GreensheetBIZ Newsletter - 3D Printing Issue

7/27/2019 GreensheetBIZ Newsletter - 3D Printing Issue

1/4

Print Industry Insight 13 May 2013 V46, No. 9

THE NEWSLETTER FOR MANAGEMENT IN THE PRINTING and GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRIES.

A subscription based service. Licensed for the exclusive use of the party shown in the address block.

All rights reserved. (c) 2013. No reproduction or electronic storage permitted without permission.GreensheetBIZ.com

A Division ofOutputLinks Communications Group

www.GreensheetBIZ.com

3D PRINTINGADD IT TO YOUR MENU OF SERVICES?

By Aaron Kiel,GreensheetBIZ (I nside: 3D Pri ntingThe Inspir ing, Exciting Opportun ity of the Futur e)

ne might be hard-pressed to escape news about 3D printing technology and its many applications; its every-where. In fact, President Barack ObamasState of the Unionaddress in February heightened the buzz on3D printing, when he talked about how it has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost every-

thing. AndBraintree Printing, a forward-thinking print service provider in Boston, Mass., held an open house lastmonth, showcasing its foray into the segment with a Dimension 1200es 3D printer by Stratasys. And over the lastcouple of weeks theres been significant press coverage about: 1) 3D printing of guns at home via online blueprints; 2)Staples becoming the first major U.S. retailer to sell 3D printers starting at the end of June; and 3) the launch of a neweducational center/print shop for businesses and consumers,The 3D Printer Experiencein Chicago, Ill.

Terry Wohlers, an independent analyst who advises companies on the 3D printing sector, was cited in aReutersarti-cle in March, noting the 3D printing industry was worth $1.7 billion worldwide in 2011 and will grow to more than

$3.7 billion by 2015.Jim Hamilton, group director forInfoTrendsproduction group, said, To a large extent, the first 25 years of digitalprinting [has] been driven by document printing. Digital printing of documents will continue to grow, but some of thehighest growth areas over the next 25 years will come from digital printing of functional and industrial applications,including packaging.

What Is 3D Printing (If You Dont Already Know)? Wikipedia describes it as a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital modelThe technology is used for both prototyping anddistributed manufacturing in jewelry, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering and construction, automo-tive, aerospace, dental and medical industries, education, geographic information systems, civil engineering and manyother fields.

Julie Friedman Steele, co-founder of The 3D Printer Experiencethe only 3D printing destination in the Midwestwith a focus on experiential education, creation and innovationsaid, Its only a matter of time before mass manu-facturing is a thing of the past, as personal customization begins to take center stage.

According to Friedman Steele, 3D printing represents freedom and independence, not having to rely on mass-produceditems. Were moving from a consumer-based economy to producing your own goods for personal and community-based needs, she added.

So if 3D printing is so hotwith so many markets to targetshould print service providers consider adding 3D totheir menu of offerings? Jim Corliss, co-owner of Braintree Printing, is cautious. Its too early to say, he said.

Braintree, which provides offset printing and digital printing for printers and print brokers throughout the Northeast,has been using its Stratasys 3D printer over the last two months. The machine was a $50,000 investment and now, injust minutes, customers digital files can become physical 3D objects.

3D printers are a game-changer in newproduct development, said Corliss, who be-lieves 3D will be a boon to designers, engi-neers, medical professionals and manufactur-ers, saving them time and money on productdevelopment. Our customers will be able toperfect their products before they go to

Continued on page 2, right column >>>

O
http://outputlinkscommunicationsgroup.com/http://outputlinkscommunicationsgroup.com/http://outputlinkscommunicationsgroup.com/http://www.greensheetbiz.com/http://www.greensheetbiz.com/http://www.greensheetbiz.com/http://www.greensheetbiz.com/http://www.greensheetbiz.com/http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2013http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2013http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2013http://www.braintreeprinting.com/http://www.braintreeprinting.com/http://www.braintreeprinting.com/http://www.stratasys.com/http://www.stratasys.com/http://www.the3dprinterexperience.com/http://www.the3dprinterexperience.com/http://www.the3dprinterexperience.com/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/us-3d-printing-idUSBRE9250OR20130306http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/us-3d-printing-idUSBRE9250OR20130306http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/us-3d-printing-idUSBRE9250OR20130306http://www.infotrends.com/http://www.infotrends.com/http://www.infotrends.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printinghttp://www.infotrends.com/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/06/us-3d-printing-idUSBRE9250OR20130306http://www.the3dprinterexperience.com/http://www.stratasys.com/http://www.braintreeprinting.com/http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2013http://www.greensheetbiz.com/http://www.greensheetbiz.com/http://outputlinkscommunicationsgroup.com/


