The Shape of Things to Come

Now designers with new ideas can visit the Shapeways website, search for the software application they need to use to convert their concept into a 3D model, upload that model to the website and work out any further design details, then place an order that meets their specifications. Shapeways prints that order inside its 25,000 sq ft factory in Long Island, then delivers the product within ten working days.

“The nontechnical person who first encounters our website does not need to understand anything about 3D printing. If they see something like a piece of jewelry or a vase that they like, they can order it,” said Chris Dixon, a general partner and member of the company board of directors. The website is accessible and fun for people to customize products or upload designs of their own and add new materials to the inventory already being carried.

The idea is to put 3D printing – which is still quite expensive for individual consumers – in reach of entrepreneurs, designers and others by trying to “democratize manufacturing” into a “low-barrier-to-entry” business that is more materially efficient. “Fashion and jewelry remain a focus for us near-term, but eventually it will be possible to print your own electronics,” noted Weijmarshausen.

The Long Island factory floor is loaded with advanced 3D printers, including EOS Selective Laser Sintering, Projet UV Cured Acrylic Resin Printing, and ZCorp full color printing, some of which can grow up to 1,000 objects per day. A lab is dedicated to research and development of new materials, post-production techniques, and community experimentation. The eventual goal is to 3D print three to five million unique products per year with to 50 employees.

This new shape of things to come is coming soon to a town near you. On May 9, President Obama signed an executive order that launched competitions for three Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, which are partnerships focused on developing new manufacturing technologies.

He also called on Congress to set aside $1 billion for the creation of 15 of these institutes, which are modeled off a pilot program in Youngstown, OH, which Obama describes as “a once-shuttered warehouse that is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. There’s no reason this can’t happen in other towns.” Stay tuned.