[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE RISE OF 3D PRINTING: OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENTREPRENEURS
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HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD
MARCH 12, 2014
__________
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Small Business Committee Document Number 113-059
Available via the GPO Website: www.fdsys.gov
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
SAM GRAVES, Missouri, Chairman
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
STEVE KING, Iowa
MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado
BLAINE LUETKEMER, Missouri
MICK MULVANEY, South Carolina
SCOTT TIPTON, Colorado
JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington
RICHARD HANNA, New York
TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas
DAVID SCHWEIKERT, Arizona
KERRY BENTIVOLIO, Michigan
CHRIS COLLINS, New York
TOM RICE, South Carolina
NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York, Ranking Member
KURT SCHRADER, Oregon
YVETTE CLARKE, New York
JUDY CHU, California
JANICE HAHN, California
DONALD PAYNE, JR., New Jersey
GRACE MENG, New York
BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois
RON BARBER, Arizona
ANN McLANE KUSTER, New Hampshire
PATRICK MURPHY, Florida
Lori Salley, Staff Director
Paul Sass, Deputy Staff Director
Barry Pineles, Chief Counsel
Michael Day, Minority Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Hon. Sam Graves.................................................. 1
WITNESSES
Mr. Patrick O'Neill, CEO, olloclip, LLC, Huntington Beach, CA.... 2
Mr. Jonathan Cobb, EVP, Public Affairs, Stratasys, Inc., Eden
Prairie, MN, testifying on behalf of the National Association
of Manufacturers............................................... 4
Mr. Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO, Shapeways, Inc., New York, NY..... 6
Ms. Jan Baum, Executive Director, 3D Maryland, Maryland Center
for Entrepreneurship, Columbia, MD............................. 8
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Mr. Patrick O'Neill, CEO, olloclip, LLC, Huntington Beach, CA 25
Mr. Jonathan Cobb, EVP, Public Affairs, Stratasys, Inc., Eden
Prairie, MN, testifying on behalf of the National
Association of Manufacturers............................... 30
Mr. Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO, Shapeways, Inc., New York, NY. 35
Ms. Jan Baum, Executive Director, 3D Maryland, Maryland
Center for Entrepreneurship, Columbia, MD.................. 40
Questions for the Record:
None.
Answers for the Record:
None.
Additional Material for the Record:
None.
THE RISE OF 3D PRINTING: OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENTREPRENEURS
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2014
House of Representatives,
Committee on Small Business,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 1:00 p.m., in Room
2360, Rayburn House Office Building. Hon. Sam Graves [chairman
of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Graves, Luetkemeyer, Schweikert,
Bentivolio, Collins, Rice, Schrader, and Payne.
Chairman GRAVES. I will go ahead and call the meeting to
order. The ranking member is going to be delayed for just a
little bit, but we also have a vote coming up at any moment
which will delay the hearing slightly, which I apologize for.
We never know for sure when they are going to schedule votes.
And unfortunately, they are going to schedule them right in the
middle of our hearing. But we will go ahead and get started and
see how far we can get before they do call that vote.
3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of
creating objects from a digital model, typically through the
deposit of a material layer upon layer until an object is
formed. Today, we are here to discuss how 3D printing is
spurring innovation and entrepreneurship all across the
country.
While the technology has been around since the 1980s, it
has traditionally been used by large companies in industrial
settings for rapid prototyping. But in the last 10 years, 3D
printers have become more affordable, which is opening the door
for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs to begin benefitting
from the technology. For instance, some models are now
available for under $1,500, and analysts expect prices to
continue to go down.
Small businesses and entrepreneurs are using 3D printing in
a variety of ways. It has the ability to save time and costs
during the creation of prototypes, make highly-accurate parts
that assist in product production, and produce finished
products that may be sold directly to end-users. 3D printing
has become, and will increasingly be, a critical component of
the operations of many small businesses. While a number of
entrepreneurs and at-home innovators are using it to print
models of products that they intend to manufacture with
traditional methods, others are using the technology to create
products from start to finish, sometimes that can be done right
there in the garage. As 3D printers continue to become more
affordable and advanced, the number of small businesses that
begin as ``household manufacturers'' is likely to skyrocket.
While some embrace and capitalize on new technologies,
others are very wary and cautious about the technology. As
Congress and other regulatory bodies consider policies
applicable to this and other technological advances, it is
important that we must not be hasty and do not unduly restrict
the ability of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and other
innovators to help grow our economy.
We are fortunate to have with us a very interesting group
of makers and users of the technology, which includes
entrepreneurs that use 3D printing in their development of
products. I look forward to hearing your insights on how small
businesses are using this technology to grow and obviously
create jobs, which is what this Committee is all about.
So we will move right on into our witnesses. Our first
witness today is Patrick O'Neill, who is the founder and CEO of
olloclip, a clip-on lens for iPhones and other Apple products.
Prior to founding olloclip, he was product manager and VP of
product development at Premier Systems, which is an information
technology resaler and consulting organization. Mr. O'Neill was
named Entrepreneur Magazine's 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year.
Welcome to the Committee, and we look forward to hearing your
testimony.
STATEMENTS OF PATRICK O'NEILL, CEO, OLLOCLIP, LLC; JONATHAN
COBB, EVP, PUBLIC AFFAIRS, STRATASYS, INC.; PETER
WEIJMARSHAUSEN, CEO, SHAPEWAYS, INC.; JAN BAUM, EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR, 3D MARYLAND, MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
STATEMENT OF PATRICK O'NEILL
Mr. O'NEILL. Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Velazquez, and
members of the Committee, I am Patrick O'Neill, CEO and founder
of olloclip, the mobile photography company. I invented the
olloclip, a clip-on lens for the iPhone. I am very grateful for
the opportunity to speak with you regarding our use of 3D
printing and how it has helped a small business go from a
kitchen startup three years ago to selling a product in every
Apple store worldwide.
In have spent my whole career in the technology industry. I
hold over 30 patents, and 3D printing has enabled us to
innovate at a rapid pace. This pace is required for us to be at
the forefront of mobile technology, as well as keep jobs in
America.
In creating the olloclip, I wanted to create a photo lens
that would give people the ability to use the iPhone to capture
photos artistically, creatively, and spontaneously. The
olloclip design was inspired by the philosophies of Steve Jobs,
founder of Apple, and Colin Chapman, the English founder of
Lotus cars, for clean, simple designs.
Since the start, we employed this ``simple and light''
design philosophy. At the beginning, when the design studio was
in my kitchen, we used a local 3D printing company to produce
hundreds of prototypes. I would ask myself, ``Would Steve Jobs
think this product was good enough?'' The answer wound
invariably be ``no,'' and we would keep refining it until we
felt the result would meet Steve's demanding standards.
After a year of development, we launched olloclip through
the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform in May 2011. Olloclip
received funding within four weeks from backers in more than 50
countries and achieved almost five times our funding goal.
Since our start three years ago, we have moved three times
to larger offices, and now employ more than 50 people in
Huntington Beach, California, including seven full-time
designers. Today, olloclip is considered the leader in mobile
photography products. Olloclip products are now sold in more
than 90 countries.
The olloclip has attracted a legion of passionate users and
received numerous awards. I am also fortunate, as you
mentioned, to be named ``Entrepreneur of the Year'' by
Entrepreneur Magazine. 3D printing enabled me to innovate
quickly and turn my idea into a commercial product. Design and
3D printing are still the core of our development. In just the
past six months, we created six new products to enhance our
line of photography tools thanks in part to 3D printing. We
have invested more than $50,000 in 3D printing to prototype our
own products.
We also print models of rumored devices, so lenses can be
designed quickly each time Apple releases a new version. We
sketch an idea in the morning, model it in the afternoon, send
it to the 3D printer and have a prototype that evening. Fast
turnaround is key for companies in this space. We finished and
validated an iPhone 5 version within days of the device's
announcement. I cannot imagine doing this without our own 3D
printer.
Here is the process of developing our products. We first
start with brainstorming and concept generation. Then, sketch
ideas and create cab models of those ideas in the computer.
Then, print the models on the 3D printer. Next, we evaluate the
prototype for functionality, proportions, and aesthetics.
Changes are made, if needed, and then reprinted. If the
prototype is approved and everything looks good, we move
forward to mass production.
The mobile device market changes so quickly. To stay
competitive, we use the 3D printer every day to develop new
ideas. We have found it is the best way to innovate quickly and
get to market faster. We can now develop products in a week or
two. Without 3D printing it could take months for development.
As Apple launches products, we would miss critical launch time
and market opportunities. This could result in a potential loss
of millions of dollars of sales, perhaps even failure.
Small and mid-sized companies like ours need the ability to
compete on the world stage, especially in rapidly changing,
innovation driven industries, like consumer technology. As 3D
printing evolves, we would like to use it for bridge
manufacturing to produce finished products so we can get to
market even faster.
At olloclip, we continue to think differently and are not
afraid to try new things. We will only build products if we can
innovate. 3D printing allows us to take more risks because it
shrinks the opportunity cost. We are able to test and validate
new designs within a day or two, rather than a month or two. If
they are unsuccessful, we can quickly move on to try something
else.
Our success has come from our passion and perseverance, our
ability to take risks, and blaze new trails when it comes to
product innovation. As Congress and others consider policies
that will apply to 3D printing, it will be important to ensure
entrepreneurs like myself are able to continue using the
technology in innovative ways.
I am honored to be here today. Many thanks to Chairman
Graves, Ranking Member Velazquez, and this Committee.
Chairman GRAVES. Thanks, Mr. O'Neill.
Our next witness is Jonathan Cobb, who is the executive
vice president of Public Affairs for Stratasys, a global
leading manufacturer of 3D printers. Mr. Cobb has served in
several positions at Stratasys, including Executive Vice
President of Global Government Relations and Global Marketing,
and he serves as the company spokesperson. He has also held the
position of vice president and general manager for the
Dimension 3D printing business unit of Stratasys. Today, he is
testifying on behalf of the National Association of
Manufacturers.
Welcome to the Committee.
STATEMENT OF JONATHAN COBB
Mr. COBB. Thank you, Chairman Graves, Ranking Member
Velazquez, and Committee members. Thank you for the opportunity
to tell you about 3D printing and how our company, Stratasys,
is helping small businesses grow and thrive in this economy.
My name is Jonathan Cobb, and I am executive vice president
for Stratasys, which is based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Stratasys is a member of the National Association of
Manufacturers (NAM), and I am honored to testify on behalf of
the organization. As the nation's largest manufacturing trade
association, the NAM represents 12,000 small and large
manufacturers in every industrial sector in every state.
Manufacturers are the world's leading innovators and
perform two-thirds of all private sector R&D in the nation,
producing more innovative breakthroughs than any other sector.
I am proud to say that 3D printing and Stratasys are part of
this innovative American industry.
You may be asking what is 3D printing and why should I care
about it? Simply put, 3D printing is a process of turning
digital blueprints into tangible objects within a matter of
objects. It works by sending digital schematics to the printer,
which then shapes very thin layers of plastic, metal, or other
materials into physical objects.
I brought a couple of samples that hopefully we can talk
about a little bit later on if there are some questions.
Although the concept may be new to many of you here today,
this technology has existed for decades. 3D printers were
originally created to help engineers test designs before
spending money on expensive factory tooling for production.
Today, 3D printers are not only just used to make prototypes;
they are also used for low-volume manufacturing, items such as
prosthetic limbs and interior components of aircrafts.
3D printing is also found in the classroom. In fact, since
2002, nearly one-quarter of Stratasys's business has been in
education. By helping students learn design and manufacturing
through 3D technology, we are hoping build a strong hiring pool
for businesses in America.
This brings up an important point. 3D printing will not
replace traditional manufacturing process. It will serve as
another tool in a toolbox for manufacturers, to deliver
products to markets in efficient and customized ways.
Stratasys was started in 1988 and has been growing ever
since. In 2005, we started a separate business unit called
RedEye, which is a service that can produce 3D printed parts
for those who do not own a 3D printer. We also acquired
Solidscape of Merrimack, New Hampshire, which helps jewelry
designers and dental markets adopt 3D solutions.
Last year, we merged with Brooklyn-based MakerBot, a 3D
printing company whose user-friendly products are designed for
prosumers and entrepreneurs with basic technical skills.
The growth of our business has helped others as well. When
musician Chris Miles was performing at events with his band, he
used a popular credit card reader to process payments when he
sold his CDs. The credit card reader plugged into his laptop,
but he found that the reader tended to swivel or spin when
used, instead of remaining stable. That made it sometimes
difficult to use. Borrowing from his children's Lego pieces,
Chris built an accessory that kept the card stable. With a
successful design, Chris wanted to bring his new innovation to
market. It would have been costly and inefficient using
traditional production methods, so instead, Chris invested in a
consumer-level 3D printer, which has literally become a factory
on his desk, enabling him to produce his invention from home
for a couple thousand dollars and sell thousands of them.
