At the time of the original feature in 2013, the modus operandi of five of the front cover's famous faces was to push the idea that 3D printing was a consumer technology. Avi Reichental said that a passion project of his was a chocolate printer, Bre Pettis's interview took place in the ill-fated physical MakerBot store, Peter Weijmarhausen said that Shapeways was about "empowering the individual." There was however a lone dissenting voice amidst the maddening crowd.
While his peers talked of democratisation of manufacturing and what that could mean to the consumer, David Burns, then COO of ExOne, discussed the need for machining of parts, he discussed Production Service Centers, he discussed education and training. Speaking to Dave for this feature in 2019 you'd forgive him for being all, "I told you so," and although he isn't one for point scoring, Dave did point out that things change fast:
"The most recognisable names in 3D printing six years ago have disappeared," says Dave. "The subject matter they were talking about has disappeared. Six years! That is not a long time, and certainly not in the evolution of manufacturing."
He knows a thing or two about the evolution of manufacturing, now heading up his consultancy firm, Global Business Advisory Services, Dave is, "significantly more optimistic than six years ago." The reasons to be cheerful, according to Dave, comes down to the numbers.
"Six years ago, the only fear I had was that there wasn't going to be enough large-scale and patient investment to tackle the science. However, we've seen over a billion dollars invested in the last two years, and if you throw enough money against the wall of R&D, you solve problems. Even if you don't do it efficiently, even if you're not good at it, the volume alone overwhelms like drops of water in a flood, and you see progress."
Dave believes that the R&D dollars plus an influx of fresh thinking unencumbered with the manufacturing habits of the past means industry is currently seeing some of the most significant change since the inception of CNC machining.
"Now we've got tied at the hip design, data transmission, software support, manufacturing support, custom materials engineering - which really blows my mind. These cogs all working in concert means we can overcome some of the huge problems with the distributed network of manufacturing today. We can relocate this manufacturing much closer to the place we wanted it to happen and do it in a way that ultimately will be even more cost-effective."
But what are those innovations? In 2018, the 3D printing zeitgeist seemed to be in the binder-jetting of metals, its pioneer, Ely Sachs was inaugurated into the TCT Hall of Fame, Desktop Metal introduced its Production System, HP announced its entry into the market and Dave's former company, ExOne launched two systems based on its Innovent+ platform. ExOne was binder-jetting metals when James Woodcock (Then TCT Magazine Editor, now VP of Content, Strategy & Partnerships at Rapid News) visited the Pittsburgh HQ six years ago, so why now? Has technology evolved? Have the problematic post-processing steps diminished?
"In my opinion, binder-jetting for metals is likely not ultimately going to be as pervasive a technology as some others that have emerged," says Dave candidly. "The message from the companies doing the binder-jetting in metals is, 'any size you want,' but the fact of the matter is that the post-processing part of binder-jetting of metals, especially when you begin to get into large complex parts, conquering the sintering cycle is tough."
Dave continued however to echo the thoughts of several conversations we had at TCT Asia suggesting that one of the most common uses for binder-jet 3D printing is criminally overlooked.
"Sand printing for castings is a very efficient process because the accuracy capabilities of a 3D printer are higher than the traditional wooden patterns. There's an accuracy advantage with no incremental investment, and because we're able to use existing materials there are no issues with porosity, and there are no issues with post-processing. You print a sand mould with binders, you let it sit for four hours, and you can cast it."
Like all points Dave makes he counterbalances it with a dose of realism, telling me that although sand-printing has its pros over wooden patterns, the big drawback is in in the fact that wooden patterns can be used countless times where is a sand print is one shot and done. This unerring ability to quell hype stood Dave out from that front-cover crowd, that does not, however, mean he is any less inclined to get excited by the path we're treading.
"What I care about is the fact that we now have a vault of investment that appears focussed on the developmental nature of advanced manufacturing as an entirely integrated process with all its components. I bounce every day between hardware questions, software questions, material questions, post-processing questions; we now have a real focus on how we grow this industry."
This article was first published in TCT Magazine Europe Edition Volume 27 Issue 1 as part of a wider feature titled 'Leaders of the New School: Where are they now?' which documented the journeys and development of a host of the most renowned figures and companies in the industry.
You can click through to the other interview pieces that completed this series below:
