Entrepreneurs / Small Business  November 28, 2014

Falling costs open 3-D printing to the masses

3-D printing, the process in which lasers are used to imprint a variety of materials, from paper to plastics and metals, has become so cost-effective that local copy shops are starting to offer the service to walk-in customers.

Costs have come down dramatically, primarily because of the expiration of early patents. The cost now is low enough that longtime Boulder print shop Eight Days A Week Imaging and Copy Center plans to open a 3-D printing store early next year.

Sam Sussman, co-owner of the company, said he has been offering 3-D printing services for almost two years, but he believes interest and profit margins are strong enough to warrant opening a 3-D-only store.

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Sussman said 3-D printing will make manufacturing costs much cheaper.

“It’s a quick way to prototype products,” he said. “In the next couple of years, I think it will turn into a manufacturing process as more emphasis goes into products. Actually, GE has already used that for its manufacturing process. It’s cheaper for them to manufacture their very high-tech parts of engines with 3-D metal printers.”

The 3-D printing store opened in 2012 with shops in Broomfield and Colorado Springs, and continues to grow. It just opened a store in Houston and plans to open a fourth one in Fort Collins next year.

Debra Wilcox, co-founder of the store, said up to 60 percent of her company’s clients are other businesses.

“3-D printing touches the manufacturing continuum,” she said. “Some of the existing businesses realize that 3-D printing is quite cost-effective. You also see some new businesses using this technology to design products that you’ve never thought of before.”

From a consumer perspective, Wilcox said, 3-D printers can help create things people can’t get anymore but still need, or can create a part of something so they don’t have to buy the whole thing.

One of the keys to 3-D printing is the type of material different companies offer. Wilcox offers an array of polymers, rubber-like substances that can be used to make everything from Halloween masks to eyeglass frames. Eight Days A Week offers a variety of plastics.

3-D printing technology is making its way into the retail printing world because the price of the technology has come down as the early patents began expiring.

Terry Wohlers, chief executive of Fort Collins-based Wohlers Associates, Inc., said via email that the rise of retail 3-D is attributable to the rapidly declining prices. Wohlers is a research and consulting firm that tracks the 3-D printing industry.

In 2001, the lowest-priced 3-D printer was $45,000; by 2016, the price will drop under $2,000, according to Wohlers’ Report and a Gartner Report.

Since 2008, the number of “personal” 3-D printers, those priced under $5,000, has increased worldwide, from 355 to 72,503, according to Wohlers’ Report 2014.

Its popularity also is transforming the public’s perception of manufacturing, Wohlers said in his report.

“The non-technical public has become enamored with 3-D printing,” Wohlers wrote. “People with little or no manufacturing experience are opening 3-D print shops. For these people, 3-D printing symbolizes a bright, technological future. Whether these grand aspirations are justified or not, only time will tell.”

3-D printing, the process in which lasers are used to imprint a variety of materials, from paper to plastics and metals, has become so cost-effective that local copy shops are starting to offer the service to walk-in customers.

Costs have come down dramatically, primarily because of the expiration of early patents. The cost now is low enough that longtime Boulder print shop Eight Days A Week Imaging and Copy Center plans to open a 3-D printing store early next year.

Sam Sussman, co-owner of the company, said he has been offering 3-D printing services for almost two…

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