We take pride in stories like this. To us, they demonstrate
that we are not just a business of producing 3D printing
machines; we are also helping empower entrepreneurs by bringing
manufacturing into their homes and workspaces.
Our presence here today shows that the interest in 3D
printing is strong and the future is infinite. Our industry is
experiencing rapid growth and is giving domestic manufacturing
a new competitive edge in this global economy. The best thing
Washington can do is to encourage further growth and
investment. As President Obama noted in his recent speech
touting 3D printing hubs, if we want to attract more good
manufacturing jobs to America, we have to make sure that we are
on the cutting edge. Our company could not agree more.
I would like to thank the Committee for holding this
hearing, and I would be happy to answer any questions that you
have.
Chairman GRAVES. Thank you, Mr. Cobb.
Our next witness is Peter Weijmarshausen.
Chairman GRAVES. Weijmarshausen, founder and CEO of
Shapeways, the world's leading 3D printing marketplace and
community. Prior to Shapeways, Peter was the chief technology
officer at Sangine, where he and his team designed and
developed satellite broadcast modems. He is also director of
engineering at Aramiska, where he is responsible for delivering
a business broadband service via satellite. He was born and
raised in the Netherlands and moved to New York in 2010.
Thanks for being here.
STATEMENT OF PETER WEIJMARSHAUSEN
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and
members of the Committee. My name is Peter Weijmarshausen. I am
CEO and cofounder of Shapeways. I am honored to be here today
to discuss how 3D printing is fueling small business growth,
enabling anyone to create a business with physical products at
low capital costs.
As a kid in the Netherlands, I loved coding and playing
with computers, resulting in a passion for open source
software. Driven by this and my entrepreneurial spirit, I spent
much of my early career at various software startup companies.
One of these was Blender, the first company to publish a free
3D modeling software. This turned out to be important.
In 2006, much later, I learned about the technology called
3D printing, which prints physical objects based on 3D computer
designs.
I immediately thought of the Blender community, a large
group of 3D modeling enthusiasts. They, like other designers,
were using 3D software, but never imagined it would be possible
to hold their own designs in their hands. So I asked some of
them for their designs to print, and when I showed the 3D
printed ``products'' to them, they were completely blown away.
They immediately agreed it was a good idea to build an online
service where people could print their 3D designs, and I knew
there could be a business opportunity. How big was yet to be
seen.
I started working at Shapeways in March 2007, with in the
Lifestyle Incubator of Phillips Electronics, who shared the
vision that 3D printing could be very disruptive. At the time,
3D printing was used mostly for prototyping by large companies
and was very expensive.
By 2008, we launched Shapeways.com to enable anyone to make
and get products they want. We started 3D printing products,
not prototypes.
In 2010, we spun Shapeways off as an independent company
and moved their headquarters to New York City. New York is
perfect for Shapeways, providing us with high-caliber, tech-
savvy talents, who are hungry for innovative solutions. It is
also the creative epicenter, so we have the ability to talk to
so many of our customers and learn from them firsthand. At that
point, we had fewer than 20 employees. Today, we have over 140,
in New York, Seattle, and in our factories in Eindhoven and
Long Island City. These factories are transforming old
industrial hubs into factories of the future, with new and
innovative processes and machinery.
Shapeways is now the world's leading marketplace and
community to make, buy, and sell custom, 3D printed products,
unlocking design opportunities for entrepreneurs and creative
consumers. Shapeways itself is already a success story in terms
of a small business growing out of endless possibilities of 3D
printing, but the opportunities created by 3D printing for
entrepreneurs are immeasurable.
When I think about what we can achieve, I relate it to how
the Internet has enabled software engineers to become
entrepreneurs. Before the Internet became mainstream, bringing
new software to market was extremely difficult. You had to know
what users wanted, build the software, test it, then produce a
lot of CD-ROMs for floppy discs, bring it to retail, and hope
that people would buy it.
Today, using the Internet, any software engineer can become
an entrepreneur. The Internet has removed the barriers.
Launching a website has become incredibly easy, and this is one
of the reasons why companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook
became successful so quickly.
Similar to how the Internet removed barriers for software
development, 3D printing is removing barriers for manufacturing
products. Designers can create their products, have them
printed with little cost; create and update their designs
quickly so there is no need for marketing research in advance;
build products without costly upfront payments for
manufacturing or molds; and distribute their products direct
online, with no retail investment. Plus, they can continuously
evolve their products since they do not have to keep any
inventory.
There is no question that entrepreneurs are taking notice.
From 2012 to 2013, product uploads increased from 40,000 per
month to 100,000 per month, and the number of new people
creating products on Shapeways has doubled.
3D printing transforms how we think about launching
products and enables the garage entrepreneur in ways we could
never conceive of in the past.
To understand this in detail, let me quickly share with you
how Shapeways works. Anyone can upload a 3D design to
Shapeways.com. There are many free and open source software
programs available to use for 3D modeling, so literally anyone
can do it. After the design is uploaded, the user selects the
material in which to print and make it available. Shapeways
offers over 40 materials and finishes, including precious
medal, bronze, ceramic, plastic, and full-color sandstone.
Designs are reviewed by our engineers. They are then uploaded
to our printers, and then they are printed, after which they
are cleaned by the engineers, sorted, and put in the boxes and
sent to anyone.
On-demand 3D printing as described above is at the core of
Shapeways. People have used it to create endless types of
products for their hobby or business, including model trains,
jewelry, funny Internet memes, home decor such as lamps,
dishware, cups, plates, et cetera. I have brought a few samples
as you can see over here.
Let me share one of the examples of a successful business
on Shapeways. GothamSmith is an example. Four friends who were
working in creative industries in New York City wanted to
create something more tangible and lasting than a website or
app. Starting with designing cufflinks and eventually into
other jewelry, GothamSmith used 3D modeling applications to
develop unique ideas. Shapeways gives them the ability to
quickly turn these ideas into physical prototypes and then
final products at scale, without relying on large and costly
metal casting machinery. They sell their products on
Shapeways.com directly or through other channels and are
emphatic that their business would not exist without Shapeways
or 3D printing.
The ability to easily create one-of-a-kind, customizable
products is another phenomenon spurred by 3D printing. An
otherwise extremely costly and labor intensive process, 3D
printing and Shapeways make it seamless. One company that is
leveraging the technology is called Nervous Systems, a design
studio that uses a novel process, creating computer simulations
inspired on natural phenomena such as the growth of coral.
Their process generates products such as jewelry and light
fixtures. All of these products are one-of-a-kind and 3D
printed by Shapeways, sold on our site, and multiple retail
channels, including the MoMA Store in New York. They are
another example of a successful business that is rapidly
growing and employing more people every day as demand grows.
I would like to conclude with the fact that even the
president of the United States has acknowledged that this great
opportunity. Shapeways is working with the White House to
partner on the first ever White House Maker Fair, dedicated to
showcasing and celebrating the Maker movement. The goal is to
support a culture of making, and use it as a call to action for
stakeholders, and Shapeways has committed to help the White
House use this moment in time to facilitate entrepreneurship.
And, in his State of the Union last month, President Obama
spoke about a facility in Ohio, saying that a once-shuttered
warehouse is now a state-of-the-art lab where new workers are
mastering 3D printing, which has the potential to revolutionize
the way we make almost everything.
It is true. 3D printing does have the potential to
revolutionize the way we make everything. I am passionate about
helping others see that, and I hope that I have effectively
demonstrated to you the positive impact I can have on small
businesses, creating many jobs in the future.
Moving forward, it will be critical that accessibility to
3D printing remains uninhibited.
Thank you for your time today and allowing me the honor of
speaking about 3D printing, a technology that I am sure will
change the world.
Chairman GRAVES. Thank you, Peter.
Our next witness today is Jan Baum, who is the director of
3D Maryland, which has been charged with bringing the 3D
printing and rapid technology agenda to the Greater Baltimore
region. Ms. Baum is also a full professor at Towson University
and the founder of the university's Object Lab, a
comprehensive, state-of-the-art rapid technologies and digital
fabrication lab. In 2012, Ms. Baum cohosted the first Rapid
Tech and Additive Manufacturing Conference in the Greater
Baltimore region, and in 2013, was named Innovator of the Year
by the Maryland Daily Record.
Ms. Baum, thanks for being here.
STATEMENT OF JAN BAUM
Ms. BAUM. Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Velazquez, and
Committee members, I am honored to have the opportunity to
speak with you about technologies that are significantly
impacting how we carry out our work across industries. From
product development in manufacturing to skull surgery and
bioengineering, 3D printing gives us new capabilities that
alter how we compete in an increasingly global marketplace.
I would like to start with a real-world example. I am the
executive director of 3D Maryland, a statewide leadership
initiative to advance the engagement and implementation of 3D
printing and additive manufacturing as an innovative, economic
driver for Maryland, but also for America. 3D Maryland is
located within the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship, which
is a business incubator in Howard County, Maryland. Within two
weeks of a new client joining the Maryland Center for
entrepreneurship, he sought me out and he said, ``I hear you
are the 3D printing person.'' I said, ``I am.'' And he started
telling me about his product that he was innovating and wanting
to prototype and how he had sent $2,500 to China and had not
heard anything and could I help. And I said, ``Well, when do
you need your prototype?'' And he said, ``Yesterday.'' And I
said, ``Well, send me the 2D drawings and I will see what I can
do.'' He promptly did, and I immediately turned them around,
had the 3D digital files made, and two days later, hopeful, he
knocked on my door to check the progress, I am sure not
expecting what he found. He put his head in the door and I
pointed to the build platform on the 3D printer across my
office. He looked at his prototype sitting on the build
platform, looked at me, looked back at the printer, looked at
me speechless, and I said, ``That is your prototype.'' And he
looked at the printer, and looked back at me, and he said,
``This is like magic.''
Well, it is not magic, but it is a tool that helps us do
our work better, more efficiently, locally, and many times,
most times, faster with optimized solutions across industries,
whatever work it is we are carrying out.
3D printing and additive manufacturing is a disruptive 21st
century technology. It is changing the who, why, when, why, and
importantly, the what of what we make and how we solve
problems. If we can imagine it and we have got the skill to
design it, the 3D printers will print it. We are making things
we could have never made before. And there are tons of examples
on the table here today. It is disrupting economies of scale,
current business models, and democratizing production across
industries. Innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities are at
the heart of this technology.
There are some barriers to engagement. Access to knowledge,
both trusted knowledge sources and understanding what the
technology can and cannot do. Overcoming industrial-era
thinking is a huge one. We have made things subtractively for a
very long time and we are very good at it.
Cost of entry. The allocation of resources, whether capital
or human, is a challenge for small businesses and
entrepreneurs? And then the position of the technology. Are we
there yet is a question that we all receive regularly.
The leadership of Howard County in Maryland, county
executive Ken Ulman, the Howard County Economic Development
authority CEO, Larry Twele, and the executive director of the
Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship are a very strong
leadership team for Howard County, and they very easily saw the
vision and the opportunity that these technologies brought and
how it fit in with and supported small business and the
entrepreneurial ecosystem.
3D Maryland itself is an innovative and entrepreneurial
initiative addressing barriers to entry and advancing the
business advantages of 3D printing for business, industry, and
entrepreneurs. Those are our target audiences. We are raising
awareness and facilitating engagement and implementation. 3D
Maryland is identifying and addressing opportunities to
strengthen and advance the rapid-tech ecosystem in Maryland,
and we are building a loosely coupled system of collaborative
relationships and partnerships across sectors to innovate and
accelerate the region and the country's economic
competitiveness.
I respectfully recommend that this Committee encourage and
support initiatives such as 3D Maryland that have a focus on
multi-sector, cross-disciplinary, pre-competitive
collaboration. Building on the strengths and core competencies
to advance current practices, foster innovation, and grow
regional ecosystems while taking advantage of public funding
sources.
Supporting initiatives like 3D Maryland builds on the
momentum created by recent initiatives, such as the National
Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Addressing and
creating an adaptive workforce at all points on the spectrum is
also critical to our engagement of these technologies. I would
recommend working at the grassroots level locally with users
with proven track records from both industry and education so
we can institute some changes in K-16, vocational training, and
apprenticeship programs, retraining programs, et cetera.
