EOS, a leading manufacturer of high-end industrial 3D printers, UnternehmerTUM and the Straschag Centre for Entrepreneurship are joining forces to stimulate new innovate business models for the 3D printing industry and create an interdisciplinary network of 3D Printing actors from all over Germany. The Cluster commented that it aims to bring together scientific, established commercial and start-up innovation drivers to empower them to take advantage of the disruptive possibilities of 3D printing technology for business and society at large in the region.
The Cluster’s main areas of activity are as follows:
Start-up support– The idea here is that the network will support the initiation of new entrepreneurial projects and develop them into eventual business start-ups. The Entrepreneurship Centres and EOS along with other members of the network will support these teams as they grow into what will hopefully be promising activities.
Training and continuing education– A focal point of cluster activities will be the growth of training opportunities. In a variety of training courses and seminars, trainees, students and skilled workers will learn how to operate the new tools and gradually familiarise themselves with the possibilities of this versatile technology.
Communication and networking – Events such as the annual Cluster meetings and regular pitch sessions, in which innovators and start-ups present their projects, will serve to strengthen the network. It is planned to open marketplaces too in which know-how such as material databases can be exchanged, resources and production capacities shared and new standards discussed and defined.
Professor Dr. Klaus Sailer, CEO of SCE said: “Additive manufacturing gives us a chance to redefine market accessibility and business models. Solutions will be made available more quickly and cheaply, allowing us to alleviate such urgent social problems as those encountered in public health and disaster management. The value of team work, which our innovative research already emphasizes, will only increase with this technology.”
Nikolai Zaepernick, the Head of Strategy and Business Development at EOS added: “Start-ups that focus their attention on applications based on the industrial 3D printing production technology from EOS are important partners for us when it comes to subsequent market development activities… Within the 3D Printing Cluster, we are able to identify the most promising start-ups very quickly. At the same time, we can support them in the most suitable way with what they need very urgently for their continued development while taking their first tentative steps on the market.”
