsylvania company, Specialty Metallurgical Products. KSP, meanwhile, also made a $100 million investment last fall into Toronto-based Li-Cycle, the largest recycler of lithium-ion batteries in North America. Leadership from both 6K and Koch made it clear how vital they believe it is to American industry, for U.S. companies to have access to a domestic lithium-ion battery producer.
In a press release, Jeremy Bezdek, managing director for KSP, said, "We have been following 6K Energy's progress since inception and have found that 6K's UniMelt plasma technology delivers a competitive production process built on U.S. soil."
6K's CEO, Aaron Bent, explained, "Lithium-ion battery markets will increase tenfold in the next decade, fueled by growth in [electric vehicles], as well as supporting critical infrastructure for telecom back-up, data centers, and power plants. The fact that there is no lithium-ion battery material production on US soil is a concern for both national security and for the industries that are relying on these critical materials."
Koch Industries, the largest privately held company in the U.S., has a long history of paying heavy fines for damages to the environment. Moreover, the Koch family is well-known for contributing large amounts to organizations that deny human responsibility for climate change. Notably, given the present story, beginning in 2016, Charles and David Koch reportedly started making millions of dollars of donations into efforts to kill the electric car. Notably, Democratic congressman Joseph Kennedy III serves on the board of 6K, while the Koch brothers are responsible for funding many Tea Party Republicans that have also played a negative role in climate progress.
The company also recently reversed an initial decision to stay in Russia following the Russian military's recent invasion of Ukraine, and has stated that it is ceasing operations of its subsidiary, Guardian Glass, in Russia. Until shutting down, Guardian was the only U.S.-based company producing float glass — a method which requires large amounts of melted metal — operating in Russia. Guardian, which also makes a large number of other industrial products, is headquartered in Michigan.
Koch Industries now has control over two crucial assets in the metal AM sector, both located in the U.S.'s northeast corridor. Assuming 6K is successful at launching its battery production operations, Koch will not only help open the first lithium-ion battery factory in the U.S., but will probably also contribute to a significant re-routing of key aspects of global electronics supply chains.
When I used to work at Ultimaker, Makerbot was the enemy. They were closed, corporate, didn't care about customers and didn't care about values and open hardware. We did everything to best them. They were storm troopers and we were Jedi. They were the dark side; we were the good guys. We strived to outperform, to make better value products, and to make things that worked on the office or factory floor as well as in your home.
Now, the unthinkable has happened. Ultimaker has acquired Makerbot, with Stratasys (Nasdaq: SSYS) now an Ultimaker investor. I did not for the life of me see this one coming. It fundamentally reshapes our 3D printing landscape.
Ultimaker is to buy Makerbot, with Ultimaker investor NPM Capital owning 54.4% and Stratasys 45.6% of the new entity. NPM will also invest $15 million, while Stratasys will put in the Makerbot assets and another $47 million. Makerbot CEO Nadav Goshen and Jürgen von Hollen will be Co-CEO´s. Nadav is to manage operations and R&D, not something Makerbot has ever been good at, while Jurgen will manage the commercial side.
Dr. Yoav Zeif, CEO of Stratasys said,
¨By combining the strengths of MakerBot and Ultimaker, the new entity will have a broad technology offering, be sufficient in scale, well capitalized and have a focused leadership team to better compete in the highly attractive Desktop 3D printing sector. Today's announcement is consistent with our strategy to focus on industrial and production scale polymer-based additive manufacturing solutions. This transaction is designed to benefit our shareholders by enabling them to own two leading companies with best-in-class technology and focused management teams that will be able to successfully deliver solutions to customers in two highly attractive but different areas of the 3D printing market."
What Does This Mean for Ultimaker?
Hänssler’s Ultimaker S5 3D printing ESD-protected parts. Image courtesy of Ultimaker.
Ultimaker is now number one on the desktop for corporate and enterprise customers. The Ultimaker S5s were already everyone's target, but now Ultimaker and its movements will be more closely watched still.
To me, this move is not a smart one for Ultimaker. It could have gone for a SPAC-merge last year. Months back, it could potentially have received a much richer investment that would have given it more independence. It could have raised tens of millions more and expanded much faster if it wanted to. This seems like an opportunistic move that may net them some IP and Thingiverse, but doesn't really give Ultimaker primacy over the whole market.
It does eliminate a competitor, however. In this case, it leaves a wide gap for the next available firm to follow. There is now a big gap in functionality, leadership, and trust between Ultimaker and the rest of the desktop FDM market.