Wider adoption is inevitable. We need to ensure that the
workforce is prepared to increase engagement. Studies have
shown that students who are educated in additive manufacturing
processes are among the first to bring the advanced hands-on
technologies to their employers, and that is something that I
have told my students at Towson University since I established
that lab. You are workforce leaders. Continuing to support
research funding and programs that facilitate technology
transfer, 3D printing, and additive manufacturing are just
getting started.
I thank you very much for your attention and your
consideration of these technologies.
Chairman GRAVES. Thank you very much. We will recess just
until after this series of votes.
How many are there? Three?
And then we will come back and start with questions.
The Committee is in recess.
[Recess]
Chairman GRAVES. We will go ahead and call the hearing back
to order, and we will start questions with Mr. Luetkemeyer.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank all the
panelists for a very impressive testimony. It is interesting
stuff. I know on the way over to votes a while ago I was
talking to Mr. Bentivolio here who has got some experience in
your field, and it is fascinating to talk about the
possibilities and what all you are doing. So as a small
business guy it is very rewarding to see the entrepreneurial
aspect of this and see that folks are really doing some good
stuff.
One of the concerns that I have is getting startups like
what you do, and because it is a rather new product and new
process from the standpoint of not widely used, I guess, are
there regulatory problems that we need to be aware of here in
Congress that we need to put a stop to? Are there ways that we
can enhance your ability to do your job better? Just go down
the line of whoever has got some comments or concerns about it.
Everybody has got concerns about Washington these days. Trust
me. And rightly so.
Mr. O'Neill, do you want to start? Have you got any
problems with us?
Mr. O'NEILL. I do not yet have any problems with you.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Not yet. Key word ``yet''; right?
Well, obviously, the healthcare law is something that
concerns a lot of small business people, and you are at that 50
if I recall.
Mr. O'NEILL. Yes, we are.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. So that may be a concern to you. But from
the standpoint of producing your products, that is the kind of
regulations I am thinking about right now.
Mr. O'NEILL. I figure if we just keep working hard,
designing great products, and making money, everything else
will figure it out.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. So far you guys are so far ahead of
regulations that you have outrun them, so therefore, you are
probably okay for a while until somebody figures out, well, we
need to stop these guys and regulate them. So we have to make
sure that does not happen.
Mr. O'NEILL. No, I do not want that to happen. I mean, our
feet have not hit the ground. We shipped our first order to
Apple out of our house less than three years ago, and you know,
now we keep moving. We have got a 17,500 square foot facility
now and that is not big enough. We need to get a bigger one.
So I understand that there are some complications, and I
let other people in our business worry about those things. That
is probably why I do not seem concerned. I am sure I should be,
but----
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. You hire people to worry for you; right?
Mr. O'NEILL. I really do, because I do not like to worry.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. I understand.
Mr. Cobb?
Mr. COBB. Thanks.
Yeah, if you go back to the beginning of Stratasys, which
really started, like I said, in 1988, we have shipped about 50
percent of our business overseas, and we continue to do that at
this point in time. It has been a big piece of our business. So
if you look at areas that we are concerned about or could be
concerned about, it would be any export laws that would
restrict this technology from moving out from the U.S. I mean,
if you look at the bulk of our business, we manufacture in New
Hampshire, we manufacture in New York, and we manufacture in
Minnesota. And so all these products are being exported. So
anything that would harm that export----
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. At this point there is no problem then
here? That is not a barrier yet?
Mr. COBB. It is not a barrier yet, but I know there has
been some discussion about that. So since I had the opportunity
to address the question, yes.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Flake stuff here so we can be watchful for
that. I mean, that is the purpose of the hearing today, to make
sure that we know those things ahead of time.
Mr. Weijmarshausen?
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. Well, we are not really concerned about
things that are currently in place but there might be something
that you could help, however, think of. Shapeways has a large
community of designers that make their own ideas come to life
using our platform. They upload them to our sight and then they
have them printed and we ship it back to them. And the other
element of Shapeways is that we enable people to open shops
where they can start selling these products. And I brought a
few that you can see right in front of me.
Now, if some of these products currently infringe
copyrights, which very rarely, but it does happen, then the
DMCA gives a very nice process where the copyright holder can
send us a notice, we take down the product from our website and
the story or the discussion then is between the copyright
holder and the person that is allegedly the infringer. And that
process kills very well. You have to realize we have 400,000
community members, and that is growing very quickly. We get
100,000 new designs every month. So these numbers are really
large. And DMCA helps with the copyright end of the spectrum.
However, there is no such process for patents. So if
someone would infringe a patent, there is no clear process akin
to the DMCA that would enable the patent holder to notify us so
we can take it down, and then the discussion becomes between
the copyright or the patent infringer and the patent holder. In
that case, platforms like Shapeways are party to the
discussion, which, of course, is really hard for us because we
get so many new designs that it is completely impossible for us
to check. Also, given the fact that in most cases we only print
things once, for us it is completely impossible to check
whether there are patent infringements going on at the time.
So, of course, we are open to build compelling technology
to help solve this, but since the DMCA works so well for
copyrights, I would suggest maybe think about having a similar-
type process for platforms like Shapeways--and there are others
coming up as well in the United States and also abroad--to have
such a process that can help these platforms stay scalable and
flexible.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Do you have disclosure statements that you
have to sign whenever you are sent a drawing of some kind by an
individual or a company that says if you produce this object
that you are restricted from showing it to anybody else or
anything like that?
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. So the idea about Shapeways, since it
is a community, is openness. However, our terms and conditions
do ask people, do you own the copyrights? Do you own the rights
to use this product and upload it to Shapeways, for one. Do you
have the rights to have it manufactured for yourself? And do
you have the rights, if you want to, to sell it to others? And
people have to state that they have those rights, of course.
However, some people might not read that.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Very good.
My time is up, otherwise, I would let Ms. Baum answer.
Thank you.
Chairman GRAVES. Mr. Bentivolio?
Mr. BENTIVOLIO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
coming in.
Yes, we had an interesting discussion on the way to votes
about the possibilities of 3D printing, and I explained to my
colleagues that I was a vocational education teacher as well as
general ed and was in the automotive design business for almost
20 years. And I am very familiar with 3D printing and proud to
say that many of my female students went on to Case Western to
study biomechanical engineering because of CAD and some of the
things they got to make in my classroom using a 3D printer from
Fair State University. At the time, we just sent the design to
them. They printed it for like $35. They sent it back in a nice
package. Instead of putting something on the refrigerator door,
``Hey, mom and dad, look what I did in class,'' they got to put
it on a table, which was kind of interesting.
But in that regard, I am wondering, the possibilities, we
are looking at some things like, for instance, one of my
questions is if I could scan something, can I digitize that and
have it made; right? So, for instance, hip replacements, that
kind of thing, could I use an X-ray data and convert it to
digital and then have a custom made hip for a patient if I was
a doctor? And there are some regulations that would have to
come with that, too; right? I mean, it has to be sterile, made
from specific material? So we could do that with bone as well.
If somebody crushed a bone, we could replace that using a 3D
printer. And how long would that take, for instance? I am not a
doctor so I could not even name a bone in my wrist.
Ms. BAUM. Both of those examples are a current practice
today, so most of that--to my understanding, most of that work
is being done abroad in Germany and Sweden. Arcam is one of the
OEMs in Sweden who is producing hip replacements. And right
now, while we can take the personalized data from a CT scan or
an MRI scan and we can digitize that, we can build that into a
3-dimensional model, my understanding is right now what we are
doing is creating those hip replacements in small, medium,
large, three or four sizes, because that does the job and does
the job most effectively. I may not remember the name of the
university that is doing the bone planting--I think it is in
Texas--that are growing bone structures, but biomedical
engineering is huge.
I mean, what I would say is I would share with you that at
Johns Hopkins University there is as skull surgeon there by the
name of Dr. Amir Dorafshar and he uses 3D printing to create 3D
prints to do pre-op planning. So they know before the team ever
goes into the operating room exactly what the cuts are, what is
removed, where the staples are. Everything is done in order to
simplify that process. I think that is fantastic. The doctor is
working less hours in a stressful situation, the patient is
under anesthesia less time, and the operating room costs are a
huge contributor to healthcare costs, and that is lower. This
is disruptive technology.
Now, that is going to upset the apple cart in many
directions, so the business model for hospitals is now going to
be disrupted. They may not be so happy about operating room
costs, operating room times being declined because now they
have to go back and rework the numbers again. But healthcare,
medical is one of the first industries to engage 3D printing
and additive manufacturing.
Mr. BENTIVOLIO. Great. For instance, if there was somebody
that needed plastic surgery, a plastic surgeon could use the X-
rays and know where his cuts are going to be, know how he is
going to repair the patient's face, if you will?
Ms. BAUM. Absolutely. And they also use 3D printing for
surgical guides. So they put the 3D print right on the
patient's body and then they know the tool, they know the cut,
they know the angle. It takes a lot of the guesswork out.
And I would just also volunteer that in terms of what 3D
Maryland is doing, one of our first initiatives or first
activities was to create an expert user group, so to gather all
the expert users in Maryland around these technologies and
cross-pollinate them. And so the Applied Physics Lab is
actually collaborating with Dr. Dorafshar to build robotics to
make that surgery even better. To make it even smoother. We are
also printing cells. And I am not sure again, like, who the
doctor is that is printing skin, but they are printing skin
during surgery from the patient itself. And when you print
cells from a patient, you really limit the risk of rejection or
the body rejecting whatever you are putting in it or on it.
Mr. BENTIVOLIO. Okay. So now we have that. And it also
reduces 3D printing prototype build time; correct? No longer
are we doing the giant clay models; we can actually design
parts, for instance, for a motorcycle. I could design
everything on that motorcycle using a 3D printer, put it
together, make sure it all fits, and probably reduce my build
time and prototype costs to--do you have any numbers?
Ms. BAUM. Well, when I see the case studies roll through
and Jon can probably speak to this even more clearly, but when
I see the case studies roll through and I go, okay, what am I
going to present like a baseline, I think many times it is at
least a third or a fifth of both the cost savings and the time
savings.
And then the other thing, too, is you have those savings
but when you put those parts together and they are not quite
right, you are not going back to square one; you are tweaking.
Mr. BENTIVOLIO. So how long would it take--real quickly,
how long would it take for me, for instance, once I have that
information digitized and I am going to do the surgery, to have
maybe a model that I can practice or look at, how long would
that take to have that 3D print?
Ms. BAUM. Really, those are hard questions because you do
not know how much data, what the scale is, and scale is a
factor. I would say from thinking about Dr. Dorafshar's skulls,
and he uses SLA technology, I think those skulls probably take
three or four hours.
Mr. BENTIVOLIO. Three to four hours.
Ms. BAUM. Maybe six hours. And what I am advocating for
Maryland--I think it is a model that we could all look at--is
that Maryland create a consortium-based model where we have
state-of-the-art medical facilities so that Dr. Dorafshar can
see a patient from shock trauma and then zip files right over
to a local center and get them. We do not have to worry about
FedEx anymore, and then we will start to really see
improvements in the technology as well.
Mr. BENTIVOLIO. And I started in the business, Mr.
Chairman, when we took a body side molding on a car, sent it to
the shop, and waited three months for a prototype model, and
now we can get it done in a matter of hours. Right?
Thank you very much. I really appreciate you being here.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman GRAVES. Mr. Collins?
Mr. COLLINS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am sorry I missed the opening part. I was caught up in
another hearing, but thank you all for coming. So I may well be
asking questions you answered, and if that is the case, I
apologize.
I will go back. I have a little experience in 3D. We have
been using that for five or six years in one of my companies to
make small-scale models of fairly complex machinery as part of
our sales proposal. If it is a $6 million proposal, it is well
worth delivering that, and maybe others are going to catch up,
but early on we were the only one doing it. And there was a wow
factor there. And when we got the order, everyone in the
customer's company wanted another one. So it is great. It is
great for a lot of things. We used it as a sales tool.
I guess my question comes to, as this takes off, are there
any quality control issues on repeatability and all the things
you do in ISO and other quality things for repeatability, and
CNC machines and whatever. I am a machine shop guy. Are there
quality control issues? And once you get into production and
out of prototyping? I am not sure who to ask, so if somebody
wants to jump in.
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. So since we are building hundreds of
thousands of products on a yearly basis, and actually over
100,000 a month now at Shapeways for our customers, we see
these kinds of problems pop up. We make, for instance, very
popular iPhone cases. And of course, for them to fit, and to
make clear, Shapeways does not provide prototyping only, we
print final products. My iPhone case that I use myself is 3D
printed. And many other people buy from Shapeways just to get a
unique iPhone case. But they need to be an exact fit. And since
3D printing was used for a long time as a prototyping
technology, there is definitely a need for technology to
improve from a quality perspective, from a price, and even from
a speed perspective to meet the needs of today's consumers.
