Additive Manufacturing Ecosystem Overview — PART 3

Article Highlights

The Additive Manufacturing (AM) market (a.k.a. 3D Printing) is currently growing at more than 30% yearly [1]. Although most people associate 3D printing to 3D printers, and sometimes stretching its definition to the associated printed materials, it is important to get a general perspective on a 7 segments AM ecosystem to understand their interlaced dynamic, as well as how to navigate them as a member of the “maker” community.

In a multi-parts article, we will aim at providing perspective on the following points:

PART 1: Defining the AM ecosystem segments

PART 2: Ecosystem dynamics and realities: Hardware Manufacturers

PART 3: Ecosystem dynamics and realities: Service Bureaus

PART 4: Ecosystem dynamics and realities: Makers Community

3D Printing is only part of the process…

PART 3: Ecosystem dynamics and realities: Service Bureaus

Service Bureaus

Over the past decade, service bureaus (3D printing service provider) have developed a business model similar to those of machine shops: fabricating parts using AM machines, offering a range of possible part finishes and derived fabrication processes such as molding (e.g. ProtoCafe Inc, LayerWise, StudioFathom, Proto Labs, etc.).

Other general consumers stores are starting to offer printers, printing and design assistance services, mostly for personal-class users (e.g. Office depot, Home depot, UPS, Staples, etc.).

In more recent years, online printing services have sprung to offer a variety of printing options, with an online file library, file upload UI and real-time price estimate (e.g. iMaterialize, Shapeways, Sculteo, etc.).

It is important to make the distinction between distributors and service bureaus. Often, service bureaus will complement their portfolio by distributing printers as well. On the other end, distributors of printers will often offer “sample prints” in order to enable a printer sale, but usually are not offering printing services.

What you should know:

1. Most online printing providers are generally optimized for non-time sensitive prototyping or test prints. The advantage is generally the cost and convenience of the process. However, beware of the general “hands-off” nature of the delivered part. There is typically a minimum level of guarantee or design feedbacks/interactions.
2. For time sensitive rapid prototyping applications, local “brick and mortar” service bureaus are generally the best option in order to benefit from the time savings offered by 3D printing for rapid prototyping applications. However, those parts tends to be more expensive than those obtained from online services, but typically are better suited for the applications due to closer interactions with the customers.
3. Many service bureaus who are also distributors, due to their exclusivity agreements with printer manufacturers, often are limited in their printing technologies they offer. Value those who present experience with a range of printing technologies and manufacturers.
4. Some service bureaus will offer small batch production in addition to their rapid prototyping offering. Usually, development cost (a.k.a. NRE) will be required in order to cover the prototyping and design iterations.
5. Service bureaus are an excellent way to explore industrial applications of 3D printing, as well as rapid prototyping part or assembly designs for:

• Visualization/Demo/Marketing
• Form/Fit/Function
• Design iteration/Prototyping
• Small batch production
• Research/Education
• Tooling/Casting1

Not all Service Bureaus are created equal!

Especially for research, professional and industrial applications, the following factors are to be considered when choosing or qualifying a service bureau:

• Tribal knowledge comes from experience. The track record, how long they worked with a given AM technology will be a good start to validate the potential quality level of the printed part.
• Ability to help and/or advise on design aspects of the parts, identifying the key functional drivers for the print.
• Ability to advise when it is NOT a good idea or not economically-savy to use 3D printing for production applications.
• Ability to deliver with fast turnaround, for NON-PRODUCTION applications. Time savings benefits are key in rapid prototyping (see article “Prototyping Vs Production using 3D Printing”).
• Experience with a VARIETY of different AM technologies, knowing PROs and CONs on each technologies, from different printer manufacturers. Be careful with Service Bureaus which have exclusivity not only in their distribution of printers, but also in their service printer portfolio. That may limit the overall best printing options for the user.
• Beware of Service Bureaus which take no ownership of part finish or print success. Those are usually cheaper, but you get the results you pay for.
• Ability to post-process a printed part, from cleaning the support structures, surface finish, additional finish (e.g. painting, coating, tapping, etc.), up to thermal annealing, wire EDM, shot peening, milling, etc. for metal parts.
• One of the biggest issue that Service Bureaus have to deal with when receiving print requests from customers is the formatting of the CAD file. Typically, the export process from .CAD format (may be any native CAD software) to .STL format may create broken links (or many other types of issues) in the meshing process, which will prevent the slicer software (software used by 3D printers to prepare the print job) to successfully complete the process. One of the most time consuming (and sometimes costly) part of 3D printing is the file preparation. A good Service Bureau will typically prefer to receive native .CAD files (e.g. Solidworks, ProE, Spaceclaim, etc.) or the simplified .STP file which allow them to re-create effectively the .STL file format required for the printing process. The users should get familiar with good “meshing” software (e.g. Autodesk Meshmixer, Netfabb Studio, MeshLab, etc.) and ensure the file provided to the Service Bureau is “clean” of any meshing errors.
• Another common error made by users exporting .STL files is the resolution of the mesh parameters (how small the triangles can be), resulting in segmented surfaces.

Fig.2: .STL file formating a) coarse b) fine, affecting the printed part resolution

Remember: It is always safer to provide a Service Bureau with the native .CAD or simplified .STP files rather than just the .STL mesh file.

