3D Printing

Inside 3D Printing Event is a Big Hit in Tokyo  — A Review

Japan has long — if quieter — roots within the 3D printing industry than some other parts of the world and the region’s engineers have produced some pioneering technologies across the sector. The last two decades have not resulted in the high number of industry leading companies as has happened elsewhere across the globe, however like the rest of the world, the interest in 3D printing has seen a sharp rise in recent years and local companies are gearing up for international markets.

The recent Inside 3D Printing Tokyo event, coined as the first “first significant 3D printing show in Japan” was testament to the growing interest in 3D printing and drew a massive audience of more than 35,000 people together for a cluster of related technology shows that were run simultaneously in the same gigantic space at the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre. The show format followed a different formula from previous editions of Inside 3D Printing shows in other locales. In Japan it’s typical that shows covering similar topics are bundled together. And where the Inside 3D Printing series of events excels is in creating regional events targeted specifically at its audience. The conference seminar was presented almost completely in Japanese and where that was not possible in a couple of instances, translations were provided.

Inside 3D Printing Tokyo

On the exhibition side of the event, Stratasys took the platinum sponsor position once again, showing its strong focus on the Asian market. The company’s round booth was divided between its technology aimed at industrialists, including its FDM and Objet ranges; and MakerBot targeting the prosumer/consumer market. A wide variety of 3D printed items were on display. Stratasys also gave a series of lively presentations during seminar sessions as well as on their stand attracting several thousand visitors during the three-day event all of whom were also drawn to the company’s very impressive product samples.

Inside 3D Printing Tokyo Stratasys

Another booth that attracted a great deal of attention was that of Artec with its full body scanner that was perfectly located at the entrance to the exhibition. Chinese eSUN was present again with its selection of filaments. Mcor had its local representative, JBM, on the exhibition floor showcasing the wonders of paper 3D printing technology and the Full Colour Iris 3D Printer. Mcor’s CEO Conor MacCormack also gave a presentation on how the full colour 3D printing works and why it is significant — he had a translator. ASPECT, a local Japanese laser sintering 3D printer manufacturer, filled its booth with an impressive variety of large 3D printed samples, which drew a great deal of visitor attention. 3DPI was also present and filming 3DPI.TV interviews and show coverage.

Inside 3D Printing Tokyo Mcor
While the show’s visitors represented a variety of industries and professions from manufacturers, industry professionals, designers, and educators to entrepreneurs and creatives; the majority did seem to have an industrial background. Their motives for coming to the show proved to be varied. As we spoke to them it transpired that a significant number had come to collect material information and explore 3D printing specifically. Others had come initially to visit other shows, but took the opportunity to visit the Inside 3D Printing show — and were glad that they did. The seminar sessions was definitely one of the biggest attractions and was highly praised by the visitors. Stratasys and JBM (Mcor) seemed to get the best feedback from the visitors 3DPI engaged with. When we talked to visitors about their views on the future of 3D printing in Japan, the answers were varied. Interestingly, many saw 3D printing only as an application for prototyping, some thought the future lies extensively in medical applications, but perhaps most significantly, only few believed that 3D printers would be useful for consumers.

Inside 3D Printing Tokyo3D printing in Japan has roots that date back to 1980, when Dr Kodama submitted the world’s first 3D printing related patent application. Even though the patent specification was not filed within the required time frame, Japan continued to be an innovator in the field. In a discussion with Hidefumi Aoyama the general manager of ASPECT, he mentioned that in the 1990’s there were around ten companies manufacturing 3D printers and operating in the 3D printing industry in Japan. However, the financial struggle in the 1990’s may have been one of the reasons why most of them did not survive into 21st century. ASPECT has been in the market since 1996. Having such a history with prototyping may well be the reason many people in Japan still see the benefits of 3D printing more for prototyping and industrial use rather than for consumers.

Inside-3D-Priniting-Tokyo-2014Consumer 3D printing in Japan, as well as in many other countries, is still a new phenomenon. Japanese consumers are very brand conscious and marketing plays a key role for successful market entry. However, with two Japanese consumer brands — Canon and Ricoh —announcing plans, albeit vague, of adding the 3rd dimension to their printers and entering the 3D printing race, it is not hard to see Japan catching on to the consumer trend quite quickly.

Overall it was an extremely successful inaugural event for Inside 3D Printing in Tokyo and the show will return to the city in September 2015. The next stop for the Inside 3D Printing World Tour is a return to Santa Clara in California next month. The show dates are October 21-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Centre and it is lining up to be bigger and better than ever before. 3DPI Readers get 10% off by entering the promo code PD14.