From a prototyping perspective, you always have somewhat of an
option if the prototype does not come out right to do it again,
but if you have a consumer who has a birthday party where he
needs to bring a present, you have only one shot to get it
right and get it out the door in time.
So the technology has come a long way, and it is really
great that we can make final products using 3D printing and
enable so many people, but I think the technology is still, to
my opinion, in its infancy and it will keep growing. As the big
consumer market engages, there will be large jumps in how the
technology will mature.
Mr. COLLINS. So, you know, as you are layering this, you
know, plastics I understand. I am sure powdered metals are
probably being used. Some ceramics.
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. Yes.
Mr. COLLINS. Is that the place? And what happens when you
get into the need for some really high alloy steel, stainless
steels, et cetera? Is that like way out or is that never?
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. We are printing in metals already, and
several types. We print in silver, which is the same type
quality that you would find in a jewelry store. We print in
ceramics. We print in stainless steel, brass, bronze. We are
adding other precious metals pretty soon. It is already
possible.
Mr. COLLINS. Carbon steel, too?
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. Not yet.
Mr. COLLINS. Okay. Is that coming, do you believe?
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. Yes.
Mr. COLLINS. Okay. So as this takes off, what is the
thought on the cost? You know, today you have got a lot of
machines running unattended. Labor cost is all but zero. You
set a machine up and they just pop those out even in a dark
factory. Is this similar? What would be the labor cost to make
a part using 3D versus automated equipment today in a factory
that the machine just does it without manpower?
Mr. COBB. Sure. I think you look at where 3D printing is
being utilized today. And as was mentioned before, it is being
utilized in a manufacturing environment. Aerospace companies,
automotive companies. A number of people are using 3D printing
today. So I think where it makes sense is not the things that
we are maybe thinking about where you are making tens of
millions of bottle caps or something like that, but where it
makes sense at this point in time is when you have a short
production type of a run or maybe a custom run, or maybe
something where because of regulations or other reasons the
part is constantly changing. And so when you look at the cost
of a piece part, the piece part cost you are going to get
utilizing 3D printing is going to be more than say injection
molding. However, you are not going to have to build that tool.
So as a small business owner, a couple cases that were
mentioned here today, you are not going to have that upfront
cost, so you are also probably not going to have to have that
upfront knowledge as well because you can design something, you
can test it with a prototype, and then start printing that as
your real part. So it is a little bit different as far as high
volume versus mid to low volume, I believe.
Mr. COLLINS. Thank you very much. My time has expired, so I
yield back.
Chairman GRAVES. Mr. Payne?
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank
the panel for their testimony today.
With the rapid growth and accessibility of 3D printing,
there is room for great innovation as has been stated. As many
of you testified, 3D printing creates endless opportunities for
entrepreneurs. However, with companies like MakerBot
increasingly reducing the cost to own and operate 3D printers,
do you feel eventually consumers will become their own
manufacturers, making the services that many small businesses
offer obsolete?
Mr. COBB. Certainly, MakerBot and products like that really
enable a lot of people to do work as far as design work and
then some production-type of work that we were talking about.
And I think for certain products, yeah, you could see where a
product like MakerBot would actually be used in a home
environment.
I think though that where some of the big opportunities for
3D printing comes in is really in the manufacturing process. As
we talked about before, it allows current manufacturers to
build things in a different manner, to customize things in a
different way. So I think there are certainly some products
that are absolutely geared toward that, but if you look at the
use of 3D printing and all the different materials that are
going on today, I think the bigger advances are going to come
in the manufacturing area. And with that comes a whole area
where students today or people that are in the workplace today
are used to manufacturing in traditional methods. And so
training of people that are currently employed or training of
students to design utilizing 3D printing is one thing, but then
to manufacture using 3D printing is vastly different. It is
different than injection molding. But it can be used, in fact,
and that is one of the big inhibitors I think in getting 3D
printing into small and medium sized companies is because the
characteristics of a 3D printer are different than the
characteristics of injection molding, for instance.
Mr. PAYNE. And on another note, I serve on the Homeland
Security Committee as well, and the potential of creating
weapons through 3D printing technology is a real concern. What
is the possibility of someone coming along and creating a
nondetectable firearm or some other harmful weapon using 3D
printing technology?
Mr. COBB. We have been staunch supporters of the plastic
gun legislation that just got reenacted, I think, at the end of
last year, as a matter of fact. So it is something that has
been demonstrated at some point, but we have certainly been a
supporter of the legislation that has taken place up to this
point, looking at the restrictions on that opportunity.
Mr. PAYNE. Okay. But couldn't someone potentially, not
follow the guidelines and regulations for this type of product
and create something that is not detectable and cause a
problem?
Mr. COBB. I am not an expert in it, but I think that you
need some type of metal, either a bullet or the firing
mechanism, for the firearm. So again, I am not an expert on
that but from what I know I think it would be difficult.
Mr. PAYNE. Okay. Thank you.
Chairman GRAVES. Mr. Schweikert?
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
It always makes me nervous when a technology like this is
here in Congress because it means we are paying attention to
you, and let us face it, when the bureaucracy pays attention to
a technology, we often try to regulate it or screw it up. And I
say this in the context of someone that believes one of the
great successes of the Internet was the fact that it grew and
grew and grew before sort of the bureaucratic mechanisms truly
understood it and were able to slow down the investments, the
capital, the creativity. So what is, whether it be 3D printing
or even the thing that maybe you and I have not even found out
to define yet, which may be the large scale or the high speed
production of such, what is the systematic threat to the
industry? Is it copyright? Is it the source files having patent
litigation or copyright litigation chasing? Or is it those of
us in government and the bureaucracy? If I came to you right
now and said over the next decade this is one of the great
disruptive technologies that is going to make us a more
efficient society but we have to conquer these risks to that
expansion, for each of you, start with Mr. O'Neill, what are
the systemic risks to the technology?
Mr. O'NEILL. Well, I am an entrepreneur, so I am not
representing the manufacturers. We use the technology to create
innovation in our own business. So these kind of questions do
not really apply to us but I would sincerely hope that no
legislation comes in that would restrict our ability to
innovate.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. What about the discussion--I know we have
all been running in and out so I have not heard--copyright?
Mr. O'NEILL. Well, copyright is a concern to us as a
copyright holder. And as a holder of 30 patents, I am concerned
that people will infringe our patents and our designs and they
will print them. And we have had that happen. I mean, we had
that happen with Shapeways, but we worked with them and they
were able to deal with it. But it is a concern. I mean, it
seems like it is something that needs to be addressed but I am
not sure it is a 3D printing specific concern because it is
still IP is IP, whether it is 3D printed or it is made in some
other way. And we have people in China that are making
counterfeit products all the time of ours. And they are not
doing that with 3D printing. They are doing it with traditional
manufacturing.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. And Mr. Cobb, sort of the same. What is the
systemic risk? And on the IP, I think there has been the
discussion of saying, well, if I change just a bit of the
source code, does that relieve me of a copyright?
Mr. COBB. Well, I guess as a manufacturer, the laws in this
country, you have the patent protection. From a manufacturer,
what we do is we spend 10 to 12 percent of our overall revenue
on trying to be more innovative, trying to stay ahead of things
that are going to fall out as far as a patent goes. I think
looking at--you talked about what can be an inhibitor. I think
one of the things, and maybe it is a little off base here, but
I think one of the things that will not help the industry as
much as possible is people, young people and traditional
workers not being educated in this technology. And I think it
is a real opportunity at this point in time to have education
at a high school level, at a grade school level, and even
workers that are displaced because of manufacturing. I think
manufacturing is starting to come back into the U.S., and I
think 3D printing is a portion of that. And I think there is a
real opportunity for the Federal Government to get more
involved in training of new students and traditional workforce.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. But understand, as we get involved, there
are also certain risk profiles that come with that.
Mr. COBB. I understand.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. What would be a systemic risk to your
business?
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. Well, I already laid it out briefly,
and as you mentioned, Shapeways is a platform, a service, so
what we want to do is create as many products for people as
they like and make it possible for them to create things that
were not possible before, in that way democratizing how people
think about products. Everybody can now make things instead of
only big companies. But we are taking very serious the
responsibility that we need to take that we can only make
things that are original. And the good thing is Shapeways has
made over 2.5 million products to date that the amount of
products that we had to take down, the amount of products that
we actually made using the printers that were infringing in
hindsight were extremely small--like counting on one hand or
two hands, less than 10 that we actually made. And that is, I
think, a good thing. Because people grasp that they now can
make anything they want. It is not the first inclination.
Actually, the technology is much more expensive also than mass
manufacturing, so it is much easier to copy something popular
with traditional manufacturing technologies, as mentioned in
China, perhaps, than you can do it on a 3D printer. But this--
yes?
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. And forgive me because I know I am up
against time. But academia has always an interesting world
where it sits there where what is sort of in the public domain,
what is--xxx@ 0:29:06xxx?? So you may have to navigate some
more interesting discussion there.
Ms. BAUM. Well, I guess my response to that question, it
may bridge academic, it may not. I am an advocate of the
technology for business, industry, and entrepreneurs. And what
I hear from my expert users is one of the things that is going
to hold the industry back or is holding the industry back is
the proprietariness of both the hardware and the materials. So
the expert users that I see using the technology in the most
advanced way say to the OEMs, I do not care about your
warranty. I want ``under the hood.'' And they will hire a
third-party contractor that provides the warranty so that then
they can put in any material they want and they can tweak the
parameters. If you do not do that, then you are paying about
$25,000 per set of parameters to be under the hood. And I know
Peter agrees with me. Keeping the technology open, just like
your example, your leading example of the Internet, we have got
to keep it open. The U.S. is not a leader in this technology. I
think the Western World is leading it.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. And I know I am way over time, so real
quick. The code, the underlying code, proprietary to each
manufacturer or sort of a common script?
Ms. BAUM. Proprietary. The parameters that you run the
machine on and the materials that you put into the machine.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. So if I were to hop online right now and
want to start design and actually do some coding, and I am a
decade old, out-of-date SQL programmer----
Ms. BAUM. I am going to let Jon jump in on that one.
Mr. COBB. Well, I think, if I understand your question
correctly, the capability of sending a file----
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Well, how proprietary is the software for
each manufacturer?
Mr. COBB. Okay, the software to actually allow you to print
a part?
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Correct.
Mr. COBB. Okay. So I will answer two ways.
The software that allows you to have access to the printer
is common. It is called an STL file. Okay, and that is common
to all the different companies that are out there. Then what is
proprietary would be actually how the printer prints. Each one
of them uses a variety of different technologies and
parameters, so that would be proprietary, if that answers your
question.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Thank you. And Mr. Chairman, thank you for
your patience with me. Thank you.
Chairman GRAVES. Could each of you, you all brought a
variety of things, starting with Mr. O'Neill, can you kind of
tell us about what you have got in front of you, or show it
off?
Mr. O'NEILL. Sure. Well, as I said before, we have to bring
products to market very quickly because the iPhone refreshes
every year and it usually refreshes around September or
October. So to get the products into the stores for the holiday
season we have to be very quick. So whenever there are rumors
on the Internet, we will take those rumors and take the
specification and actually print a copy of an iPhone, a 3D one
based on the rumors. And then we will print a product that
would hold our lenses, a clip, to see how it fits, see how well
it works, and evaluate whether we are happy with that. We will
keep working on this all through all the rumors. Every time
there is a new rumor we will do a new one, and we will do
hundreds of designs of the product to get it right. So when
Apple actually does release the phone, then we have got this
product that we can put on there and we can test our lenses on
the new device. We can test the fit and see how it is. And then
if we are happy with everything, we send it out to
manufacturing and have the tooling made so we can do injection
molding. And then we are in production and that whole process
takes about six to eight weeks.
Chairman GRAVES. Mr. Cobb?
Mr. COBB. Picking up on what Patrick was talking about,
this particular part was a part that really gets the idea of
taking a prototype into a realistic area. What we have done is
utilized a printing process somewhat similar to an ink jet
printer, but it gives you really the realism that you get from
a part. And that is what a manufacturer or designer is looking
for. In the particular process that we are using here called
PolyJet, what it allows us to do is mix materials. So you have
something very durable that is called a digital ABS, the white
part, but at the same time you are printing this flexible
material here as well. This was printed all as one part. Then,
just recently, we introduced the capability of the multiple
material and then we have also added color to that. So you can
actually then print a very real--in this case it is a prototype
shoe--but a very realistic prototype shoe that to most people
coming in here looking at this, you would probably think it was
the real thing.
