Starting an Additive Manufacturing Business
I recently connected with someone I did not really know on social media. They were not trying to sell me anything so I accepted the invitation to connect. Then he asked me an interesting question. Hi Mr.Neff, thank you for accepting my request, I need your advice on starting an AM business, but I don't have any experience or funding, where should I start, hope I'm not troubling you with this humble request, thank you for your time sir.
With such a polite request how could I not reply? I am also guessing that others might have the same question.
If you want to make money in any area you have to have something to offer. You have to have an advantage that makes you worth more than the next guy. That is especially true if you are starting a business. In getting a job the more knowledge and experience you have the more compensation you can claim. An engineer can ask for more salary than a person right out of high school.
Todd Grimm of T. A. Grimm and Associates http://www.tagrimm.com/ would tell you that in business, offering a unique service or product can make you more valuable than someone who is selling a readily available service. The second part is finding a market for your service. If the market is big enough you do not need to be that good to make money. Finding a unique service that addresses a really large untapped market is what can make you quite wealthy.
You can spend your whole life waiting to find the large, untapped market that is easy to fill but those are few and far between. The most important part is to get started.
Jeff Bezos started selling books online. What he learned there helped him to sell more online products. The thousands of lessons learned from that beginning business have allowed Amazon to grow to dominate the online shopping market. Incidentally, they did that through superior logistics including warehousing and delivery services. In addition, they have an exceptional capability in web hosting their store and operations that have led them to be global leaders, and AWS, Amazon Web Services has grown to a giant business of its own.
It is hard to start any business where you do not have experience or backing. Starting a restaurant if you do not know how to cook and don’t have any money might be a bad idea. Starting a hot dog stand, where the food is easy to cook and you might be able to cook with your grill from at home, and you are started. A hot dog stand has a small investment but also each sale is small. You may have more customers than a fine dining restaurant but your total income and profit may be smaller.
Without knowledge, it is hard to determine the size of a market or the ability of a new technology to satisfy that market. You can hire a consultant who knows the market but they are expensive and may not have the focused insight you need for your particular idea. If we knew of a technology that satisfied a large untapped market, we would start the business ourselves.
Additive manufacturing is no different. If you are very excited about the technology then you can start learning about it. There are lots of free conferences and the like where you can accumulate knowledge. You can become an industry expert on almost anything with the resources of the internet. More than 20 years ago the only way to become an industry expert was to get an advanced degree in a particular subject. Today you can go to online webinars, trade shows, and conferences and learn a lot. There are technical papers and patents available online too. If you actively seek out these opportunities you can start to figure out what part of additive manufacturing gets you excited.
Typically, expertise in additive manufacturing happens through experience. Each project you do gets you more experience. Your level of expertise as a person or a company has to do with how much you know in each of a number of areas. One highly regarded consulting group, Barnes Global Advisors https://www.barnesglobaladvisors.com/ describes Machine, Material, Digital, and People as the areas of expertise necessary. I would add post-processing as well. Every project you or your company does the more expertise you gain. . The more expertise you have the more valuable you become.
So, you ask how do you gain experience? How about getting a job working for an established business like a service bureau? A service bureau is what you call a job shop or a contract manufacturer in the additive manufacturing world. You might be able to work on many projects and gain enough experience to start a service bureau of your own. Service bureaus are usually experts in many of the items listed on the Getting Ready for AM chart.
You could also get an entry-level job with a manufacturer of AM equipment, software, or services.
You could purchase an entry-level 3D printer and start making parts. Small fuse filament fabrication (FFF) machines are based on an extrusion process and can be quite affordable starting at a few hundred dollars. The barrier to entry is small because they are inexpensive. There are also tons of machines out there so it is hard to be unique. The rule of thumb says the more money you spend the better the machine and the more capability you get. That is true to some extent but there is a wide range of offerings some are great values and some are expensive solutions with little advantage over an entry-level system.
One of the first things you find when you start making parts is you can find all kinds of designs available from public sources like Thingiverse. https://www.thingiverse.com/ You might even be able to sell some of the parts you make from designs you find online.
What you really need is the ability to design your own products. Understanding 3D CAD and being proficient at it could be really valuable. Basic CAD knowledge is great but there is a whole field of designing for additive manufacturing that is a specialty. It is hard to design for additive unless you understand the additive process you are designing for. Design for additive has a completely different meaning from a complex metal part that is made with a powder bed fusion process and a reinforced thermoplastic part that is made with an extruded polymer.