It could be that Ultimaker now has a stronger IP position. Its overall software offering can now really be seen as industry leading with Cura and Thingiverse still popular. The bright spot for the community is that Thingiverse, gasping for air and nearly dead, will be revived under Ultimaker. It should once again be a user-friendly great resource. I'm looking forward to that.
I hope that this doesn't stunt Ultimaker´s growth and leave a gap between the S5 and the $20,000 and $30,000 lineup of Stratasys’s F-series printers. It would be a shame if Ultimaker didn't go after this opportunity. If Ultimaker stayed in the $5,000 to $10,000 price point from now on and did not grow towards Fortus and other Stratasys systems, then this is a completely brilliant move by Stratasys.
I think that there were better partners out there for Ultimaker, if it needed to work with a large firm. For Ulimaker’s future, any of the other large firms would have made more sense. Ultimaker has gotten much more corporate and lost touch with its erstwhile vibrant community. I hope that this doesn't accelerate this trend. But, can the company still maintain its independent spirit? Or will more people see the Dutch company now as the new evil, deciding to avoid Cura and Thingiverse altogether?
Can Ultimaker makes it software freely and equally available for the whole 3D printing industry to use? This would represent a lot of value to the firm and be good for the industry. However, it is much more likely, in my opinion, that we will see more companies making their own software.
What Does This Mean for Stratasys?
The MakerBot METHOD 3D printer. Image courtesy of MakerBot.
This is a great deal for Stratasys. It takes a languishing asset and turns it into a near-half-stake in the desktop fused deposition modeling (FDM) leader. However, I wonder what the strengths of MakerBot are exactly. I don't think that MakerBot in and of itself will have much value. The Method X is a good printer, but not better than an S5 and doesn’t target a separate market. It’s nice to have another brand but this one is quite dead in the 3D printing world. Outside it, one may be able to perform a Kia-Hyundai strategy by turning MakerBot into the education brand. It could potentially do something more exciting by having MakerBot become a standalone software-less brand or make it more edgy somehow.
In my opinion, the valuation is skewed. I’d never take a deal that essentially values MakerBot at about $30 million less than Ultimaker. This is a gross underestimation of Ultimaker´s good will and value. Theoretically Stratasys channel should be valuable for Ultimaker, but Stratasys channel partners loathe MakerBot so this will be of little value.
Previously about Stratasys’s own Makerbot acquisition, I remarked that it would serve as a stopgap to prevent others from investing in other desktop 3D printing firms. In turn, this would give Stratasys time to focus on its lineup. Now, by handing off Makerbot and taking a stake in a company that would have killed it eventually, the company makes an astute move. Of course, Stratasys wrote off over $1 billion on the Makerbot acquisition. But they've got their stopgap and now know exactly what their closest competitor will be up to.
What Does This Mean for 3D Printing?
This really strengthens the position of Prusa Research. The company can now move full-steam ahead to make evermore Prusa XL systems to challenge Stratasys with production level 3D printers. For the rest of the market, the choices will be stark. Do we stay around the $1,200 price point with much larger sales volumes? Or do we race to the bottom in terms of price?
Another option would be to try and ape Ultimaker. Copying it would be hard, but the company seems likely to abandon the $1,200 space completely. This leaves a lot of margin and future growth for Creality, Anet, Artillery and Flashforge.
If Ultimaker puts out an improved $1,000 Ultimaker 2 and keeps supporting it, then the firm could completely dominate the space. If it neglects to do this, then It will have real competition from the aforementioned Chinese firms down the road.
Ultimaker´s pace of innovation has slowed. The S5 was released back in 2018. It’s still a good system, showcasing the firms demanding lead over rivals. However, it will need to get into high gear should it wish to grow further and fend off competition.
I think that, for larger industrial firms, producing entry level systems is potentially an incredible stepping stone to building trust and getting customers to buy more expensive systems. I wonder if this will lead to more businesses buying desktop companies.
BCN3D is now a good take over target for someone willing to enter the market. This Spanish firm has the vision but not the distribution. It would be interesting to see if someone has the stones to buy Formlabs and Markforged. That combination would mean becoming the leader of the desktop to industrial segment and would best the Ultimaker-MakerBot combination.
Other than this I would expect some larger firms to now consider making their own higher quality desktop systems. If they don't want to then perhaps AON3D, Roboze or miniFactory could let them get in at a higher price point.