And then getting towards the idea of real things, this
particular part is a different technology that we have called
FDM or fuse deposition modeling. This particular technology
takes real thermal plastic. So nylon, polycarbonates, ABS, and
ULTEM, that are being used today in manufacturing, typically in
injection molding process. But in this particular case, this is
an ABS part that we are seeing here. This was printed, again,
there were about 18 different components here. This was all
printed in one particular piece. So from a prototyping
standpoint, it allows you to look at a lot of different things
that are going on because it is not just an individual part; it
is an assembly. And this particular prototyping allows you to
look at those assemblies testing for form, fit, and function.
And then as you go a little bit further, you can also, because
it is real thermal plastics, these are the types of materials
that are being used in real life today for end-use parts in
aerospace, automotive, some consumer goods.
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. Well, I brought a variety of products.
It is so hard to choose if there are so many people creatively
active. So in my testimony I used an example of a design
collected from New York called GothamSmith. They make men's
jewelry. And these are cufflinks that are made in sterling
silver designed by them and they are for sale on our platform
and they also sell it in a different way. So that is one
example.
Another that is really cool is an indie game. So it was
just almost an organic movement, crowd funded, the Kerbal Space
Program. They made a little game and a very passionate
community behind it, and a few guys figured out, hey, can we
take our assets from the game and turn them into real things?
So they uploaded it to Shapeways and I was working. So now this
is people ordered them through pictures, went on the Internet,
went viral, and everybody now wants to have them. Two very
different examples.
I mentioned Nervous Systems. They use algorithms, so they
do not even design the products anymore by hand. There is no
CAD software involved. They write computer codes that mimic
nature. And by doing that they can create unique items all the
time. This is an example of a lightshade with an LED light
inside. And you can go on their website. You can go on
Shapeways. You can find these products and they are for sale.
And Ms. Baum has actually brought another product from Nervous
Systems, which is a customizable necklace. And this is also
from Nervous Systems. So you can see that it is a wide variety
from jewelry to lighting fixtures to gadgets and game
accessories. And I can keep going for hours but I will not.
Chairman GRAVES. Ms. Baum?
Ms. BAUM. Right now I am wishing I had selected my samples
a little bit differently. I had some skulls sitting up here,
and the face transplant model that Dr. Rodriguez did a year
ago. The other thing that I wish I had brought is an example of
3D printing with traditional metal plating over top of it. And
so one of the companies in Maryland, Repliform, they plate
specifically on 3D printed objects, extending the life of the
plastic prints. And some of the work that they do is highly
classified, but what is in the knowledge center at 3D Maryland
is a one-tenth scale thruster that they made for Boeing, and
those objects are really impressive.
What I have in front of me are some soles, some prototype
soles from Under Armour. Under Armour is an anchor business for
Baltimore for sure. That is probably as much as I am able to
say. I am close friends with Under Armour and frequently behind
the door with them. So right now they are prototyping soles.
This is a watch, and this is off of one of Mr. Cobb's
systems, and it is the same idea of the gear shifter. So a very
flexible material and very rigid material at the same time.
This is an end-use product from Northrop Grumman, which is
also located in Maryland, and this is an end-use part. So
prototyping and use parts. And this is a metal-printed part
that then had some post-production matching done on it.
And then I guess I would just tag on with Peter about this
little guy. This particular printer prints in full color. And
we talk about entrepreneurs and we talk about the uses of the
technology. If you take a 3D photograph of yourself or maybe
your daughter or your grandchildren and you want to have that
replicated into a doll, your kids can have dolls that look like
them if that is what you want to do. Mixee Labs is doing the
UK. Stanley Black and Decker, also located in Maryland, uses
this to color code the parts of their tools as they put it
through production. So orange is one division, green is another
division, or they code the parts accordingly. And that is not
an extra. That is just inherent to the technology.
And the last sample that I have that I will talk about is
this architectural model. And we are all probably old enough to
understand that architectural models before 3D printing were
made very painstakingly with X-Acto knives and map board, and
today we can actually print the prototype of the building. And
there is a saying in the industry that if a picture is worth a
thousand words, a prototype is worth a thousand pictures. And I
think as our society gets more and more visual, our literacy
maybe declines a little bit, but we become more visual, that is
more and more true.
And then lastly in my testimony I included a really nice
profile of a company in Baltimore by the name of Danko
Arlington, and it is a traditional foundry. It is a wonderful
American story. A 94-year-old family-owned business, three or
four generations, and they started losing their pattern makers.
And they said how are we going to solve this problem? They do
not want to see this successful business change. And so they
adopted 3D printing in 2010. They have a number of Stratasys
machines, the highest machine that Stratasys makes, and they
say that they win bids because they send a prototype of the
object that they are going to create for the defense industry
with the bid and that is how they get successful bids.
Chairman GRAVES. You all bring up an interesting point,
too. In terms of your different mediums that you print with,
how does that translate into durability or strength or whatever
the case may be? I will let any one of you answer that want to.
Ms. BAUM. I am going to point the finger to Mr. Cobb
because he has got the highest-end materials.
Mr. COBB. The bulk of our business is in the thermal
plastic area. I talked about the nylons and polycarbonates,
ABS. And traditional manufacturing would be utilizing an
injection molding process to bring those parts. We do not quite
do that. We do not melt it and we do not put pressure into it.
We actually use the layer technology that we all talked about
in the past. And so the characteristics of that are different
than the traditional injection molding.
Now, we are using real ABS, real nylon, and real
polycarbonate. There is a wide variety of manufacturers around
the world; we just select one of those. So the difference is
not in the material itself, but the difference is in the way
the part is actually manufactured. And so when I was talking a
little bit earlier, we talked about having the knowledge from a
designer, the knowledge from a toolmaker, and the knowledge
from a manufacturer to understand that a 3D printed part is, in
our case, a real thermal plastic, but it is made differently
than the traditional injection molding. Injection molding has
been around for a long period of time. There is a handbook that
really talks about injection molding, the principles, to make
sure that you build a durable part. There is no such thing for
3D printing or additive manufacturing today. And as the
technology evolves, new materials evolve, and they are evolving
every single day. Having that knowledge to understand the
differences between an injection molded part in the case of a
thermal plastic and a 3D printed part is going to be important
in producing more and more parts for end-users because they can
be used utilizing 3D printing. They are being used in 3D
printing today. But it is a different design criteria. It is a
different manufacturing method, and it is different.
Chairman GRAVES. Let us say you do not have a drawing and
you do not have, you know, you are just in the restoration
industry, out of curiosity, can you take an existing or wore
out part and create data points and then turn around and
reproduce that? And how expensive is this for somebody to, like
if they employ or call somebody, they obviously do not want to
buy the technology themselves. They would just as soon have
somebody do it for them. How expensive is it to create that
part as a model to be able to fit up?
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. So you can use scanning technologies
that are getting more and more powerful today. And we actually
were just at South by Southwest where we were scanning people
at parties which was a big party hit. In the same way, you can
take a part, and if it is still in one piece, you could scan
it. Not all parts can be scanned, however. You need to be able
to see all items of it. It is going to be very hard to scan
this part Mr. Cobb brought with him, but more simple products
you could very easily scan. And those scanners are getting very
affordable. They turn the pictures basically they take into a
model you can print and then you can print it in a wide variety
of materials.
To your point of questions around what does it cost, the
scanners are available from a few hundred dollars up to like
tens of thousands if you want to have high-end, professional
stuff. The printing itself, again, depending on the material
you want to use, items the size of an iPhone case would cost
you $20-$30. Things that are getting bigger, they are $50-$100
in plastics. If you talk about metal objects the size of this
are around $100-$200. But this is like real stainless steel. So
you can make things in silver, all kinds of materials based on
scans if you wanted to for repairing stuff. And it has been
done.
Chairman GRAVES. So you can build up in metal?
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. Sorry?
Chairman GRAVES. You can build up in metal?
Mr. WEIJMARSHAUSEN. Yes, metals are possible, just like
ceramics and plastics. Yeah.
Chairman GRAVES. Fascinating.
With that I want to thank you all for participating today.
And again, I apologize for the vote series that happened during
the hearing, but your testimonies obviously helped us to better
understand how 3D printing is spurring economic growth and
creating a lot of opportunities, a lot of opportunities out
there for entrepreneurs around the nation.
With that, I would ask unanimous consent that all members
have five legislative days to submit statements and supporting
materials for the record. Seeing none, that is so ordered. And
without objection, I would say the hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:45 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Velazquez and members of
the committee, I am Patrick O'Neill, CEO and founder of
olloclip, the mobile photography company. I invented the
olloclip lens, a clip-on lens attachment that takes fisheye,
wide-angle and macro photos on the iPhone. I'm very grateful
for the opportunity to speak with you regarding our use of 3D
printing and how it has helped a small business go from a
kitchen start-up three years ago to selling product in every
Apple Store worldwide.
I have 25 years of experience in the technology industry. I
hold over 30 patents because 3D printing has enabled our
innovation at rapid pace. This pace is required for us to be at
the forefront of mobile technology as well as keep jobs in
America.
As an inventor of computer accessories for more than 25
years, and smartphone accessories for the past 10 years, I've
always wanted to develop a product that melded my profession
with my love of photography. The iPhone lens idea percolated
for years and was inspired by the philosophies of Steve Jobs,
founder of Apple, and Colin Chapman, the English founder of
Lotus cars, for clean, simple designs.
When the first smartphone cameras came out, I thought
wouldn't it be cool to put different lenses on those cameras.
The problem was: how do you elegantly mount the lens on the
smartphone? I then let that idea percolate for a few years.
When the iPhone 4 launched, I felt the camera was great and
could benefit from a lens.
Designing the olloclip
In creating the olloclip, I wanted to create a photo lens
that would give people the ability to use the iPhone to capture
photos artistically, creatively and spontaneously.
Since the start, we employed a ``simple and light'' design
philosophy. At the beginning, when the design studio was my
kitchen, we used a local 3D printing company to produce
hundreds of prototypes. I would ask myself, ``Would Steve Jobs
think this product is good enough?''. The answer would
invariably be ``no'', and we would keep refining until we felt
that the result would meet Steve's demanding standards.
Kickstarter
After a year of development and hundreds of designs later,
we launched the olloclip quick-connect, 3-in-1 Photo Lens
through Kickstarter, a crowfunding platform, on June 6, 2011.
olloclip received funding within four weeks from backers in
more than 50 countries. We achieved almost 5x of our $15,000
funding goal, finishing among the top-40 highest funded
projects for that time period.
Success
Three years ago, we were a kitchen startup. Since then, we
have moved three times to consecutively larger offices--and now
employ more than 50 people in Huntington Beach, California,
including seven full-time designers, allowing us to make our
products in the United States.
Today, olloclip has helped accelerate the transition of the
smartphone as the primary camera. By providing mobile
photography tools similar to those used for larger DSLR
cameras, we have achieved phenomenal success in a short amount
of time. olloclip has created a new category for mobile
photography with award-winning products that are fun and easy
to use.
olloclip products are now sold in more than 90 countries
and growing. The olloclip has attracted a legion of passionate
users, and has received awards from WIRED Magazine, Mashable,
and the Consumer Electronic Association to name a few.
The ease with which it allows photographers to take
creative shots and share them has also had a major impact on
social media sites like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
This past January, I was also fortunate enough to be named
Entrepreneur of the Year by Entrepreneur Magazine.
olloclip Product Development
3D printing enabled me to innovate quickly and turn my idea
into a commercial product.
Design and 3D printing are still the core of our product
development. In just the past six months, we created six new
products to enhance our product line of mobile photography
tools for Apple devices, thanks to 3D Printing. These include
the new 4-in-1 photo lens system, macro 3-in-1 Lens, iPhone 5c
3-in-1 Lens, Telephoto + Circular Polarizing Lens (CPL), the
Quick-FlipTM case with Pro-Photo Adapter for iPhone
and iPod touch, and the olloclip photo and video app.
olloclip lenses clip on quickly and easily to the iPhone
and iPod without any need for adjustment and the device's
camera auto focuses normally through the olloclip to instantly
capture photos or videos. Choosing the lens--fisheye, wide-
angle or macro lens--is as simple as flipping it over.
Every olloclip photo lens is made of high-quality
components, including aircraft grade aluminum and
precision ground coated glass optics. The design is
clean and simple--and the product is half the size and
weight of the average car key. An olloclip photo lens
fits in a pocket making it a easy-to-use camera
accessory.
olloclip and 3D Printing
We have invested more than $50,000 in 3D printing, not only
to prototype our own products, but also to create mock-ups of
rumored iPhones so that lenses can be designed quickly each
time Apple releases a new version.
