3D Systems Corporation is an American company based in Rock Hill, South Carolina, that engineers, manufactures, and sells 3D printers, 3D printing materials, 3D printed parts, and application engineering services. The company creates product concept models, precision and functional prototypes, master patterns for tooling, as well as production parts for direct digital manufacturing. It uses proprietary processes to fabricate physical objects using input from computer-aided design and manufacturing software, or 3D scanning and 3D sculpting devices.[2]
3D Systems' technologies and services are used in the design, development, and production stages of many industries, including aerospace, automotive, healthcare, dental, entertainment, and durable goods. The company offers a range of professional- and production-grade 3D printers, as well as software, materials, and the online rapid part printing service on demand.[3] It is notable within the 3D printing industry for developing stereolithography and the STL file format. Chuck Hull, CTO and former president, pioneered stereolithography and obtained a patent for the technology in 1986.[4]
As of 2020, 3D Systems employed over 2,400 people in 25 offices worldwide.[5]
History
3D Systems was founded in Valencia, California, by Chuck Hull, the inventor and patent-holder of the first stereolithography (SLA) rapid prototyping system. Prior to Hull's introduction of SLA rapid prototyping, concept models required extensive time and money to produce. The innovation of SLA reduced these resource expenditures while increasing the quality and accuracy of the resulting model. Early SLA systems were complex and costly, and required extensive redesigns before achieving commercial viability. Primary issues concerned hydrodynamic and chemical complications. In 1996, the introduction of solid-state lasers permitted Hull and his team to reformulate their materials. Engineers in transportation, healthcare, and consumer products helped fuel early phases of 3D Systems' rapid prototyping research and development. These industries remain key followers of 3D Systems' technology.
In late 2001, 3D Systems began an acquisitions program that expanded the company's technology through ownership of software, materials, printers, and printable content, as well as access to the skills of engineers and designers. The rate of 3D Systems' acquisitions (16 in 2011) raised questions with regard to the task facing the company's management team. Other onlookers pointed to the encompassing scope of the acquisitions as indicating calculated steps by 3D Systems to consolidate the 3D printing industry under one roof and logo, and to become capable of servicing each link in the scan/create-to-print chain.[6][unreliable source?]
In 2003, Hull was succeeded by Avi Reichental.[7] Both Reichental and Hull are listed among the top twenty most influential people in rapid technologies by TCT Magazine.[8] Hull remains an active member of 3D Systems' board and serves as the company's Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President.[9] In 2005, 3D Systems relocated its headquarters to Rock Hill, South Carolina, citing a favorable business climate, a sustained lower cost of doing business, and significant investment and tax benefits as reasons for the move.[10] In May 2011, 3D Systems transferred from Nasdaq (TDSC) to the New York Stock Exchange (DDD).
In January 2012 3D Systems acquired Z Corporation for US$137 million.[11][12] That same year a Gray Wolf Report predicted 3D Systems' rate of growth to be unsustainable, pointing to inflated impressions from acquisitions as a corporate misstatement of organic growth. 3D Systems responded to this article on November 19, 2012, claiming it to "contain materially false statements and erroneous conclusions that we believe defamed the company and its reputation and resulted in losses to our shareholders".[13]
In January 2014 it was announced that 3D Systems had acquired the Burbank, CA-based collectibles company Gentle Giant Studios, which designs, develops, and manufactures three-dimensional representations of characters from a variety of globally recognized franchises, including Marvel, Disney, AMC’s The Walking Dead, Avatar, Harry Potter and Star Wars.[14] In July 2014, 3D Systems announced the acquisition of Israeli medical imaging company Simbionix for US$120,000,000.[15] In September 2014, 3D Systems acquired the Leuven, Belgium-based LayerWise, a principal provider of direct metal 3D printing and manufacturing services spun off from KU Leuven.[16] The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed by either company.[17]
In January 2015, 3D Systems acquired the 3D printer manufacturer botObjects, the first company to commercialize a full-color printer using the fused filament fabrication technique.[18] botObjects was founded by Martin Warner (CEO) and Mike Duma (CTO).[19] botObjects' proprietary 5-color CMYKW cartridge system[20] was claimed to be able to generate color combinations and gradients by mixing primary printing colors.[19] There was some skepticism about botObjects' claims.[21]
In April 2015, 3D Systems announced its acquisition of the Chinese Easyway Group, creating 3D Systems China. Easyway is a Chinese 3D printing sales and service provider, with key operations in Shanghai, Wuxi, Beijing, Guangdong, and Chongqing.[22]
In October 2015, Reichental stepped down as the president and CEO of 3D Systems, Inc. and was replaced on an interim basis by the company's chief legal officer Andrew Johnson.[23] Vyomesh Joshi (VJ) was appointed as president and CEO on April 4, 2016.[24] On May 14, 2020, the 3D Systems board named Jeff Graves as president and CEO, effective May 26. He remains the CEO as of February 17, 2023.[25]
Technology
3D Systems manufactures stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition modeling (FDM), selective laser sintering (SLS), color-jet printing (CJP), multi-jet printing (MJP), and direct metal printing (DMP, a version of SLS that uses metal powder) systems. Each technology uses digital 3D data to create parts through an additive layer-by-layer process. The systems vary in their materials, print capacities, and applications.