Companies that distribute Additive Manufacturing equipment are called Value Added Resellers or VARs. Many companies that distribute additive manufacturing equipment also sell CAD Systems. They often offer training too. Computer Aided Technology https://www.cati.com/solidworks-training/courses/ a VAR in the US. is promoting free SOLIDWORKS training for Ohio residents from a State of Ohio Tech Credit Program. You should check with your local VAR to see if you can get trained in 3D CAD software if that is something that interests you.
If you are good at sales you could get a sales job with a manufacturer of AM equipment, a Value Added Reseller, or a service bureau. You will need to learn the additive part but companies can always use people who are willing to do sales. Selling is a great profession, but it is not for everybody. Selling today involves constant prospecting to build a pipeline of sales prospects. Then you also have to work your pipeline until it starts turning into orders.
You could get involved in materials for additive manufacturing. Almost any material you can imagine can be used for additive manufacturing. There is a whole industry created around making the materials used in additive. Metal powder is used to make parts with several additive processes. Reinforced thermoplastics are necessary for large-scale additive manufacturing. Accurately made plastic filaments are necessary for FFF or FDM systems. Special welding wire is used for some large-scale metal additive systems. There are systems used for printing concrete. Part of the secret is in the concrete and all concrete is not the same. There are liquids that harden when exposed to a certain wavelength of light. There is a whole science to these photocured polymers.
Like every type of manufacturing machinery, there needs to be someone to install, fix and maintain systems. Often the service portion of the business is the most profitable. Some businesses have been built on selling the equipment at a loss only to make it up on service contracts and parts in the future. If you are good with your hands and like fixing things you could have quite a good career in doing service. Some systems are pretty simple with computer control and some motion system components. Other types of additive manufacturing may include laser systems with optics, cameras, and sensors that need to be aligned and maintained. You may need to be willing to travel to visit customers with machines. When in service you need to deal with customers. Some will be very very happy to see you when you are there to fix their broken machine. Others will be at wit’s end since their machine is down and they might not be as polite. Understanding the basics of customer service communications can go a long way to making you successful in the service business. If you are really good at it you can be a service manager or supervisor and deal with coordinating customers and service people all day long.
One of the most overlooked parts of additive manufacturing is post-processing. Parts rarely come out of a machine ready for delivery to a customer. There are many post-processes for each type and material of additive manufacturing. Shot blasting, machining, washing, filling, painting, heat treating, coating, anodizing, polishing, dyeing, smoothing. Even using a saw or an EDM machine to remove parts from a baseplate after printing is a type of post-processing. Becoming an expert in any one of these processes can be lucrative. You can be in design, sales, manufacturing, or service for any one of these systems as a business.
Like anything just having expertise is not often enough. Being a great chef is not the only qualification to opening a restaurant. Most restaurants are a partnership between at least a business person who can manage the business side of the business and a chef who can manage the kitchen and make delicious food. A manufacturing business usually has a range of talents necessary to make it work. Not just technical experts but also people who are good at manufacturing, marketing, sales, finance, accounting, service, inside sales (parts), human resources, and general management. If you are good at one of these things find a partner who is good at the rest or join or build a company where you have all of these components covered.
Another interesting part of additive manufacturing is some suppliers focus on one single market. Some markets have more demanding standards than others. For instance, one company here in Ohio, Tangible Solutions, https://tangiblesolutions3d.com/ was a service bureau with many additive technologies. They decided to focus their attention and now Tangible Solutions exclusively makes titanium spinal implants. In one way their business got easier because they do not have a lot of different technologies or materials. They have had to focus on the very demanding quality and delivery requirements of the surgical implant business.
Another company Catalysis Additive Tooling https://catalysis3d.com/ focuses on making tooling for vacuum forming parts. They have a unique process and have found ways to meet the demands of their market and deliver high-quality tools in one to two weeks.
I wish I had the answer for just exactly what to do to find a fulfilling and profitable career in additive manufacturing. I would share it with everybody but then if everybody took my recommendation it would not be unique.
What is unique is you. Everybody has a unique perspective on life and business. When you look at a problem you see it differently than anybody. Your unique solution may be the next great thing. To accelerate innovation collaborating with people with different perspectives can lead to quantum leaps in technology. Collaborate with smart people and keep your eyes open to unique solutions to problems or needs in the market. Each person has a perspective that can allow them to be an innovator that changes the world. Just get started. Now!