3D Printing

Alexander Hafner, GM of MakerBot Europe is Enthusiastic About MakerBot Innovation Center Expansion

While last year’s Euromold participation – shortly after the Stratasys acquisition – was the first real taste that MakerBot got of a full on industrial manufacturing event, and the main goal was to show its products, this year the company was present with a very clear plan. And that was to present itself as a valid alternative for rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing initiatives, proposing a solution that differs from others on the show floor, one that can be based on highly affordable 3D printers farms. That solution is based on MakerBot’s 3D family of 3D printers although it is made possible by the MakerBot Innovation Center concept, which the company is now transitioning into Europe after a successful venture in US schools and universities.

Makerbot farm 3d printer

“Real-Time prototyping and the creation of 3D models are getting more important not only in the manufacturing industry but also in research and education,” Alexander Hafner, General Manager of MakerBot Europe told me when I met with him at MakerBot’s Euromold stand. He is the person called to oversee the implementation of the MakerBot 3D printer farms throughout the many countries now under his direct responsibility. “We are presenting the MakerBot Innovation Center to the European market for the first time at Euromold. It is a well established solution in the US market already – he explained – which allows especially large companies and universities to effectively manage a much larger number of MakerBot Replicator 3D Printers, with all the advantages that derive in terms of efficiency and accessibility.”

Hafner’s Büro makerbotHafner is probably the very best person for this job. He is passionate about 3D printing and he founded his company Hafner’s Büro in 1988 becoming a long time Autodesk partner specialized in consulting and support for Autodesk solutions for various industries, in architecture and for building contractors. He was one of the very first MakerBot distributors, servicing all of Central and Eastern Europe. Hafner’s Büro was acquired by MakerBot last August and turned into the European HQ.

MakerBot Stand EuroMold 2014

“We continue to service all of the central and eastern European countries while gradually integrating all MakerBot resellers from every European market in order to streamline our structure and have a centralized reference for all MakerBot commercial initiatives,” said Hafner. These include both the sale of MakerBot systems, primarily the Replicator 5th Gen, Replicator 2X and Replicator Z18, which were all present on the show floor, and overseeing manufacturing initiatives in prototyping and small batch series. Hafner is certain that the MakerBot Innovation Centers will prove strategic in all these fields as well.

“A MakerBot Innovation Center means establishing a centralized, scalable 3D printing capability for large clusters of MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printers,” says Hafner. “It is a customized solution that includes printers and installation and that is managed through the MakerBot Innovation Center Management Platform software, while also supplying training, support, specialized racks, filament and Thingiverse Private Groups for storing, sharing, and managing your 3D design files. It is a way to answer to the “speed of manufacturing demand through software instead of hardware, by optimizing the use of the systems available.”

This means that for the price of a single professional high grade system a company or a school can invest in up to ten MakerBot desktop systems, which combined can offer efficiency and options to users. The software developed by MakerBot makes it possible to network the printers and access them remotely, interfacing with local users for specific requests such as a change in filament colour.

The MakerBot Innovation Centers can empower companies and especially schools and universities to innovate faster, attract talented students or staff, increase collaboration, and compete more effectively. Furthermore the customers who choose to adopt this solution can cooperate with MakerBot and receive training and support in terms of optimizing the use of the 3D printers for Real-Time Prototyping activities.

MakerBot Stand EuroMold 2014

The solidity of MakerBot’s initiative towards the education sector is supported by the company’s recent hard data. The sale of desktop 3D printers has reached around 70,000 units worldwide, which means it has doubled since the beginning of 2014, and the number of 3D models on the Thingiverse network has reached 400,000, up from 300,000 less than 3 months ago. At this rate of growth it is not entirely impossible that the installed base might one day, not so far into the future, expand into the millions.

“A few years ago I would have said that was impossible,” say Hafner. “but today I think there is a real possibility that it might happen. I say that based on the new opportunities that MakerBot has been opening up for schools as well as inventors, artists, engineers, architects everywhere. We see our machines being used to make prototypes but also to produce final parts such as small enclosures to test airbag control units at Robert Bosch GmBH or small batch series of locks for innovative vacuum suction knobs at ROTH GmBH. These are just some examples but the list goes on and it is [set] to grow a lot more.”