2/4


3/4

GreensheetBIZ 3 13 May 2013

IN MEMORIAM

Terry Nagi, 73, president of TerryA Nagi & Associates and owner ofDigitalPrint Resources, died. As awell-known industry marketingexpert, Nagi was with the PrintingIndustries of America as executivevice president in the 1970s and

80s, where he headed GAMIS,Graphic Arts Mktg. Info Service,now PRIMIR. In the 1960s andearly 70s, he was a VP withWestern Publishing Company, re-sponsible for creating the strategicmarketing and sales direction ofthe $100 million print segment oftheir business. Prior to that he wasa sales representative and salesmanager for Dataforms Incorpo-rated. Nagi received an MBA de-gree from the University of Wis-consin-Madison. His wife Barbara

and daughter Suzanne live inGeorgetown, Washington, D.C. Amemorial service for Nagi will beheld on May 24 at GeorgetownPresbyterian Church in Washing-ton, D.C.

MERGERS & DIVESTITURES Courier Corporation acquired

FastPencil, Inc.

RPI acquired DPI. EFI acquired the assets of

printLEADER.

AWARDS

Graphics of the Americas Expo& Conference and Dscoop (theDigital Solutions Cooperative)were named in Trade Show NewsNetworks 2012 Top 250 U.S.Trade Shows.

Pitney Bowes Inc. was ranked oneof the top outsourcing companiesby the International Association ofOutsourcing Professionals.

Barry Wilson, chair of PittsburgState Universitys Graphics andImaging program, was named theJerry Watson Educator of the Yearby the Printing and Imaging Asso-ciation of MidAmerica.

Ricoh was recognized by theEthisphere Institute as one of theWorlds Most Ethical Companies.

Mark Steputis, CEO of VisionGraphics Inc., was named a finalistfor CEO of the Year by Colo-radoBizmagazine.

VIEWPOINT: 3D PRINTING THE INSPIRING, EXCITING OPPORTUNITYBy Steve Erickson,First American Plastic Molding Enterprise& Quad, Inc.

ccording to a panel of experts speaking at the2013 South by Southwest(SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas in March, the future of 3D printing is veryeconomically promising for businessesfrom start-up companies in garages to

multimillion dollar corporations worldwide. And the SXSW panelists believe that mostpeople dont yet realize all of the upsides to 3D printing.

Many assume that 3D printing is not yet a matur e production technology. Notnecessarily true. For example, all companies that manufacture hearing aid devices use 3D

printing, as do the manufacturing plants that produce F-18 airplane parts and unmannedaerial vehicle parts for the military. The largest 3D printing technology business in theworld,3D Systems, has aU.S. Air Forcegrant to transition to manufacturing the nextservice jet, the F-35, with up to 900 3D-printed parts.

Many 3D printing businesses begin production with almost no up-front capital,little inventory and zero cost to risk. In addition, time-to-market is quick, eliminating yetanother common stumbling block for small business startups. 3D printing technology al-so supports todays high-in-demand devices for artificial intelligence, cloud computingand robotics. The highly accurate sensors that these require are produced inexpensivelywith 3D printing technology.

I ntellectual Property I ssues in the Futur e of 3D Pri nti ngOne of the biggestconcerns about 3D printing is that it largely relies on easily transferable digital files. It isnearly impossible for people who hold the patents on some devices and technology to

monitor who is printing their images. For example, it is very simple to download a 3Dmodel file of theStar WarscharacterYoda from a number of online databases.

However, perhaps creative output authors should be more in fear of obscuritythan piracy. The fact that people are widely pirating an image means that it is popular.Additionally, the vast majority of images that are pirated do not hurt anyone. If someonescans an image to make a handful of products, it is unlikely that he or she will make asignificant profit from them.

