Using a pair of 3D-printed scissors, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg cut the ribbon last week on Shapeways' Factory of the Future, a 3D printing facility being built by in Long Island City, Queens.
Shapeways, a marketplace and community that encourages the making and sharing of 3D-printed designs, plans to extend its reach with a physical facility stocked with industrial-sized printers. Its aim is to give small businesses, entrepreneurs, inventors, and DIY enthusiasts an easy and accessible way to turn design concepts into physical products.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg used a 3D-printed pair of scissors for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Shapeways factory. (Source: Shapeways)
The 25,000-square-foot space will house 30-50 high-definition, industrial-sized 3D printers. The goal is to print 3 million to 5 million objects annually, making it the world's largest consumer-facing 3D printing manufacturing facility. The factory will deliver manufacturing, post-processing, cleaning, and sorting services. There will also be a Shapeways Lab dedicated to research and development of materials, post-production techniques, and community experimentation.
Set to open in January, the factory will be equipped with a variety of state-of-the-art 3D printers, including equipment from EOS, Project UV, and 3D Systems. Plans call for Shapeways to add full-color sandstone printing and other techniques as it refines and builds its production capabilities.
According to a Shapeways blog post on the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the company wants to redefine the concept of the factory and to foster local innovation and production.
Historically, the word factory brought up connotations of assembly lines and jump suits and iron and cement. It reminded us of the factory Henry Ford created and has been replicated time and time again...
We are giving the word factory new meaning. One that replaces mass manufacturing with mass customization. One that empowers the independent business, the craftsperson, the hobbyist, and the entrepreneur. We are building a factory that gives everyone the ability to create, where the only barrier to entry is imagination.
We are seeing more 3D printing companies take steps to introduce the technology to a wider audience. We've reported on Makerbot, one of the pioneers in consumer 3D printing kits, which recently announced a flagship retail location in Manhattan, to introduce the general public to 3D printing and to sell 3D-printed goods. We've also reported on Deezmaker, a California 3D printer and goods store started by Diego Porqueras, the maker of the Bukobot open-source 3D printer.
Beth, while this is interesting, it would be more interesting to see what is being done by people investing in this technology to make real products. I see a lot of these "community" projects announced with much fanfare. On the other hand, not much comes out of it that will drive the economy. In the past there was lots of talk about hackerspaces or makerspaces driving innovation in the mechanical engineering area. They still exist, but are havens for people to learn, they don't really drive new business. So, it will be interesting to see what comes out of this new effort.
"Consumer facing" was a good turn of phrase. The future though, may not be a factory. For it to take off, 3D fabrication will likely move into commerical spaces rather than industrial.
First steps would be into strip malls, eventually to be as ubiquitous as mobile phone provider stores.
After that, the goal would be to have stand-alone self-serve kiosks in malls and supermarkets (maybe even 7-11s?).
Good point, TJ. As you can see at the end of the post, the retail type movement (a la the Apple storefront concept) is just starting to happen with 3D printing as well. I remember when Apple announced they were going to put stores in malls. As a long-time journalist covering information technology, I thought they were crazy. Who's going to buy a PC or printer in a mall. Well, who's laughing now. I think with the right type of company, the right type of technology (that goes without saying) and the right type of marketing muscle, the retail exposure to 3D print technology might be an important catalyst to help it take off.
I agree, I think this will help the technology overall take off. Remember when you could go rent computers and all kinds of printing and art services at chains like Alphagraphics? They sprang up like mushrooms, until many more people bought computers, and then many of those chains faded away. They're still out there, but in much lower numbers, and usually combined with office products stores or UPS and alternative shipping service depots.
Overall I like the idea of 3D printing becoming more and more available to everyone and believe there will be an initial demand for these services. While some of this will be temporary demand for the novelty of this new process, I also think new markets will emerge from this option.
The service bureaus and services offered at the retail shops will target the initial enthusiasts and whet their whistle for more capabilities. The folks who are serious about 3D printing will invest in one for home or avail themselves of services like the Shapeways manufacturing facility which is more about producing product in bulk, not one-off printing.
It seems that an eventual benefit of 3D print would be reductions in inventory of products. As an example, couldn't a retailer eliminate certain products from inventory and only produce them as needed? But is it concevable that one day you would go to a Walmart and needing a dozen plastic spoons, forks and knives; just push a button and they would be manufactured while you stood there?
Beth, actually IBM did it in the 1980s. We bought our first PC for the home there. My wife and I worked for a large company that had a good discount with IBM for corporate purchases and they also negotiated a 25% discount at the store for employees.
These things go in waves. Branding is everything. Apple is very successful with its stores. When they got into it they had products that were new and unique. As ultrabooks and Android (and Windows 8) tablets start competing this may well change. That is the most likely the type of thing that happened with IBM and the clones. IBMs products were of much higher quality than most of the clones (with the exception of Compaq), but the price was high. So, we will see.
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