We can literally sketch an idea in the morning, model it in
the afternoon, pop it in the printer and have a sample made
that evening. Fast turnaround is key for companies in this
space.
We finished and validated an iPhone 5 version of the Apple
product within days of the handset's announcement. I can't
imagine doing this without owning our own 3D printer.
The olloclip Process
The process of developing our products starts here:
1. Brainstorming, concept generation.
2. Sketching of ideas.
3. Modeling chosen concepts in the computer.
4. Printing the concepts of the 3-D printer.
5. Evaluating the prototype for functionality,
proportions, aesthetics.
6. Making changes if needed and reprinting.
7. Re-evaluating.
8. If concept is approved and everything looks good,
move forward to mass production.
3D Printing - Staying Competitive
The mobile device market changes to quickly. To stay
competitive, we use the 3D printer every day to develop new
ideas. We've found that it's the best way to innovate quickly
and get to market faster. What we can now create in week would
have originally took 1-2 months for development.
Without 3D printing, the more traditional model of
designing and prototyping would take much longer and the
process would slow us down considerably. As Apple launches
products, we would miss critical launch timing and market
opportunities. This could result in a potential loss of
millions dollars of lost sales, perhaps even failure.
Small and mid-size companies like ours need the ability to
compete on the world stage--especially in rapidly changing,
innovation-driven industries like consumer technology.
Fending off Counterfeits
Fending off counterfeiters is one of our challenges. Poorly
made, fake counterfeits flood the markets. Thanks to 3D
printing, we can keep our computer-aided design files in-house.
Future of 3D printing with olloclip
olloclip is thinking of investing in a new Conex3 printer
that is 7x the cost of our current one. The printer will allow
us to make more advanced prototypes in different colors,
transparencies and material.
As 3D printing evolves, my small business would like to get
to the point w3here we can use it for bridge manufacturing.
When we finalize a new design, it takes six to eight weeks to
produce the tooling to do the injection mold. It would be nice
to use 3D printing to deliver products in that in-between time,
so we can get to market faster.
Protecting Small Business
At olloclip, we continue to think differently and are not
afraid to try new things, and will only build products if we
can innovate. 3D printing allows us to take more risks because
it shrinks the opportunity cost. We are able to test and
validate new designs within a day or two, rather than a month
or two. If they are unsuccessful, we can quickly move on to try
something else. Our success has come from our passion and
perseverance, our ability to take risks and blaze new trails
when it comes to product innovation.
As Congress and others consider policies that will apply to
3D printing, it will be important to ensure entrepreneurs like
myself are able to continue using the technology in innovative
ways.
I am honored to be here today, and many thanks to Chairman
Graves, Ranking Member Velazquez and this committee.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
TESTIMONY OF JONATHAN COBB
BEFORE THE
HOUSE SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE
Hearing on: ``The Rise of 3D Printing: Opportunities for
Entrepreneurs''
MARCH 12, 2014
Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Velazquez, and Committee
Members, I am excited to have this opportunity to speak with
you today on behalf of the National Association of
Manufacturers and to share with you some background on 3D
printing innovation, its role in reviving America's
manufacturing industry, and how our company--Stratasys--is
helping other small businesses grow and thrive in this economy.
My name is Jonathan Cobb and I am Executive Vice President
of Corporate Affairs for Stratasys, which is based in Eden
Prairie, Minnesota.
Stratasys is also a member of the National Association of
Manufacturers (NAM) and I am honored to testify on behalf of
the organization. The nation's largest manufacturing trade
association, the NAM represents 12,000 member companies
consisting of small and large manufacturers in every industrial
sector and state. As the voice of manufacturers who employ 12
million men and women who work in manufacturing in America, the
NAM is committed to achieving a policy agenda that helps
manufacturers grow and create jobs.
In 2012, manufacturers contributed $2.03 trillion to the
economy; up from $1.93 trillion in 2011. This represents 12.5
percent of our nation's GDP. Manufacturing supports an
estimated 17.4 million jobs in the United States--about one in
six private-sector jobs--and offers high-paying jobs. In 2011,
the average manufacturing worker in the United States earned
$77,505 annually, including pay and benefits--22 percent more
than the rest of the workforce.
Manufacturers are also the world's leading innovators.
Manufacturers in the United States perform two-thirds of all
private-sector R&D in the nation, leading to more innovative
breakthroughs than any other sector. I am proud to say that 3-D
printing and Stratasys are part of that innovative leadership
in the United States.
For many manufacturers in the United States, the economy is
showing definite signs of improvement. Manufacturing has added
about 600,000 jobs since the end of 2009, but it still has a
long way to go. Manufacturing lost more than 2 million jobs
during the past recession, and output remains below its 2007
peak.
Nearly 95 percent of all manufacturers in the United States
have fewer than 100 employees, and the Small Business
Administration (SBA) defines manufacturers with fewer than 500
employees as small. To compete on a global stage, manufacturing
in the United States needs policies that enable companies to
thrive and create jobs. Growing manufacturing jobs will
strengthen the U.S. middle class and continue to fuel America's
economic recovery.
Because of the significant challenges affecting
manufacturing, the NAM developed a strategy to enhance our
growth. The NAM Growth Agenda: Four Goals for a Manufacturing
Resurgence in America, is a policy blueprint for the
Administration and Congress that sets four goals with
bipartisan appeal for enhanced competitiveness and economic
growth: (1) The United States will be the best place in the
world to manufacture and attract foreign direct investment; (2)
Manufacturers in the United States will be the world's leading
innovators; (3) The United States will expand access to global
markets to enable manufacturers to reach the 95 percent of
consumers who live outside our borders; and (4) Manufacturers
in the United States will have access to the workforce that the
21st-century economy demands. To achieve these goals, we need
sound policies in taxation, energy, labor, trade, health care,
education, litigation, and regulation.
You may be asking yourselves: ``What is 3D printing and why
should I care about it?''
Well, quite simply, 3D printing--otherwise known as
``additive'' manufacturing--is the process of creating a
digital blueprint using Computer-Aided Design. These blueprints
can also come from MRI, or scanned data. These digital files
are then sent to the 3D printer, which builds them from the
group up in very thin layers of plastic, metal, or other
materials. The printing allows the creator to test for form,
fit, and function.
With 3D printing technology, a user can take a digital
design and turn it into a solid, tangible part within a matter
of hours.
Although the concept may be new to many in this audience,
the technology has actually existed for decades.
Our company was started in 1988 after our founders, Scott
Crump and Lisa Crump, developed and patented the Fused
Deposition Modeling (FDM) process. Scott Crump remains active
with the company and serves as the Chairman of the Board.
3D printers were originally created to help engineers prove
out their designs and perfect them before spending money on
expensive factory tooling for production. This creates better
quality products and allows companies to bring those products
to market faster. Today, manufacturers are not just using the
machines to produce prototypes. They are also using 3D printers
for low-volume manufacturing of items from prosthetic limbs to
the interior components of aircraft.
This brings up an important point that is relevant for this
Committee: 3D printing will not replace traditional
manufacturing processes but, rather, it serves as another
``tool in the manufacturing toolbox'' to complement how a good
portion of manufacturers are delivering products to market in a
more efficient and customized way.
Like the internet in the 1990's and smart phones in the
last decade, 3D technology is becoming highly accessible, and
poised to usher in a new world of ``mass customization.''
As the industry is changing, our company is changing as
well. In 2005, we started a separate business unit called
RedEye, which allows people to acquire 3D printed parts. We
also added Solidscape of Merrimack, NH, which helps jeweler
designers and dental markets adopt 3D solutions.
Last year we merged with Brooklyn-based MakerBot, a 3D
printing company whose user-friendly products are designed for
entrepreneurs with basic technical skills. MakerBot's growth
since its inception in 2009 has allowed more small companies to
receive the true benefit of 3D printing.
This growth in our business has helped other small
businesses grow as well. When musician Chris Milnes was
performing at events with his band, he used a popular credit
card reader to collect sales proceeds for his band's CDs and
merchandise. He loved the card reader, which plugged into his
laptop, but he found that the product tended to spin when used
instead of remaining stable, making it sometimes difficult to
use. Using his children's Lego pieces, Chris built an accessory
that kept the card reader stable. With a successful design,
Chris wanted to bring this new innovation to market. But taking
this prototype to production would have been costly and
inefficient using traditional product methods. So instead,
Chris invested in a consumer-level 3D printer, which has
literally become a factory on his desk, enabling him to take
his invention into production from his home for the cost of a
couple thousand dollars.
We take pride in stories like this. To us, they demonstrate
that we are not just in the business of producing 3D machines,
we are also helping empower entrepreneurs by bringing
manufacturing into their homes and workplaces.
Here's another small-business story, this time about a
company that used a high-end Stratasys 3D printer to help get a
product to market quickly and inexpensively.
When South Dakota-based Peppermint Energy set out to make a
portable, plug-and-play solar generator, they needed more than
just a blueprint on paper to see their product take shape.
Using a 3D printer, Peppermint produced a physical and
functional prototype that helped them identify design flaws and
make changes to the product quickly. By making these
alterations with a 3D printer, Peppermint was able to save
$250,000 on tooling costs.
Despite the existence of 3D printing technology for
decades, only in recent years has the priced dropped enough to
allow a new class of low-price systems to become accessible to
everyday consumers and entrepreneurs. With that in mind, the
best thing Washington can do right now is help the industry
reach its full potential by encouraging further growth and
investment.
Since 2002, nearly a quarter of Stratasys' business has
been in education. By helping students learn design and
manufacturing through 3D technology, we're helping schools
build a strong hiring pool for businesses in America.
The NAM, Stratasys, and all manufacturers are working to
address the need for a skilled workforce and therefore are
focused on a number of STEM initiatives. Stratasys, in
particular, is a strong supporter of the STARBASE program, a
STEM educational initiative that engages students--mostly 4th
and 5th graders from inner city schools--in an intensive, five-
day program in science, mathematics, and technology. STARBASE
features a ``Mission to Mars'' theme that allows students to
create a Mars colony. During the program, students get the
greatest excitement and value from learning about a design
concept in the classroom and turning that into reality by 3D
printing several variants of their own tailfin design for a
rocket that is launched on a field. Students also experience
first-hand the results of each set of tailfins and how they
affect the rocket flight stability, trajectory, and height. It
is a powerful and moving experience for young students, and for
many, it can be an epiphany that they too could pursue an
engineering career. This program relies on federal grants and
we believe Congress should continue supporting STEM initiatives
that will help grow and develop the next generation to lead the
3D printing revolution.
As you can tell from our presence here today, the interest
in 3D printing is strong and the future is infinite for this
technology. Despite our industry's long history, we are
experiencing rapid growth that is giving domestic manufacturing
a new global competitive edge. As President Obama noted in this
recent speech touting additive manufacturing (3D printing)
hubs, ``If we want to attract more good manufacturing jobs to
America, we've got to make sure we're on the cutting edge.''
Our company could not agree more.
This is an industry that was started in the United States
and is dominated by domestic businesses. We must continue to
grow, innovate, and lead in this area.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee.
My name is Peter Weijmarshausen and I am the CEO and Co-Founder
of Shapeways. I'm honored to be here today to discuss how 3D
printing is fueling small business growth, enabling anyone to
create a business with physical products at low capital costs.
As a kid in the Netherlands, I loved coding and playing
with computers, resulting in a passion for open source
software. Driven by this and my entrepreneurial spirit, I spent
much of my early career at various software startup companies.
One of these was Blender, the first company to publish free 3D
modeling software.
In 2006, I learned about a technology called 3D printing,
which prints physical objects based on 3D computer designs.
I immediately thought about the Blender community, a large
group of 3D modeling enthusiasts. They, like other designers,
were using 3D software, but never imagined it would be possible
to hold their own designs in their hands. So, I asked some of
them for their designs to 3D print. When I showed the 3D
printed ``products'' to them, they were blown away. They
immediately agreed that it was a good idea to build an online
service where people could 3D print their own designs. I knew
that there could be a business opportunity, but how big was
still to be seen.
I started working on Shapeways in March 2007, within the
Lifestyle Incubator of Philips Electronics, who shared the
vision that 3D printing could be very disruptive. At the time,
3D printing was used mostly for prototyping by large companies
and was very expensive.
By 2008, we launched Shapeways.com to enable anyone to make
and get the products they want. We started 3D printing products
NOT prototypes!
