Rapid Ready Roundup: MakerBot, UK AM, and 3D Printing CSI

In the course of my diligent efforts to keep you good people up to date on the state of additive manufacturing (AM), I come across many interesting news items. I’ll gather them up every so often and present them in a Rapid Ready Roundup (like this one). You can find the last Roundup here.

Let’s begin today’s Roundup with some news and speculation about MakerBot. The company recently announced it would be opening a new 50,000-sq. ft. factory in Sunset Park in Brooklyn. This new addition will help the company keep up with demand for its 3D printers, and will add 50 new employees to the roster. 

Additionally, the Wall Street Journal has reported on a rumor that the company may be in acquisition talks with parties unknown. The topic of a buyout reportedly came up while MakerBot was attempting to raise $300 million in funding. Company representative have neither confirmed nor denied the offer. Update: It appears the interested party is Stratasys. Acquiring MakerBot would add a home market angle to a company that is currently focused on industrial and professional systems.

I think it’s unlikely that Bre Pettis, co-founder and public face of MakerBot, would be interested in selling just yet. Since its launch in 2009, the company has grown exponentially, moving into professional grade AM systems and adding a 3D scanner to its product lineup. Even with Wohlers Report 2013 announcing that sales for home 3D printers have slowed, the industry as a whole is still expanding. Having met Pettis myself, he also seems like someone who would be uninterested in working for others.

That being said, the AM industry has kind of been holding its breath to see if larger corporations will take enough interest in the technology to gobble up a smaller company as an easy entry into the 3D printing business. MakerBot would be a prime target for that sort of maneuver. Its relatively small size, combined with its almost Apple-like appeal to the Maker community, makes the company a pretty ripe fruit almost waiting to be plucked.

Moving on, United Kingdom Business Secretary Vince Cable announced a further round of investment into AM to the tune of £14.7 million (around $23 million) as part of an effort to grow the industry for health care and energy. This follows an earlier £7 million investment and represents a serious effort on the part of the UK to promote 3D printing. The investment is only part of a larger package meant to encourage economic growth.

“…last month the Government announced the biggest ever investment in the work of the Technology Strategy Board. With £440 million of funding they will support new manufacturing techniques to maintain the UK’s position as a world leader in technology and design,” said Cable. “This joint investment with the Research Councils highlights the commitment from across the sector to boost manufacturing in the UK.”

Next, it seems I never stop coming across new uses for AM. The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Center for Information Assurance/Joint Forensics Research has turned to 3D printing for solving crime. If you’ve ever watched a police procedural, you’ll be familiar with the idea of employing plaster of Paris to cast footprints made at a crime scene. A 3D scanner and printer could soon replace the plaster by offering better results.

A digitally reproduced footprint can more easily be compared with other evidence to generate a match, and a 3D printed impression can be reversed to reveal more information about the shoe that made the print. I doubt that most precincts will be investing in their own AM systems anytime soon, but service bureaus offer the sort of quality and pricing that might make the technology attractive for important cases.

Finally, below you’ll find a video about how Orange County Choppers is using 3D printing to build custom motorcycles.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, UAB Magazine, The Telegraph, MakerBot, Stratasys