In our view, 3D Printing - also known as Additive Manufacturing - ranks up there with Artificial Intelligence as one of "those technologies," meaning one of those that truly holds potential for fundamental changes in how the economy functions. To say that 3D Printing represents a new way of building things is like saying that commercial aviation represented a new way of getting places. 3D Printing will change the who, what, where and how of manufacturing. The “when” is starting now.
Our interview with Ben Redwood of 3DHubs is split into two parts. In this episode, we use Ben as our technical expert, and he’ll explain to us all the different kinds of additive manufacturing processes that exist, go over some technical terms, and talk to us about the industry in general. It’s a bit technical at first, but there are two rewards for listening through to the end of the episode. First: Ben’s written a book on 3DPrinting, two chapters of which are being made available for free, to you. Second: later in the episode Ben reveals insights from their latest Future Trends report, which is also available for free, and we dive into a discussion of how 3D printing will change everyone’s life.
In part two of the interview, which we’ll air in a few weeks, we’ll talk to Ben about 3D Hubs, where he’s the Director of Supply Chain. In between, we’re going to hear from the founders of 4 of the most interesting and promising 3D Printing startups out there, including Greg Mark of Markforged, Nanci Hardwick of MELD Manufacturing, Bob Swartz of Impossible Objects, and Blake Teipel of Essentium.