Editorials / Opinions
JAECOO to You Too: How China Works
You may be beset by a bewildering array of new Chinese cars. How can they all be viable? They can’t be, and this is the point. This is why so…
The Rise of IP: The First Emoji 3D Printer Is Here. Don’t Rule Out Star Wars Next.
For years, most desktop 3D printers have looked more or less the same. Some are black. Some are gray. A few are bright orange. They look like boxes. Some are…
The Seminal Moment: Creality’s IPO Analysis & Possible Effects
Something super important happened just a few days ago, and too few people paid attention. Creality, a pioneer in low-cost desktop material extrusion printers, went public. Creality is now listed…
Killer 3D Printing Applications: Tools
A previous Killer 3D Printing Applications article looks at tool voids and tool storage. With 3D printing, we can connect different sets and make cases to organize tools. We can…
Formlabs Launches the X1: Let’s Pack It In?
I’d like to share my disappointment. When Formlabs teased that something big was coming, I really hoped the firm would finally get around to making CNC machines, as it always…
Creality’s Listing: A Sign That China’s Consumer 3D Printing Has Entered a New Phase of Global Competition
Just days ago, the bell rang at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) for Creality. The company opened at HK$33.80 per share, up from the IPO price of HK$18.8, giving…
Killer 3D Printing Applications: Tool Voids and The Hidden Opportunity in Tool Storage
Sometimes, nothing is the product. Hand tools, electric tools, factory tools, surgical tools, gardening tools, hobbyist tools, firefighter tools, and many other specialized tools can be found all over the…
Bambu Launches A2L: What the New Printer Reveals About Its Strategy
Bambu Lab continues its relentless march for 3D printing domination with the launch of the A2L. The 330 × 320 × 325 mm printer will have a nozzle temperature of…
Stratasys Acquires Markforged, Analysis of AM’s Latest Consolidation Move
A very long time ago, in 2023, the additive manufacturing (AM) industry was enraptured over the attempts by a large chunk of its publicly traded original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to…
The Arsenal of Democracy is Empty: Enter SOUTHCOM’s Autonomous Warfare Command SAWC
One of the most important things to happen to the US Military in over a decade just happened: SOUTHCOM (The US’ Southern Command responsible for Central America, South America, and…
AM Drilldown: the Beginning of 3D Printing’s Next Phase in the Energy Sector
For much of the last decade, many have pushed an unjustifiably optimistic view of global energy consumption, along the lines of, fossil fuels are “on their way out.” Sadly, this…
Why Additive Manufacturing Has Finally Earned Its Place on the Production Line
For years, the conversation around additive manufacturing followed a predictable script. Engineers would acknowledge its usefulness for prototyping – faster iterations, cheaper design validation, no tooling to worry about –…
Asia AM Watch: Advantages to the Chinese Way of Doing Business
Timo Göbel, the Head of Additive Manufacturing at the BMW Group, spoke at the AM Forum in Berlin about industrializing additive. He had wise words to share, including that we…
The Additive Chicken Coop, Part IV: Lemmings
If we look at our past, we can see how making custom machines, incessantly watching ourselves, and our inability to rescope shaped our industry. We have also looked at the…
AM & the Military’s Self-Infliction of Rapid Change
I’ve noted before that the additive manufacturing (AM) market for defense has started to evolve so quickly that it’s impossible to even keep track of all the updates in real…
Tectonic 3D Takes Over Solvay 3D Printing Materials Portfolio
High-performance 3D printing materials company Tectonic 3D has bought the 3D printing materials portfolio of Solvay. The Syensqo portfolio, including PEEK AM Filament MS NT1, PEEK CF10 LS1, PPSU, NT1 HC,…
The Additive Chicken Coop, Part III: Bananas
A friend of mine, Ed Davis, once pointed out the level of strategic replication in additive. I wasn’t aware of it before and haven’t been able to unsee it since….
A Hilux for the Seas
With the US turning its back on exquisite, expensive military goods in favor of volume manufacturing of less expensive items, new strategies should come to the fore. But attritable $250,000…
Top DAWG & SAWC: $54 Billion Replicator Reborn
The Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), also called the Defense Autonomous Working Group, may be funded to the tune of $55 billion. Overseen by Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, this…
The Additive Chicken Coop, Part II: Rescoping
When we previously looked at the Additive Chicken Coop, we saw how selling devices to labs shaped a lot of our industry. Here, we explore other key factors that have…
6K Energy Secures 7-Year Agreement to Supply CRG Defense with Battery Materials
Last year, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a ban on certain components sourced from foreign suppliers, including Chinese firms, used in unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Meanwhile, the FY…
Surge Fulcrum: From Crafting the Exquisite To Forging Swarms at the Edge
If you are due to meet a member of the US government to pitch some 3D printing scheme or other idea, you’d do well to bring a copy of Freedom…
The Additive Chicken Coop, Part I: Million Dollar Petri Dishes
After decades of tinkering with our individual technologies, billions were poured into speculative claims and optimism. Now the attention is gone, and sometimes it can seem like we’re surrounded by…
Death Spiral (or The End of the Fairchild Republic)
Previously, I wrote about the disruption of US military power. Since then, events have required a reassessment. The US is clearly in decline, and a death spiral is occurring that…