It is also important to keep in mind that the piracy risks that 3D printing compa-nies do face are a fraction of the risks that businesses that rely on traditional manufactur-ing techniques face. As soon as a traditional tool is sent to Asia for manufacturing, forexample, the intellectual property is relinquished. 3D printing requires a unique instantia-tion every time, which makes copying in exact form very difficult.

I s 3D Printi ng Worth Pursuing?3D printing and similar technologies have

opened up creative opportunities not previously available. Currently, 3D systems workwith over 100 different materials, enabling quick and inexpensive production of a multi-tude of products from wax for jewelry to composites for automobiles to varying alloysand metals for machinery.

Despite the limitations that do exist with 3D printinglike limited materials,questionable accuracy and the size of printersexperts believe that the technology hasgreat potential. While expensive machines are required to produce quality products,cheaper machines in the range of $1,200 are often used to create prototypes before pro-ducing the final product through more expensive means. 3D printing technology allowssmaller companies with limited budgets to do the majority of their prototype work ontheir own, before sending the digital files to people who operate professional-level ma-chinery to produce the final items.

3D pri nting has opened up more production and manufactur ing possibil iti es

in vari ous sectors than have ever been available in the past. Those who learn how touse the technology will gain an edge over companies that use traditional productionmethods exclusively. They will also be able to further their projects and business ven-tures in ways that were never possible previously.Steve Er ickson is vice president of

sales and engineeri ng atF ir st American Plastic Molding Enterpri seand Quad, I nc.WHATS NEXT? The future of 3D printing may even lead to 4D and 5D print-

ing. According toWikiTrends.org, 4D printing will incorporate time as the fourth di-mension, so that the objects [one] create[s] change their form when activated. And ac-cording to authorPavel Somov atMedium.com,Life-form is 5D: If we printed a lifeform, itd be a 3D object that changes over time with its own field of aware-ness/subjectivity.Note: Stay on top of more 3D printing news at3Ders.orgfrom a 3DprintediPhone-carrying shoe, to theSeattle Film Festival printing classic moments inmoviesvia 3D, to the 3D printing of ears, human tissue.TalkBack@GreensheetBI Z.com

A
http://www.firstamericanplastic.com/http://www.firstamericanplastic.com/http://www.firstamericanplastic.com/http://news.cnet.com/8301-14013_3-57573829/future-of-3d-printing-is-bright-says-sxsw-panel/http://news.cnet.com/8301-14013_3-57573829/future-of-3d-printing-is-bright-says-sxsw-panel/http://news.cnet.com/8301-14013_3-57573829/future-of-3d-printing-is-bright-says-sxsw-panel/http://www.3dsystems.com/http://www.3dsystems.com/http://www.3dsystems.com/http://www.3dprinter.net/air-force-contracts-3d-systems-to-print-f-35shttp://www.3dprinter.net/air-force-contracts-3d-systems-to-print-f-35shttp://www.3dprinter.net/air-force-contracts-3d-systems-to-print-f-35shttp://venturebeat.com/2013/05/10/3-d-printing-goes-disney-turn-yourself-into-a-star-wars-action-figure-for-99/http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/10/3-d-printing-goes-disney-turn-yourself-into-a-star-wars-action-figure-for-99/http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/10/3-d-printing-goes-disney-turn-yourself-into-a-star-wars-action-figure-for-99/http://www.firstamericanplastic.com/http://www.firstamericanplastic.com/http://www.firstamericanplastic.com/http://www.wikitrend.org/darth-chu/whats-next-after-3d-printing-4d-printing-coursehttp://www.wikitrend.org/darth-chu/whats-next-after-3d-printing-4d-printing-coursehttp://www.wikitrend.org/darth-chu/whats-next-after-3d-printing-4d-printing-coursehttps://medium.com/pattern-break/a63536a66f58https://medium.com/pattern-break/a63536a66f58https://medium.com/pattern-break/a63536a66f58http://www.3ders.org/http://www.3ders.org/http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-why-designer-alan-nguyen-made-a-3d-printed-iphone-shoe.htmlhttp://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-why-designer-alan-nguyen-made-a-3d-printed-iphone-shoe.htmlhttp://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-why-designer-alan-nguyen-made-a-3d-printed-iphone-shoe.htmlhttp://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-seattle-film-festival-created-classic-moments-in-movies-using-3d-printed-miniature.htmlhttp://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-seattle-film-festival-created-classic-moments-in-movies-using-3d-printed-miniature.htmlhttp://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-seattle-film-festival-created-classic-moments-in-movies-using-3d-printed-miniature.htmlhttp://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-seattle-film-festival-created-classic-moments-in-movies-using-3d-printed-miniature.htmlmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-seattle-film-festival-created-classic-moments-in-movies-using-3d-printed-miniature.htmlhttp://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-seattle-film-festival-created-classic-moments-in-movies-using-3d-printed-miniature.htmlhttp://www.3ders.org/articles/20130508-why-designer-alan-nguyen-made-a-3d-printed-iphone-shoe.htmlhttp://www.3ders.org/https://medium.com/pattern-break/a63536a66f58http://www.wikitrend.org/darth-chu/whats-next-after-3d-printing-4d-printing-coursehttp://www.firstamericanplastic.com/http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/10/3-d-printing-goes-disney-turn-yourself-into-a-star-wars-action-figure-for-99/http://www.3dprinter.net/air-force-contracts-3d-systems-to-print-f-35shttp://www.3dsystems.com/http://news.cnet.com/8301-14013_3-57573829/future-of-3d-printing-is-bright-says-sxsw-panel/http://www.firstamericanplastic.com/