There are different types of Service Bureaus:

1. Mechanical powerhouses:

Those are machine shops already established and experienced with conventional manufacturing techniques such as subtractive (e.g. milling, cutting, etc.), and formative (e.g. casting, molding), but also have an additive division to allow for 3D printing to enter the chain of fabrication processes.

Generally, the powerhouse are focusing on delivering fully functional and/or fully finished parts or assemblies, per specifications. The printing aspect of the fabrication is typically not the main focus of the business model. Some may also provide a design assistance service.

Doing business with a mechanical powerhouse are typically prefered by industrials who have a reasonable level of knowledge about designing for 3D printing, and generally target small or large batch orders due to the extensive design and NRE required.

Just a few examples of such powerhouses are: VDL ETG, UCT, ProtoLabs, etc.

Remember: Make sure to evaluate the overall fabrication capabilities when validating a powerhouse service bureau for industrial applications, not only the 3D printing capabilities.

PROs: One stop shop, provide overall fabrication capabilities from A to Z.

CONs: Generally not for fast prototyping applications, and AM capabilities may be immature depending on experience and knowledgeable specialized engineering staff.

2. Online Printing Services:

Generally geared towards general consumers, or professionals needing access to AM rapid prototyping for exploration purposes, the online service bureaus offer a user friendly file upload and price estimation UI, minimizing the interaction with the printing vendor staff.

Their main business model is to maximize the utilization of the 3D printers by combining a variety of different job requests uploaded online onto a same print job; maximizing the utilization of the machines. Offering a wide variety of materials and AM technologies (although, the users generally chose the material and not the AM technology for the print request), the online service bureaus will generally not spend much time refining a design to ensure best function and tolerances.

The responsibility of the part meeting requirements is solely on the consumer side. The online service bureau will generally provide binary feedbacks whether or not the CAD design is printable or not once an in-house staff looks at the design and attempts to prepare the file for printing queue.

It is important to notice that although the main application is rapid prototyping, the online services typically do not offer a fast turn around, mitigating the time savings benefits of 3D printing for rapid prototyping applications.

Just a few examples of such online service bureaus are: iMaterialize, Shapeways, Sculpteo, etc.

PROs: Generally cheaper, user friendly file upload and quoting

CONs: Limited to none post-processing capabilities, no design assistance, longer lead time.

3. Local Service Bureau:

This category of AM service provider falls in between the powerhouse and the online service provider, by generally focusing their business model on the 3D printing aspect of the fabrication process, while offering some post-processing capabilities.

The most experienced and structured providers will offer some level of design assistance, a range of AM technologies and materials, as well as some basic finishes or post-processing capabilities to finish the printed parts (such as polishing, painting, coatings, peening, wire EDM, annealing, etc.). Sometimes, the local AM service bureaus do need to outsource some of the post-processing processes.

Generally, rapid prototyping is the main application for a Service Bureau, specifically for plastic-based parts. Although in some cases, small batch production may be possible and require longer development/optimization time, they typically offer a fast turn around in order to keep the time saving benefits. The main target clientele of those service bureaus are typically regional due to the growing number of competitors.

It is important to make the distinction between plastic-based parts and metal-based parts service bureaus. Metal service bureaus are much fewer than plastic-based ones due to the investment and knowledge required to succesfully print functional parts. Also, since production is generally their main application, and due to the more extensive basic post-processing required (annealing, wire-EDM, peening, cleaning), their lead time and involvement with the part design optimization and finish is typically significantly greater than plastic-based bureaus.

PROs: Fast turn around (plastic), generally delivering parts meeting requirements, regional/local

CONs: Typically offer only basic post-processing capabilities, more expensive than online service.

Remember: When evaluating/choosing a service bureau, consider the tribal experience track record, the care to understand the function and key requirements, provide feedbacks to optimize the design, as well as offer capabilities to print from a variety of AM technologies and delivery fully finished part after post-processing.

Let’s now look into more details what is the contributions and interactions of the Makers Community within the ecosystem. Being the grassroots drivers of the market growth, it is an intrinsically important segment.

See Part 4 here.

References

[1] Wohlers Report 2015. “State of the Industry Annual Worldwide Progress Report on Additive Manufacturing”. Wohlers Associates, ISBN 978–0–9913332–1–9, p.22–24

[2] Photizo Group Report 2014. “2014 Consumer & Desktop 3D Printer Market Size, Shares, and Forecast”. Photizo Group, http://photizogroup.com/products/2014-consumer-desktop-3d-printer-market-size-shares-forecast

[3] Columbus, Louis. “2015 Roundup Of 3D Printing Market Forecasts And Estimates”. Forbes, Mar 31, 2015, http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2015/03/31/2015-roundup-of-3d-printing-market-forecasts-and-estimates/#4e708e4b1dc6

[4] Fabian, “Top 25: Most Popular 3D Modeling & Design Software for 3D Printing” iMaterialize.com, August 5, 2015 https://i.materialise.com/blog/top-25-most-popular-3d-modeling-design-software-for-3d-printing

[5] “2016–3D Printing Fairs, Conferences & Events List”, 3dprintingforbeginners.com, February 9, 2015 http://3dprintingforbeginners.com/fairs_events/