All in all, this is a surprising move with a lot of implications. I don't feel it is the right move for Ultimaker shareholders. For the market, it may mean the slowing of open source innovation, but should mean a better Thingiverse. For the competition, this will mean more head scratching to find their place in a more clearly delineated world. For Stratasys this seems like a very good move indeed.
Velo3D (NYSE: VLD) announced mixed first-quarter earnings results on May 10, 2022, leading to a 5.2% decrease in the stock price in after-hours trading and a 12.4% drop when the stock market opened the following day. This time around, the metal 3D printer manufacturer said sales had increased more than 900% year-over-year to $12.2 million, driven primarily by high customer adoption of its Sapphire family of products. Although this is Velo3D's third-quarter revenue increase as a public company, its net losses increased sequentially from $14.4 million in the last quarter of 2021 to $65.3 million. Even so, the company ended the period with a strong $186 million balance sheet that will provide enough liquidity for its ongoing technology investments and growth plans.
One of the key milestones during this first quarter is that Velo3D began volume production of its newest industrial metal 3D printers, the Sapphire XC. Designed as a scale-up solution to Sapphire, the new machine is not only driving demand but also accelerating the adoption of the Sapphire system, which leverages the brand's proprietary Intelligent Fusion manufacturing technology.
Financially, Sapphire XC accounted for more than 45% of the quarter's total revenue, and looking forward; it now accounts for more than 90% of the total backlog. Given this strong trend, Velo3D CEO Benny Buller said, "we have made the decision to expand our Sapphire XC production rate starting in the second half of the year." Sapphire XC currently has a significant backlog which stands at about five to six months, mainly because it takes about a month to assemble, integrate, test, and ship a system, and the timeline between order and commencing production is quite variable depending on the circumstances, and how many orders are ahead. Overall, the company exited the quarter with a record total backlog of $55 million, up 17% sequentially and more than 80% year-over-year.
VELO3D Sapphire XC Metal 3D Printer. Image courtesy of VELO3D.
During the quarter, Velo3D shipped eight new systems, booked seven systems (including several new customers), and improved its 2022 visibility with more than 75% of the entire year's revenue guidance already in the backlog. In addition, by expanding its US footprint and significant customer interest in Europe, the company is sure 2022 will bring 24 new customers in total and could double shipments to 48 by midyear.
During an earnings call with investors, Buller highlighted that "overall, we continue to see a rapidly expanding global market for high-value metal parts and remain committed to providing our customers with the technology to meet their growing AI needs (…) We believe the reliability of additive machines should reach the level of traditional subtractive milling machines over time, and we will keep investing and improving our products until we achieve this level of reliability."
As Velo3D continues to ramp production volumes through the year and accumulate experience building Sapphire XCs, CFO Bill McCombe said they remain on track with the outlook for gross margin that was given last quarter and a 30% gross margin target by the fourth quarter of this year. Additionally, he pointed out that adjusted operating expenses for the period, excluding stock-based compensation, rose $5 million or 28% sequentially to $23.2 million, while R&D expenses rose $3.4 million due to a widening range of technology initiatives and increased personnel costs.
McCombe told investors he expects inventory to stabilize in the second half of the year, by which time they will "build a sizable inventory cushion." On top of that, Velo3D had capital expenditures of $3 million, primarily related to the build-out of a new manufacturing facility, which was disclosed last quarter, and is now largely completed, providing the firm with the necessary capacity to meet its growth forecast.
Even though results for this quarter seem to be going according to plan, Buller told investors that supply chain issues still abided and that they had to spend a lot of time securing components. As a result, the team is working closely with suppliers directly to avoid disruptions in the procurement of critical components, especially electronic ones, to ensure its production and shipment goals.
"Velo3D is leveraging relationships with top customers to secure needed inventory. That being said, our supply chain remains an ongoing challenge, and we are maintaining higher than normal inventory as a mitigation to the risk in the supply chain. Also with the successful shift to volume production of Sapphire XC, we now have the additional resources to further optimize system performance and production quality, factors that we believe are critical for customer success and key to driving repeat orders," suggested the CEO.
The VELO3D management at the NYSE on October 7, 2021. Image courtesy of VELO3D.
It's been less than a year since Velo3D debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and the value of its shares already tumbled 64%, from $7.55 on October 7, 2021, to $2.69 on May 10, 2022. However, company management is confident that Velo3D is on track with its $89 million revenue guidance for the full year and predicts shipments are on schedule for delivery.
