3D Printing: The Stories We Didn’t Cover This Week — January 9

Happy New Year from everyone at 3DPrint.com! As 2015 has officially ended and 2016 is already entering its second week, you won’t be surprised to hear that we have much 3D printing industry financial news to report. Companies are reviewing the previous year and reporting on their growth and success in various capacities; this includes news from MasterGraphics, Sketchfab, MarkForged and ExOne. Also included in this week’s news is i.materialise’s college student discount and industrial inkjet technology company Xaar’s new Director of 3D Printing.

i.materialise Offers 10% Discount to Higher Ed Students and Staff All Year Long

With the holidays over, people could use a financial break, right? Well, i.materialise recognizes this need and has come through with a discount. Aimed at college and university students and academic staff, the 10% discount applies to all uploaded orders to i.materialise’s 3D Print Lab. Also, the offer is valid for all materials, it can be used by any student studying anything, and the offer is valid all year — through January 1, 2017. Simply send an email to education@i.materialise.com from your .edu (or other education-affiliated) email address, and tell them your institution and your field of study. Your email address will be verified and a discount code will be emailed to you! Also make sure you post anything you print using this discount on the i.materialise forum.

MarkForged Grows in 3D Printing Manufacturing Sector

MarkForged, Inc. is growing. A lot. The company reports year over year growth at the rate of 400%. Now that’s a lot of growth! Founder and CEO Greg Mark explains his take on what’s behind the company’s steady growth:

“Our customers are able to bring products to market faster because the Mark One prints high-strength components that endure where traditional plastics parts would just break. When we debuted this technology two years ago, our first customers were aerospace companies looking for cheaper composites, but over the last year we saw the largest growth from companies interested in high-strength, tough parts. We offer the only affordable 3D printer that prints these types of parts, and it is resonating in the market.”

Competitors, look out. MarkForged Inc. is dominating many sectors with the “world’s strongest 3D printed parts” and is reporting the largest growth yet in 2015 for its affordable 3D printer that is very high in demand.

ExOne Company Reports Its Business Is Growing

In more financial news, the binder jetting 3D printing company ExOne has released shipment and fiscal information for 2015. In good news for the company, it reports that in the past year it has shipped 38 printing machines, retains a backlog of orders, and maintains a current 2015 revenue guidance of around $40 million.

ExOne’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, S. Kent Rockwell, states:

“Backlog was at record levels going into the fourth quarter and remains at high levels as we begin 2016. We are encouraged by this quarter’s shipments as well as the sales mix which included more high value indirect printing machines. This quarter’s shipments, combined with a strong backlog, continue to give us confidence in growing customer adoption of our binder jetting technology.”

Clearly this news is an indication that the company’s technology is catching on amongst 3D printing customers.

Sketchfab Hits Half-Million Upload Mark in 1,000 Days

You read the headline. Wow. People are using and obviously liking Sketchfab. What’s not to like about this 3D printing service that allows you to “publish and find the best 3D content” for free? When you can boast these kinds of numbers, which do speak for themselves here, it is clear that Sketchfab’s business model is working. They’ve had 500K models uploaded in less than 1,000 days of business — and 309,000 of those were from 2015 alone. With 21K annotated, 4K animated, and 28K downloadable models, Sketchfab is setting quite a pace. The website carries an incredible variety of models: brands, gaming, 3D artists, cultural heritage, education, makers and 3D printing, architects and designers, 3D portraits and entertainment. Are you getting the idea yet? If you haven’t checked the Sketchfab site out yet, now is the time!

Xaar plc Has New Director of 3D Printing

Professor Neil Hopkinson

Xaar is a world leader in industrial inkjet technology, and it recently turned a new leaf by appointing Professor Neil Hopkinson to the Director of 3D Printing position. Hopkinson invented High Speed Sintering (HSS) technology, so he has an incredible breadth of knowledge and insight to bring to the table. This comes from working for 19 years in the additive manufacturing technology field at the following institutions and companies: University of Sheffield, Loughborough University, De Montfort University, University of Nottingham, and 3D Systems.

Hopkins articulates a strong vision for the company in the new Director role, which includes accelerating the adaptation of his HSS technology in key sectors. Hopkins states:

“Industrial 3D printing is entering an important phase of maturation and I am excited to be joining Xaar at this critical time. It is clear that inkjet printing will be an important enabling technology as the 3D printing sector scales up to be an integral part of mainstream manufacturing. As a leading supplier to printing equipment manufacturers all over the world, Xaar is in a strong position to accelerate the adoption of HSS technology within a number of key applications.”

A leader in 3D printing technology, it appears Hopkinson is an excellent choice to lead the company’s contributions in the industrial 3D printing sector.

MasterGraphics Attains “Platinum Status” from Autodesk

MasterGraphics, the Madison, Wisconsin-based provider of technology solutions for engineering, construction, manufacturing, architecture, and civil industries, is a company that helps streamline customer design data during the entire 3D design process. Now, with all of the company’s hard work paying off, MasterGraphics reports it has reached the Autodesk Platinum Tier Value Added Reseller (VAR) status. This is quite an honor for the company, which has offices in Chicago, Appleton, and Milwaukee, because only about 10 percent of Autodesk VARs internationally have attained Platinum Tier status. What does this mean? MasterGraphics is now among one of the highest-rated companies in its industry, and we are sure to see it grow in the new year as it provides the services that Autodesk recognizes by this promotion to Platinum Status.  Which of these stories were your favorite?  Let us know in the 3D Printing Stories We’ve Missed forum on 3DPB.com.