Tag: Skills

When I found out one of IndustryWeek’s scheduled plant tours in Raleigh for our recent conference was going to be at an on-demand 3D printing manufacturer, Protolabs, I knew what I had to do: Demand I be the tour guide. I thought of all the reasons I needed to go, from seeing all the high-tech machines to seeing cool processes such as stereolithography (SLA) up close to a recent chat with Protolabs CEO Vicki Holt. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to storm into my boss’s office like a cop show detective would to present my evidence, as evidently, I’m the technology writer and was the going to go anyway.

Once I got to the rural one-floor facility, I received another pleasant surprise. The most impressive part about the place was not the millions of dollars of 3D-printing hardware, but the people who operated them. The Minnesota-based Protolabs, which also has plastic injection molding, CNC machining and the recently acquired sheet metal services, is brand agnostic, so the company’s strength is 100% the people working there.

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When I found out one of IndustryWeek’s scheduled plant tours in Raleigh for our recent conference was going to be at an on-demand 3D printing manufacturer, Protolabs, I knew what I had to do: Demand I be the tour guide. I thought of all the reasons I needed to go, from seeing all the high-tech machines to seeing cool processes such as stereolithography (SLA) up close to a recent chat with Protolabs CEO Vicki Holt. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to storm into my boss’s office like a cop show detective would to present my evidence, as evidently, I’m the technology writer and was the going to go anyway.

Once I got to the rural one-floor facility, I received another pleasant surprise. The most impressive part about the place was not the millions of dollars of 3D-printing hardware, but the people who operated them. The Minnesota-based Protolabs, which also has plastic injection molding, CNC machining and the recently acquired sheet metal services, is brand agnostic, so the company’s strength is 100% the people working there.

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The UK’s Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is where 3D printing and traditional manufacturing converge. Established as an independent Research & Technology Organisation (RTO) in 2010, the centre is the product of a collaboration between Loughborough University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Nottingham and TWI.

The centre’s privileged position in the market and well-cultivated contact list of over 100 industry members, places it in an ideal position for providing well-trained and talented individuals to the industry – a gap that the MTC struck upon in 2016 with the launch of the Lloyds Bank Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre (AMTC).

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After years of hype, the 3D printing industry has reached a tipping point, where it is set to become a real alternative to traditional manufacturing processes.

The demand is here, with 42% of manufacturers expecting to use 3D printing for mass manufacturing in the next 3-5 years. Already major brands such as BMW, Nike and Johnson & Johnson are looking at 3D printing as a means to produce custom parts. And the technology is here. For instance, HP last year launched commercial grade industrial 3D printers which can produce parts 10 times faster and at half the cost of the previous generation of 3D printers.

This demand and supply boom puts 3D printing on the brink of taking a significant slice of the $12 trillion global manufacturing industry. However, there is an obstacle that needs to be overcome to unlock its full potential: there is an urgent need for a transfusion of fresh blood if this nascent industry is to thrive and mature.

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