3D Printing Blog

In the 1990 classic in economic strategy, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, business theorist Michael Porter wrote, “Most commentators on the Italian economy have persistently underestimated Italy, because they have applied American, German, or Japanese norms to an economy with a very different structure.” According to Porter, “The Italian success in fragmented industries and in […]

The US Department of Defense (DoD) finally seems to be implementing a strategy it has spent years refining, centered on bringing its international allies and partners more into the fold when it comes to its long-term industrial objectives. This strategy overlaps with another one involving similarly increased engagement with companies outside of DoD’s typical supplier

Xaar has been quietly enabling more and more 3D printing firms to use novel materials and processes through its print heads. The company provides application support and knowledge to unlock new ways of depositing material accurately. Rather than sell a plethora of devices using its print heads, Xaar wants to enable others. Its Nitrox heads

Pretty much everyone is aware that, over the last several decades, Western nations have continuously ceded control over manufacturing supply chains to China. It has been less widely appreciated that critical mineral supply chains have also been subject to a parallel trajectory of increasingly lost ground by the West, but the world is starting to

We’re starting with business news in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, followed by news about an in-house center for engineering digital implants. We’ll end with research about thermal cloaking. Read on for all the details! Medtech Veteran Erica Rogers Now Leading LightForce Orthodontics Medtech veteran Erica Rogers joins LightForce to scale Generative Braces after 200,000

PLA became a favorite 3D printing material because people thought it was safer than ABS, since it didn’t give you headaches. And being made from plants, it felt safer and greener too. We all know now that this is not true. But, it prints so well. And people thought that PLA was weak initially, brittle,

Demand for satellites continues to grow, and manufacturers are looking for ways to build spacecraft faster without affecting performance. One way to do that is to involve manufacturing companies earlier in the design process. Fortastra, a California company developing spacecraft for national security and commercial missions, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with advanced

Kalogon has brought the Verro to market. This is a 3D printed wheelchair cushion, made with vat polymerization technology. Using a variable density lattice, it hopes to give wheelchair users more comfort. Kalogon makes regular wheelchair seats and seats for military aircraft in the US. The new cushion will come in two models: the Verro

The entry-level laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) polymer space is heating up. Whereas in metals it’s Chinese vendors offering breakthrough low-cost products, in polymer it’s HP and Formlabs enabling easier, lower CapEx entry into the market. For traditional low-cost sintering companies, this offers up a bit of a strategic conundrum. What to do? Do you

After years in which the additive manufacturing (AM) industry gained a reputation for its hype outpacing its performance, an interesting development has emerged recently. In certain market segments, at least, the reality has started to reflect the forecasts. While there’s much we can learn, for instance, from how AM adoption has proceeded in the defense