Color jet printing uses inkjet technology to deposit a liquid binder across a bed of powder. Powder is released and spread with a roller to form each new layer. This technology was originally developed by Z Corporation.[26]
Multi-jet printing refers to the process of depositing liquid photopolymers onto a build surface using inkjet technology. A high resolution is attainable, with a support material that can be easily removed in post-processing.
Products and patents
As part of 3D Systems' effort to consolidate 3D printing under one company, its products span a range of 3D printers and print products to target users of its technologies across industries. 3D Systems offers both professional and production printers. In addition to printers, 3D Systems offers content creation software, including reverse engineering software and organic 3D modeling software. Following a razor and blades model, 3D Systems offers more than one hundred materials to be used with its printers, including waxes, rubber-like materials, metals, composites, plastics and nylons.[27]
3D Systems is a closed-source company, using in-house technologies for product development and patents to protect their technologies from competitors. Critics of the closed-source model have blamed seemingly slow development and innovation in 3D printing not on a lack of technology, but on a lack of open information sharing within the industry,[28] and supporters argue that the right to patents inspires and motivates higher-quality innovations, leading to a better and more impressive final product.
In November 2012, 3D Systems filed a lawsuit against prosumer 3D printer company Formlabs and the Kickstarter crowdfunding website over Formlabs' attempt to fund a printer which it claimed infringed its patent on "Simultaneous multiple layer curing in stereolithography."[29] The legal procedure lasted more than two years and was significant enough to be covered in a Netflix documentary about 3D printing, called "Print the Legend".[30][31]
3D Systems has applied for patents for the following innovations and technologies: the rapid prototyping and manufacturing system and method; radiation-curable compositions useful in image projection systems; compensation of actinic radiation intensity profiles for 3D modelers; apparatus and methods for cooling laser-sintered parts; radiation-curable compositions useful in solid freeform fabrication systems; apparatus for 3D printing using imaged layers; compositions and methods for selective deposition modeling; edge smoothness with low-resolution projected images for use in solid imaging; an elevator and method for tilting a solid image build platform for reducing air entrapment and for build release; selective deposition modeling methods for improved support-object interface; region-based supports for parts produced by solid freeform fabrication; additive manufacturing methods for improved curl control and sidewall quality; support and build material and applications.[32]
3D Systems' products and services are used across industries to assist, either in part or in full, the design, manufacture and/or marketing processes. 3D Systems' technologies and materials are used for prototyping and the production of functional end-use parts, in addition to fast, precise design communication. Current 3D Systems-reliant industries include automotive, aerospace and defense, architecture, dental and healthcare, consumer goods, and manufacturing.
Examples of industry-specific applications include:
Aerospace, for the manufacture and tooling of complex, durable and lighter-weight flight parts
Architecture, for structure verification, design review, client concept communication, reverse structure engineering, and expedited scaled modeling
Automotive, for design verification, difficult visualizations, and new engine development
Defense, for lightweight flight and surveillance parts and the reduction of inventory with on-demand printing
Dentistry, for restorations, molds and treatments. Invisalign orthodontics devices use 3D Systems' technologies.
Education, for equation and geometry visualizations, art education, and design initiatives
Entertainment, for the manufacture and prototyping of action figures, toys, games and game components; printing of sustainableguitars and basses, multifunction synthesizers, etc.
Healthcare, for customized hearing aids and prosthetics, improved medicine delivery methods, respiratory devices, therapeutics, and flexible endoscopy and laparoscopy devices for improved procedures and recovery times
Manufacturing, for faster product development cycles, mold production, prototypes, and design troubleshooting
For industries such as aerospace and automotive, 3D Systems' technologies have reduced the time needed to incorporate design drafts and enabled the production of more efficient parts of lighter weight. Because 3D printing builds layer-by-layer according to design, it does not need to accommodate the traditional manufacturing tools of subtractive methods, often resulting in lighter parts and more efficient geometries.
Operations
In 2007, the company consolidated its offices, operations, and research and development functions into a new global headquarters in Rock Hill, South Carolina, US. About half of the headquarters' 80,000 square feet (7,400 m2) consist of research and development laboratories with an 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2) Rapid Manufacturing Center (RMC) with 3D Systems' rapid prototyping, rapid manufacturing and 3D printing systems at work.[33]
In 2019, the company consolidated resources within its On Demand domestic rapid printing service locations into Littleton, Seattle, Lawrenceburg, and Wilsonville. Restructuring and additions were made to the Lawrenceburg facility for future expansions and growth, which nearly doubled its size.
Community involvement and partnerships
3D Systems is involved in a multi-year agreement with the Smithsonian Institution as part of an effort to strengthen collections' stewardship and increase collection accessibility through 3D representations.[35] In 2012, 3D Systems began partnering with the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in the Future New category, where three winners are awarded with a $1000 scholarship in addition to the prizes and recognition granted to winners by the Scholastic Awards,[36] and contributed two production-grade 3D printers to the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), which aims to re-localize manufacturing and increase US manufacturing competitiveness.[37] 3D Systems is also a corporate underwriter of the National Children's Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF), which delivers educational, preventative and treatment oral health services to children in at-risk populations.[38]
On February 18 of 2014, Ekso Bionics debuted the first ever 3D-printed hybrid exoskeleton in collaboration with 3D Systems.[39][40]
^"3D Systems Acquires botObjects" (Press release). 3D Systems. 13 January 2015. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2015 – via Desktop Engineering (Peerless Media).