4/4

GreensheetBIZ 4 13 May 2013

GreensheetBIZ management/editorial team: Co-CEOSsAndy & Julie Plata; President Bob Tapella; Senior Editor Aaron Kiel; Associate Editors: ClintBolte, Sid Chadwick, Noel Jeffrey, Dennis Mason,Katherine O'Brien, Raymond J. Prince, John Werner, Tom Wetjen, Robert Whitton and William F.Woods, Jr. ISSN: 0884-6901. OutputLinks Communications Group publishes GreensheetBIZ2X monthly. Subscriptions: [email protected] for exclusive use of the party shown in the address block. All rights reserved. (c) 2013. No reproduction or electronic storage.

GreensheetBIZ.com includes more in-depth coverage. Bold, underlined text indicates a link in the online edition.SCUTTLEBUTT & OTHER SUNDRY STUFF

Staplesopened theStaples 3D Experience Centrein in the Netherlands (Staples.nl) last month. 3D printing service is, in ouropinion, a logical extension of our service to customers. An accessible 3D Experience Centre, where everyone can become ac-quainted with this new service, is Staples's first step in offering a complete 3D printing services, said Oscar Pakasi, businessdevelopment director atStaples Printing Systems Division, which is also responsible for design and development of Staples Easy 3Donline platform. The new platform, first announced atEuromold 2012, is a new Staples service that allows customers

to upload their designs to Staples' website, then pick up the 3D printed objects at their local Staples or have them shipped. 3D Systems, a global provider of 3D content-to-print solutions, including 3D printers, print materials and on-demand custom

parts services for professionals and consumers, announced that its offering to sell shares of its common stock in an underwrit-ten public offering of approximately $250 million. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to finance fu-ture acquisitions of other entities or their assets and for working capital and general corporate purposes. See 3DSystems.com

Eastman Kodak Companyannounced a settlement agreement with the U.K.Kodak Pension Plan(KPP), its largest creditor,with respect to its Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization. Under the agreement, which will be filed with the U.S. BankruptcyCourt, Kodaks Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses will be spun off under new ownership to KPP. Theagreement provides, among other things, for the spin-off of Kodaks Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businessesto KPP for cash and non-cash consideration of $650 million. Certain proceeds will be used to support the emergence of Kodakfrom Chapter 11 and the growth of its Commercial Imaging business. The agreement also settles approximately $2.8 billion ofclaims by KPP against Kodak and certain of its affiliates. In one comprehensive transaction, Kodak will realize its previouslyannounced intention to divest its Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses and settle its largest legacy liability,

said Antonio M. Perez, Kodak chairman and CEO. The KPP transaction moves us past several key hurdles in our reorganiza-tion, resolving all potential claims worldwide, assuring continued operations outside of the United States, placing our Personal-ized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses with a new owner that recognizes their value and is focused on their growthand success, and providing the remaining liquidity we require to emerge from Chapter 11. See Kodak.com.