In 2010, we spun Shapeways off as an independent company
and moved the headquarters to New York City. New York is
perfect for Shapeways, providing us with high-caliber, tech-
savvy talent, who are hungry for innovative solutions. It's
also the creative epicenter, so we have the ability to talk to
so many of our customers and learn from them firsthand. At that
point, we had fewer than 20 employees. Now, Shapeways has more
than 140 employees who work at offices in New York and Seattle,
and in our factories in Eindhoven and Long Island City. These
factories are transforming old industrial hubs into factories
of the future, with new and innovative processes and machinery.
Shapeways is now the world's leading marketplace and
community to make, buy, and sell custom, 3D printed products,
unlocking design opportunities for entrepreneurs and creative
consumers. Shapeways itself is already a success story in terms
of a small business growing out of the endless possibilities of
3D printing. But, the opportunities created by 3D printing for
entrepreneurs are immeasurable.
When I think about what we can achieve, I relate it to how
the Internet has enabled software engineers to become
entrepreneurs. Before the Internet became mainstream, brining
new software to the market was difficult. You had to know what
users wanted, build out the software on your own, typically
with the support of a large company, and go through many, many
rounds of testing. Once you had a product that you thought was
viable, you had to manufacture large quantities of it on a CD
or a floppy disk, get them into a retail environment, and
determine how to market it so the software would sell.
Today, using the Internet, any software engineer can become
an entrepreneur. The Internet has removed the barriers.
Launching a website has become incredibly easy. This is the
reason why companies like Goggle, Amazon and Facebook became so
successful so quickly.
Similar to how the Internet removed barriers for software
development, 3D printing is removing barriers for manufacturing
products. Designers can: create their products and have them
printed out with little cost; ideate and update their designs
quickly so there's no need to do marketing research in advance;
build products without costly upfront payments for
manufacturing or molds; and distribute products directly
online, with no retail investment. Plus, they can continuously
evolve their products, since they don't have to keep any
inventory.
And there is no question that entrepreneurs are taking
notice. From 2012 to 2013, product uploads increased from
40,000 per month to 100,000 per month, and the number of new
people creating products on Shapeways has doubled!
3D printing transforms how we think about launching
products and enables the garage (product) entrepreneur in ways
they could never conceive of in the past.
To understand it in more detail, I'll first tell you how
Shapeways works:
Anyone can upload a 3D design to
Shapeways.com. There are many free and open source
software programs available to use for 3D modeling so
literally anyone can do it! And, they don't even need a
lengthy or expensive class to learn how. In fact,
Shapeways surveyed its shop owners in 2013 and found
that 50 percent taught themselves how to 3D model!
After the design is uploaded, the user
selects the material in which to print or make
available. Shapeways offers 40 materials and finishes,
including precious metal, bronze, ceramic, plastic and
full color sandstone.
The designs are reviewed by our 3D print
engineering team to ensure that they are viable for 3D
printing. Once confirmed, the design is sent to a 3D
printer.
3D printers build products one layer at a
time, slowly forming the final product. This process
can take anywhere from hours to days depending on the
size and complexity of the design. However the
industrial machines we use can build thousands of parts
at the same time, enabling scale.
Once complete, products are removed from the
printer and cleaned by hand.
Printed products may be polished or dyed
depending on the material and order.
Finally, the finished product is packaged
by Shapeways and shipped directly to the creator or
shopper!
On-demand 3D printing as described above is at the core of
Shapeways. People have used it to create endless types of
products for their hobby or business, including model trains,
jewelry, funny internet memes, home decor such as lamps,
dishware like cups and plates, cell phone covers, and so much
more. But we allow, and encourage, designers to take it one
step further by creating shops of their own. This is where the
true ability to become a small business owner comes in.
GothamSmith is one example of this type of small business
that came about because of 3D printing. Four friends who were
working in creative industries in NYC wanted to create
something more tangible and lasting than a website or app.
Starting with designing cufflinks and eventually moving into
other jewelry. GothamSmith uses 3D modeling applications to
develop unique ideas. Shapeways gives them the ability to
quickly turn these ideas into physical prototypes and then
final products at scale--without relying on costly large-scale
metal casting machinery. They sell their products on
Shapeways.com and through other channels, and are emphatic that
their business wouldn't exist without Shapeways or 3D printing.
The ability to easily create one-of-a-kind, customizable
products is another phenomenon spurred by 3D printing. An
otherwise extremely costly and labor intensive process, 3D
printing and Shapeways make it seamless. One company that is
leveraging the technology this way is Nervous System, a design
studio that uses a novel process, creating computer simulations
inspired on natural phenomena such as the growth of coral.
Their process generates products such as jewelry and light
fixtures. All of their products are one-of-a-kind and 3D
printed by Shapeways, sold on our site and multiple retail
channels, including the MoMA Store. They are another example of
a successful business that is rapidly growing, and employing
more people every day as demand grows!
These are just a couple examples among the more than 14,000
stores currently open on Shapeways, and we know our users are
hungry for more. In a survey last year, we found that of our
shop owners:
50 percent are first-time entrepreneurs (of
anything!)
84 percent want selling on Shapeways to be
their full-time job.
94 percent spent less than $1,000 to open
their shops!
The technology has been around for decades and has impacted
dozens of industries, including automotive, engineering,
construction, entertainment, and even medicine. We're just now
starting to really grasp what it can achieve.
Even the President of the United States has acknowledged
this great opportunity. Shapeways is currently working with the
White House to partner on the first ever White House Maker
Faire, dedicated to showcasing and celebrating the Maker
movement. The goal is to support a culture of making, and use
it as a call to action for stakeholders, and Shapeways has
committed to help the White House use this moment-in-time to
facilitate entrepreneurship.
And, in his State of the Union address last month,
President Obama spoke about a facility in Ohio saying that: ``A
once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the-art lab where
new workers are mastering a 3-D printing that has the potential
to revolutionize the way we make almost everything.''
It's true, 3D printing does have the potential to
revolutionize the way we make everything. I'm passionate about
helping others see that, and I hope that I have effectively
demonstrated to you the positive impact it can have on small
businesses, creating many jobs in the process.
Moving forward, it will be critical that accessibility to
3D printing remains uninhibited.
Thank you for your time today, and allowing me the honor of
speaking about 3D printing. A technology that will change the
world.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Graves, Ranking Member Velazquez, and Committee
Members, I am honored to have the opportunity to speak with you
about technologies that are significantly impacting how we make
and manufacture, across industries. From product development to
manufacturing additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D
printing, give us new capabilities that will alter how we
compete in an increasingly global marketplace. Whether getting
tangible prototypes faster and cheaper, hybridizing existing
production methodology, or completely transforming industries,
after 30 years of development and a CAGR of 29.4%, AM
technologies are coming of age and are already shifting
paradigms for manufacturing and supply chain models. ``Using AM
to break the constraints of these (existing performance) trade-
offs creates opportunities for companies to improve
performance, grow, and innovate.'' \1\ The paradigm shift is
proving to be especially valuable to small business and
entrepreneurs--the generation point of much innovation and the
backbone of the American economy.
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\1\ Deloitte University Press, ``3D opportunity: Additive
manufacturing paths to performance, innovation, and growth.'' Pg. 6:
http://dupress.com/articles/dr14-3d-opportunity/
I'll start with a real-world example. 3D Maryland is
located within the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship (MCE),
which has approximately 95 clients in its business incubator. A
new client came to visit me within two weeks of joining the
MCE, having heard that I was the 3D Printing Person. He started
talking about his product, having prototypes made, having sent
$2500 to someone in China and not hearing anything from them.
He asked if I could help. My first question: ``When do you need
it?'' His answer: ``Yesterday.'' My response: ``Send me your
files and I'll see what I can do.'' He promptly emailed the 2-
dimensional product drawings and I immediately had the
necessary 3-dimensional computer aided design files created.
When the hopeful entrepreneur knocked on my door two days later
to check in, saying nothing, I gestured toward the build
platform of the 3D printer across my office. He looked at the
object on the build platform, looked at me, looked back at the
printer, speechless. I said, ``That's your prototype.''
Eventually, he said, ``This is like magic.'' Well, it isn't
magic, but it is a tool that can get all kinds of parts and
products developed locally, significantly faster and cheaper.
It is a tool that allows us to optimize and adapt products and
processes much more efficiently. The efficiencies are expected
to expand, assuming the trends in adoption and development
continue \2\.
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\2\ Econolyst, ``Building Small Business Around 3D Printing''
http://www.econolyst.co.uk/resources/documents/files/Presentation%20-
%20Oct%202012%20-%203D%2Oprintshow%20London%20UK%20-
%20Building%20a%20small%20business%20around%203D%20printing.pdf
To budding entrepreneurs and small business owners alike,
parting with $2500 to invest in capital is already risky,
regardless of physical manufacturing location. Why might
someone take the risk of having less oversight/control of their
capital investment by choosing to manufacture at such a
distance? The answer is that the perceived risk was minimized
by the fact that in order to be cost effective enough to
compete and survive while using traditional manufacturing, one
has had to utilize the efficiencies produced in the global
supply chain. Additive Manufacturing reverses efficiencies of
scale and standardization--dramatically reducing required
capital investment and risk in manufacturing, while creating
opportunity for complex and personalized designs--effectively
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reducing the barriers to new entrants across industries.
Background
I am the Executive Director of 3D Maryland: a state-wide
leadership initiative created to raise the awareness of 3D
printing and the concomitant business benefits, and to
facilitate engagement and implementation of these technologies
among business, industry, and entrepreneurs as a driver for
innovative economic growth. Prior to 3D Maryland, I built and
directed Object Lab along with the Object Design program @
Towson University, Baltimore, Maryland, where I am a full
professor. The Object Design program was designed to include an
internship program focused on working with small business and
entrepreneurs to engage 3D printing and digital fabrication/
rapid technologies. Object Lab is a comprehensive, state-of-
the-art digital fabrication lab that today includes seven 3D
printers in addition to laser cutting, CNC milling, 3D
scanning, and high end computer aided design capabilities. A
finalist in the Volt Awards in the Technology Implementer
Category, the Object Lab @ Towson University spawned a digital
fabrication lab that bridges the academia and business at East
Stroudsburg University, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania for which I
have been a primary consultant.
Paradigm Shifting Technology
3D printing and additive manufacturing (3DP/AM) is a
disruptive 21st century technology. It is changing what we
make, how we make it, where we make it, and who makes it. It is
disrupting economies of scale, current business models, and
democratizing who can make and manufacture across industries.
Engagement with these technologies is notably accelerating.
Innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities are at the heart
of these technologies.
The benefits from economies scope are still
being explored, but appear to have immense potential.
We are seeing new and unfamiliar complex geometries
that might not have been possible or practical with
traditional manufacturing. For example, newly developed
AM products proved to be capable of achieving efficient
lighter and stronger properties, delivering drastically
improved results over the product's lifecycle. We are
seeing products with more organic structures and re-
entrant features. We are able to print assemblies. We
are manufacturing for design rather than designing for
manufacturing. New tools bring new capabilities.
Additive manufacturing's inherent
flexibility further increases the technology's
advantages from economies of scope. While each of the
seven 3D printing technologies has specific
applications, within those applications the tool can
virtually produce an unlimited range of products
without any tooling adaptation. Multiple functionality
allows for unlimited customization are very minimal, if
any, cost.
3DP/AM is a decentralized, distributed ecosystem
reliant on digital data which can be transmitted
anywhere making localized production a reality. 3D
printers can virtually run 24/7 unassisted thus it is
referred to as lights-out manufacturing, and print-on-
demand technology. Printing what we need, where and
when we need it disrupts the supply chain and lowers
inventory costs in numerous ways: lead time, storage,
shipping, loss of control, tied up cash--all
contributing to lowering cost to entry.
The sweet spot for 3DP/AM today is in low
volume/high value parts and products from end-of arm
tooling to hearing aids. We are beginning to see
manufacturing without traditional tooling and on-off
tooling, and concepts such as mass customization are a
reality. It costs no more per unit to run one unique
part, small batch production, or 15,000 one-offs, as in
the case of Invisalign aligners. Traditional
manufacturing required large capital investments and
standardization in order to product large quantities to
benefit from economies of scale. Economies of scale are
reached at the point of minimum efficient point (where
the average cost of producing each unit is the lowest).
The lowest marginal cost to produce of additive
manufacturing is very low, potentially 1. Figure 1
shows the cost structure of production where the cost
of each additional unit is the same with AM (the lowest
minimum efficient point is one). The required
investment for AM is substantially lower than with
traditional manufacturing, and reduction in price is
expected to continue.