The executive team said they expect continued growth in Velo3D bookings rate with 2022 bookings in the range of 47 to 49 systems and its shipment guidance in the range of 47 to 49 shipments. Given the continued sales momentum, a growing backlog, strong demand for the Sapphire XC system, and solid balance sheet, the company considers it well-positioned to capitalize on significant growth opportunities in the additive manufacturing market in the years ahead.
Perhaps more than any other segment within the broader 3D printing industry these days, additive construction (AC) falls victim to too much hype. There are obvious reasons for this. For one, the rest of the industry has advanced so much in recent years, that the reality in other sectors has actually started to live up to much of the hype which characterized 3D printing news at the beginning of the last decade. For another, 3D printed houses are exciting! It's hard not to get hyped up about a potential turnkey solution for solving a crisis as daunting as the global housing shortage.
This context sheds light on what was so refreshing about the inaugural 3D Printed Housing Conference, a virtual event held on May 9 – 10, 2022. The event's tone was set right off the bat, when Alex Sheen — the show’s MC, as well as the CEO of nonprofit “because I said I would” and startup Ctrl C Construction — presented a general debunker regarding some of the prevalent, overly optimistic misconceptions about the current state of the industry.
Host of the event, Alex Sheen. Image courtesy of because I said I would.
Probably most significantly, Sheen made sure to remind everyone present that 3D printed houses are still at least a couple of years away from being cheaper than homes built with conventional methods. Similarly, Jon Belkowitz, the director of R&D at Intelligent Concrete, started his presentation off with a slide instructing the sector to "STOP GIVING YOURSELF HIGH FIVES!" This could probably be considered the slogan of the conference.
Image courtesy of Jon Belkowitz
Nevertheless, the tone of the event was anything but dour. Instead, the right word for it is "serious". The industry's leaders are serious about changing the construction industry, and are anything but naive about how great of a task that is. Moreover, they're all intensely focused on and passionate about the intricate minutiae constituting their respective areas of expertise.
COBOD's BOD2 Printer, probably the most widely used concrete 3D printers. Image courtesy of COBOD.
For example, Belkowitz — who, it's safe to say, was quite a character — said (to paraphrase) that the materials engineer an AC team should want to hire is someone who goes to sleep and wakes up thinking about concrete. Again, everyone in the sector seems to be like this in their own way, which is far more reassuring than vague optimism. Everyone who participated, whether it was one of the scheduled speakers giving a talk on livestream or one of the attendees asking questions/commenting in the chat, had a sense of urgency about the work being discussed.
Four key takeaways from the conference:
1. Greater standardization of industry practices will be necessary in order for the industry to move forward. Virtually all of the speakers mentioned this. On the plus side, it doesn't sound like the process for getting 3D printed homes built is all that different from getting permits for building conventional homes. In that sense, further involvement of formal regulatory processes in establishing new codes and laws related to 3D printed houses will probably be minimal.
2. To follow up from the first point—industry standardization, rather than via regulation, is more likely to be achieved simply in the course of the AC sector's overall scale-up. Along these lines, one point emphasized continuously by Sheen was the great extent to which advances in the industry are emerging out of academia. This is probably unsurprising given the nature of the 3D printing industry as a whole, but it's significant insofar as it suggests that, in the near future, the best business opportunities in the sector will probably continue to involve partnerships with public institutions and nonprofits, including universities. One positive aspect to the likelihood that the funding for scaling up the sector will largely come from the government, is the equal likelihood that this will bring along with it security and uniformity in the regulatory process.
3. The future of the industry is in leasing machines and operational training. Although the industry's growth will remain slow for the time being, that growth is currently being limited more by supply than demand — another reason that the next couple of years will be especially crucial for investment in the industry. Leasing will not only help manage the industry's carbon footprint in the long-run, it will allow for as many houses to be built per machine as possible. It's critical that more machines be built, but what's even more critical for the industry's growth is that more workers be trained in the application of AC techniques.
4. COBOD sells a lot of machines—more than all the other companies in the AC sector combined. As such, much of the standardization in the industry will continue to come from COBOD simply from its being such a large presence in the sector. It will be solidified, further, by the competition between other companies, such as Black Buffalo and ICON (which was not at the conference), to be the second-biggest hardware manufacturer in the industry.
Overall, the straightforwardness and realistic expectations set by the speakers at the event left me more hopeful for the sector's future. The conference reiterated to me that the sector is ready to be taken seriously.
Thanks to Kevin Hardin of Ctrl C Construction for letting me attend the event.