PRIMIR(PRIMIR.org) announced eCommerce & Print Business Models, conducted byInfoTrends, which reveals insightsinto this service that a growing numbers of printers are now offering, and how manufacturers of equipment, software, consum-ables and supplies can provide them with support. The study projects that total print eCommerce shipments will increase from$17.4 billion in 2011 to $29.7 billion in 2016, for a five-year compound annual growth rate of 11.3 percent. Assuming totalprinting industry revenue of approximately $150 billion, eCommerce sales currently account for 12 percent of print revenues.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rons RemarksPerspective fromGreensheetBIZ Guest Contributor Ron Gilboa

o you need to diversif y your of feri ngs?

The short answer is yes! Your customers are alreadychanging, and you already support them with digital

printing, finishing, mailing, fulfillment and other servicesthat add value to pages beyond print. Now is the time to lookbeyond the printed page. And for some commercial printers,adding 3D printing services is a natural progression and partof a long-term strategy rather than a passing fad.

Consider investing in an entry level 3D productiondevice that will help you gain the skills you need before ex-panding your offerings.

3D pri nti ng applications are endless. The marketsare diversified, with the equipment acquisition cost rangingin price from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars.

The technology lends itself to short run production or proto-typing, and its impact on production cost is similar to that ofdigital printing as compared with offset.

In short runs, 3D printing could be as much as onesixth of the cost of conventional machining methods. Ironi-cally, this aligns with the set-up cost curve of offset printing,where so much of the cost is built into the plates and makeready, which renders short runs less viable.

When contemplating which 3D solution

to choose, plan on offering a service that allevi-ates your clients need for capital spending, in-ternal skill set and operational complexity. Thiswill ensure that your service is vital and consid-ered as a value-added option.

There are also opportunities to develop promotional ap-plications on 3D printers that could be an extension of graphicsapplications, such as greeting cards and gift packaging. These willbe aimed at marketing professionals who would like to enhancetheir go to market with personalized novelties.

Ask, Do I have the skillset needed for manufacturing3D objects?Though manufacturers of 3D production printerswill support your new endeavor, you will still need to take the

time to understand the technology, its material science and the ba-sics ofComputer Aided Design(CAD) software. This will re-quire an investment in staff training, and possibly recruitingsomeone with a manufacturing background.

Chances are that investing in 3D printing could turn intoa related and profitable business, but the mantra of walking beforerunning is a good one to keep in mind here.Ron Gilboa is di-rector of the functional and industri al pri nting atInfoTrends.

D
http://www.staples.com/http://www.staples.com/http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/Staples.nlhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/Staples.nlhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/Staples.nlhttp://print.staples.com/http://print.staples.com/http://print.staples.com/http://www.wired.com/design/2012/11/staples-goes-3-d/http://www.wired.com/design/2012/11/staples-goes-3-d/http://www.euromold.com/index.php?id=51http://www.euromold.com/index.php?id=51http://www.euromold.com/index.php?id=51http://www.3dsystems.com/http://www.3dsystems.com/http://www.kodak.com/http://www.kodak.com/http://www.reuters.com/video/2013/05/07/kodak-pension-deal-was-no-snap-decision?videoId=242661596&videoChannel=5http://www.reuters.com/video/2013/05/07/kodak-pension-deal-was-no-snap-decision?videoId=242661596&videoChannel=5http://www.reuters.com/video/2013/05/07/kodak-pension-deal-was-no-snap-decision?videoId=242661596&videoChannel=5http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324266904578457030412008730.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324266904578457030412008730.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324266904578457030412008730.htmlhttp://www.primir.org/http://www.primir.org/http://www.infotrends.com/http://www.infotrends.com/http://www.infotrends.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-aided_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-aided_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-aided_designhttp://www.infotrends.com/http://www.infotrends.com/http://www.infotrends.com/http://www.infotrends.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-aided_designhttp://www.infotrends.com/http://www.primir.org/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324266904578457030412008730.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324266904578457030412008730.htmlhttp://www.reuters.com/video/2013/05/07/kodak-pension-deal-was-no-snap-decision?videoId=242661596&videoChannel=5http://www.kodak.com/http://www.3dsystems.com/http://www.euromold.com/index.php?id=51http://www.wired.com/design/2012/11/staples-goes-3-d/http://print.staples.com/http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/Staples.nlhttp://www.staples.com/

Documents

GreensheetBIZ Newsletter - 3D Printing Issue