Lots of people have ideas. Now people have
myriad access points to rapid technologies that can
help them realize their ideas encouraging innovation
and entrepreneurship. Garage invention reinvented. The
significance and accessibility of these technologies is
not to be overlooked.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Impact of 3D Printing for Small Business and Entrepreneurs
The significance of small business and entrepreneurs to the
economy are widely recognized with familiar statistics such as
`the approximately 23 million small businesses in the US
account for 55% of jobs and 66% of all net new jobs since
1970s' \3\ and '89.8% firms are businesses with less than 20
employees.\4\ It is unfortunate that, typically, small business
owners and entrepreneurs have the most difficulty competing
with large entities because of the lack of funds required to
reach efficient production. AM/3DP offers opportunities for
both groups to effectively compete, globally even, and
innovate.
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\3\ Small Business Association, SBA.gov
\4\ U.S. Census, Statistics of U.S. Business, http://
www.census.gov/econ/susb/
The primary advantages of 3D printing are significant to
small and large business alike, but they level the playing
field so that small businesses have opportunity to compete and
develop solutions. Proof of concept models and more efficient
iterative prototyping lead to optimized products prior to
commercialization. Cost savings can be captured with faster and
cheaper prototypes. More importantly for small business, 3D
printing allows for less expensive process improvement and
innovations. When a business culture permits, if employees can
envision a tool that can make a process work more effectively,
and the company has the expertise to create CAD drawings of the
improvement, chances are that tool can be made. Improvement
leads performance improvement, growth and/or innovation and
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result in added business value of either profit or time.
Small business has distinct advantages when adopting
additive manufacturing technologies and may be in a better
position to develop entrepreneurial solutions. Small businesses
tend to be more agile in terms of structure, focus, and
culture. There are certain barriers to entry in this space that
small businesses may not struggle with as much as larger
established businesses. Larger enterprises tend to have large
sunk costs (investments in capital) and, after many years,
following a successful standardization/large-scale supply chain
model, may be resistant to transition into a new framework.
Enabling small business to develop advancements and solutions
that feed into and support the larger economic pipeline is an
important piece of advancing the American economy. Even larger
companies are seeing the value in utilizing a smaller structure
for innovation: companies spin out start-ups in order to make
advancements in specific areas.
Small Business Maryland Case Studies
Danko Arlington Foundry, Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore
County
A 94-year old family owned foundry in Baltimore City
serving primarily the aerospace and defense industry turned to
3D printing and rapid technologies when they started having a
hard time finding skilled workers in legacy technologies. With
an eye on the downward trends of vocational training, general
discouragement of trade work and manufacturing, lack of
meaningful internships and apprenticeships, and the retirement
of the labor code of this specialized skill, John Danko sought
new solutions landing on 3D printing technologies. In 2010,
Danko Arlington purchased its first 3D printer for $500,000,
the largest on the market. Danko Arlington began using 3D
printing to print the masters for the sand molds, a process
that required Danko Arlington to invest substantial time and
money into adapting the technology for this purpose. There was
no roadmap for John Danko, he created his roadmap. A true
success story, Danko Arlington credits the adoption of these
technologies with not only increasing profit but also creating
jobs.
Danko Arlington attributes the inclusion of 3D printed
prototypes with bids as part of the key to winning proposals.
Tooling is a required part of federal contracts. Danko
Arlington uses 3D printing technologies to create their foundry
tooling, which is one example tooling costs were 1/5th that of
traditional tooling. CEO John Danko says, ``Additive
manufacturing brings new opportunities to a ninety-four year
old company, and is helping to create jobs.'' In 2013, Danko
Arlington purchased its second large-scale 3D printer as a
result of securing a year-long federal contract. They sell
excess 3D printing capacity to other companies from small
entrepreneurs to General Motors of Whitemarsh, and John Danko
generously shares his lessons learned with the Maryland rapid
tech ecosystem. John Danko is the epitome of the American
spirit: hard work, a can-do attitude, and an entrepreneurial
edge.
UAV Solutions, Jessup, Maryland, Howard County
UAV Solutions manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles.
Established in 2007 with eleven employees, UAV Solutions is
currently a 55-employee, hybrid manufacturer utilizing five
industrial grade 3D printers 24/7.
Dixon Valve & Coupling, Chestertown, MD, Eastern Shore
Dixon Valve manufactures industrial fittings, joints,
gears, locks and clamps.
Dixon Valve created an Innovation Center in early 2000 and
made its first 3D printing capital investment at a $160,000 to
accelerate its innovation efforts. ROI was realized in 18
months.
Barriers to Engagement
An informal survey of small businesses in Maryland returned
the following as barrier to adoption which was presented to the
Office of Advocacy February 2014.
Access to knowledge. One of the biggest barriers is access
to accurate information about the technologies from
knowledgeable and trusted sources. There are seven primary 3D
printing technologies, over 200 materials can be printed from
tool steel to biological cells, and there are more than 75
different machines not including the desktop class of printers
of which there are many. Knowledgeable and trusted information
sources are important as people seek to understand what the
technology can and cannot do, how others have strategized the
challenges, and how and where to start.
Overcoming Industrial Era Thinking. 3D printing and
additive manufacturing are paradigm-shifting technologies. Two
of the barriers to entry are getting our industrial era brains
to think differently about ways to make and manufacture, as
well as developing a digital culture and workflow within
established businesses. Some engineers are on board, some
designers are on board, and some are not. New tools allow for
new capabilities, but first we must recognize the
opportunities. New tools are leading us to new and unfamiliar
geometries; geometries that are stronger and lighter;
geometries that are optimized for the job they are to perform,
while proving to have a lifecycle worth well over its
traditionally manufactured counterpart. With some level of
frequency engineers--especially managing engineers/mid-level
engineers--report resistance from C-level decision makers. When
the Gutenberg press came out people thought it was pretty cool
but few could predict its impact it.
Cost of Entry. The allocation of resources whether capital
costs or human resources can be a barrier. There are three
primary classes of 3DP hardware: consumer: <$5,000,
professional: $5,000-150,000, industrial: $150,000-1 million.
It is worthwhile noting that consumer-grade desktop printers
have a role in business and industry adoption; business and
industry can get in the game between $10,000-$50,000; and it is
only the highest end, highest grade printers that are in the
$500,000-$1 million range. Industry standard software can be a
barrier for the small business and entrepreneur both in terms
of cost per license and also interoperability between
functionalities.
Position of the Technology. With thirty years under its
belt and recent accelerated growth 3d printing and additive
manufacturing is here to stay. Rapid prototyping is here to
stay, the cost savings are proven. While we do have high end
case studies of direct digital manufacturing where 500
certified production parts are printed on one printer
overnight, with lead times decreased from 3-4 weeks to 3 days
from order to delivery, and per piece part reduced by 5% and
tooling costs eliminated \5\ this is the exception not the
norm. Enterprise companies have the resources to advance the
application of the technology and they should. Boeing has been
3D printing non-critical parts for decades. Key drivers for the
industry include the hardware getting faster, materials more
closely matching traditional materials, and reliable
repeatability. The $1 million question for most companies is
not whether to get in, it is when is the right time to get in?
Scaled direct digital manufacturing is coming. There is a
learning curve with these technologies at each point on the
continuum. Companies that purchase equipment and have it in
house generally apply the new technology efficiently across
business units, since they tend to find more applications when
the equipment is on site.
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\5\ Stratasys, ``A Turn for the Better: Direct Digital
Manufacturing Reduces Instrument Part Cost 5% and Lead Time 93%,'':
http://www.stratasys.com/ /media/Case%20Studies/Aerospace/SSYS-CS-
Fortus-KellyManufacturing-08-13.ashx
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3D Maryland
Maryland is poised to be a hub in the mid-Atlantic region
for 3D printing and additive manufacturing drawing on and
expanding the region's significant core competencies and
assets. In recent white paper by the Economic Alliance of
Greater Baltimore, the Alliance highlights the potential for
the adopting AM and 3DP in the region:
``Greater Baltimore claims a number of distinctive
qualities that creates a fruitful region, poised for a position
of leadership in the growth of 3D printing. The region produces
some of the most innovative minds in the country, and when
combined with Washington, DC, the corridor is arguably one of
the best educated regions in the country. The Baltimore
Metropolitan Statistical Area offers strengths and
opportunities to innovators in or seeking to enter the 3D
printing industry. No region is better positioned for
improving, refining, and creating new methods and uses for 3D
printing.'' \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, ``3D Printing: The
Future of Manufacturing in Greater Baltimore,'' http://
www.greaterbaltimore.org/portals/--default/publications/
3dprint.pdf
3D Maryland is an innovative and entrepreneurial initiative
addressing barriers to entry and advancing the business
advantages of 3D printing for business, industry and
entrepreneurs. 3D Maryland is identifying and addressing
opportunities to strengthen and advance the rapid tech
ecosystem in Maryland in order to build a loosely coupled
system of collaborative relationships and partnerships across
sectors to innovate and accelerate the region's economic
competitiveness. The initiative is already engaging in
practices in order to achieve these goals. The Maryland rapid
tech ecosystem interactive online map on 3D Maryland's web site
indicates an overall level of engagement, as well as sector
engagement with delineation of private sector users, service
providers, educational programs, federal labs, etc. The 3D
Maryland Expert User group brings together a diverse group of
practitioners and stakeholders that work together to accelerate
commercial application of AM technologies through cross-
pollination and collaboration. The user group is open to firms
of any size that are currently exploring additive
manufacturing. The initiative is planning to create a general
user group in order to address the needs and engage with
potential users. An online platform, www.3DMaryland.org,
provides users and interested parties throughout the state with
information on resources and opportunities within the 3D
printing space. In combination with the knowledge resources
offered, 3D Maryland offers a physical facility for learning
that encourages efficient, educated adoption. The Innovation
and Prototyping Lab is a technology agnostic knowledge center
where people can learn computer aided design through a variety
of software packages, 3D printing, and 3D scanning. Based on a
fee-for service model, target audience can access the
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Innovation and Prototyping Lab for small batch printing.
Call To Action
Encourage and support initiatives, such as
3D Maryland, that have a focus on multi-sector, cross-
disciplinary, pre-competitive collaboration, building
on strengths and core competencies to advance current
practices, foster innovation, and grow regional
ecosystems, while taking advantage of public funding
resources. This would build on the momentum created by
the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation
Institute, now known as America Makes, which is an
example of private-public partnerships.
There is multi-directional concern about the loss of
America's production/manufacturing base. The MIT task
force on the Production in the Innovation Economy,
states, ``We saw reasons to fear that the loss of
companies that make things will end up in the loss of
research that can invent them.'' ``The PIE taskforce
believes that one objective is the most urgent:
rebuilding the industrial ecosystem with new
capabilities that many firms can draw on when they try
to build their new ideas into products on the market.''
``Research suggests that it's the co-located
interdependencies among complementary activities, not
narrowly specified clusters that produce higher rates
of growth and job creation, and they do so across a
broad range of industries...'' ``The key functions
are...convening, coordination, risk-pooling and risk-
reduction, and bridging.'' \7\
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\7\ MIT PIE Task Force, ``Report of the MIT Taskforce on Innovation
and Production,'' http://web.mit.edu/press/images/documents/pie-
report.pdf
Address creating an adaptive workforce at
all points on the spectrum: work at the grass-roots
level, locally with users with proven track records,
from both industry and education to institute changes
in K-16, vocational training and apprenticeship
programs, retraining programs, etc. Wider adoption is
inevitable; we need ensure that the workforce is
prepared to increase engagement. The current value of
the AM technology and service industry is $1.7 billion,
with an overall compound annual growth rate of 29.4%.
At current levels of growth, the industry is forecasted
to be worth $8.4 billion by 2020--assuming organic
growth based only on today's technologies. Additive
manufacturing sector analysts accept that penetration
is currently 8% of the potential market opportunity.
With technically development and far-reaching adoption
(>8% penetration), the industry could be worth $105B by
2020 \8\.
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\8\ Econolyst, ``Building Small Business Around 3D Printing''
http://www.econolyst.co.uk/resources/documents/files/Presentation%20-
%20Oct%20201%20-%203D%20printshow%20London%20UK%20-
%20Building%20a%20small%20business%20around%203D%20printing.pdf
``Studies have shown that students who are educated
in AM processes are among the first to bring the
advanced hands-on technologies to their employers.''
\9\
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\9\ Wohlers & Associates: Wohlers Report 2013: pg 261
Continue small business incentives such as
low interest loans and tax cuts but also incentivize
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small businesses to adopt leading edge technologies
Continue to support for research funding and
programs to facilitate technological transfer.
Technological progress with 3DP and AM has accelerated
rapidly recently, primarily due to increased
investment. The technologies are becoming more
accurate, versatile, and accessible (financially)--
promising movement towards leveling the playing field
in modern manufacturing.
Incentivize private investment in small
businesses that utilize proven leading edge emerging
technologies.