UltiMaker to be Exclusive North and South American Distributor for Tectonic 3D Filament

UItiMaker will be the exclusive distributor of Tectonic3D filament in North and South America. Tectonic makes high-performance materials for defense available on desktop 3D printers. It has been working with UltiMaker for a number of years, and already has ten print profiles available on UltiMaker systems.

UltiMaker President of the Americas Jim Franz said,

“Tectonic-3D’s commitment to advanced material innovation perfectly complements our mission to provide a reliable, industrial-grade production platform. By becoming the exclusive U.S. distributor, we are giving our customers direct access to the most advanced filaments on the market, backed by the seamless integration and support they expect from UltiMaker.”

Tectonic 3D CEO Ken Kempinski stated,

“We look forward to building upon our partnership with UltiMaker. Our materials are designed to push the boundaries of what is possible in additive manufacturing. We are extremely excited to expand our collaborations with Ultimaker on their S and Factor series printers.”

Tectonic has high-performance materials for rail, aerospace, and industrial applications. Some of the strongest desktop 3D printer materials available are made by the firm. It also has high-temperature materials for high-temperature systems such as the miniFactory. But, in desktop materials that pack a punch, the company is ascendant.

Whether for MRO or applications such as drones, Tectonic’s filaments are being used close to the point of need to make high-performance parts with desktop systems. The company’s materials have high stiffness and Continuous Service Temperature PET, PA, and PP materials with Carbon and Glass Fiber in them. They also make a specific family of lightweight drone materials. Meanwhile, its Vulcan series of PEKK, PEI, and PPSU are used for high heat applications. They also have specialized materials such as TPC.

Tectonic seems to be well. Furthermore, with all of the movement towards manufacturing at the edge and making at the point of need, its materials will be in much higher demand in the coming months, especially in the US. Plus, Ukraine is showing that desktop 3D printers can be war winners. If I were Tectonic, I would have worked with Philips Federal to distribute my product to the government. I may have given them exclusivity if they demanded it. But, if I could have, I would have gotten them and Dynamism or MatterHackers, for example.

I’m not sure what the UltiMaker distributorship is going to achieve, and why Tectonic gave it to them. Prusa Research is ramping up 3D printer manufacturing in the US and finding more and more defense customers. Wouldn’t that have made more sense? I love UltiMaker, and I used to work there way back when. But, the firm looks like it’s in dire straits. A defense-centric strategy for them makes sense. Indeed, defense and medical are the only real avenues open for the firm. And I do hope that they do well in the US defense market, and in Europe as well. UltiMaker traditionally has good machines that work well and last a long time. They’ve made a lot of quality systems, and I hope that there is a place for them in the marketplace. The Netherlands is to spend up to $300m making drones for Ukraine, perhaps this link up means that the two companies, both with Dutch arms will end up printing a lot of these?

And a filament and printer tie-in really may make sense for some projects and customers. But, perhaps this may alienate other manufacturers. If it doesn’t, it may be easy for them to get UltiMaker to distribute the material, and that may work for them. If Tectonic is loyal and kind, that would be great as well. And perhaps this could be the beginning of a path towards high-quality desktop printers for defense from UltiMaker?