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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Technology |
| Founded | 1986; 39 years ago (1986) inValencia, California, U.S. |
| Headquarters | Rock Hill, South Carolina, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products |
|
| Services | SLA, SLS, DMP, FDM, CNC, Injection Molding, Investment Casting, Sheet Metal, Figure 4, Medical Grade Prototypes, Appearance Models, Low-Volume Mass Production |
| Revenue | US$440 million (2024) |
| −US$277 million (2024) | |
| −US$255 million (2024) | |
| Total assets | US$601 million (2024) |
| Total equity | US$176 million (2024) |
Number of employees | 1,925 (2023) |
| Website | 3dsystems |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
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3D Systems Corporation is an American company based inRock Hill, South Carolina, that engineers, manufactures, and sells3D printers, 3D printing materials, 3D printed parts, and application engineering services. The company creates product concept models, precision and functionalprototypes, master patterns fortooling, as well as production parts fordirect digital manufacturing. It uses proprietary processes to fabricate physical objects using input fromcomputer-aided design and manufacturing software, or3D scanning and3D 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 the3D printing industry for developingstereolithography and theSTL file format.Chuck Hull, CTO and former president, pioneeredstereolithography 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]
3D Systems was founded inValencia, 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 concernedhydrodynamic and chemical complications. In 1996, the introduction ofsolid-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 byAvi 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 toRock 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 fromNasdaq (TDSC) to theNew York Stock Exchange (DDD).
In January 2012 3D Systems acquiredZ 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 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 Israelimedical imaging companySimbionix forUS$120,000,000.[15] In September 2014, 3D Systems acquired theLeuven,Belgium-based LayerWise, a principal provider of direct metal 3D printing and manufacturing servicesspun off fromKU 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 thefused filament fabrication technique.[18] botObjects was founded byMartin 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'schief 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]
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 usesinkjet 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 liquidphotopolymers onto a build surface using inkjet technology. A high resolution is attainable, with a support material that can be easily removed in post-processing.
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, includingreverse engineering software and organic 3D modeling software. Following arazor 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 companyFormlabs and theKickstarter 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 aNetflix 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]
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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:
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.
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 and3D printing systems at work.[33]
With customers in 80 countries, 3D Systems has over 2100 employees in 25 worldwide locations, includingSan Francisco,Leuven,France,Germany,Italy,Switzerland,South Korea,Brazil, theUnited Kingdom,China andJapan.[citation needed] The company has more than 359 U.S. and foreignpatents.[34]
In 2019, the company consolidated resources within itsOn Demand domestic rapid printing service locations intoLittleton,Seattle,Lawrenceburg, andWilsonville. Restructuring and additions were made to theLawrenceburg facility for future expansions and growth, which nearly doubled its size.
3D Systems is involved in a multi-year agreement with theSmithsonian 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 theScholastic 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 theNational 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 hybridexoskeleton in collaboration with 3D Systems.[39][40]
