REINTRODUCING Laura Griffiths speaks to Hubs CEO Bram de Zwart about the Protolabs acquisition and bringing manufacturing online.
“An online
I
n a packed conference room at CES 2015, 3D Hubs CEO Bram de Zwart was already thinking about the bigger picture, the promise that 3D printing could “change the way we manufacture and distribute products by creating a future where we make products very close to the end user and on demand.” Back then, the Amsterdam founded start-up had already amassed the world’s largest network of 3D printers with thousands of machines, many of them desktop, registered on the platform. Today, it goes beyond 3D printing, with four manufacturing technologies now offered via its online network and around 145,000 engineers served. “The vision remains the same,” de Zwart told TCT, reflecting on those early ambitions. “We believe that an online platform can accelerate the future of decentralized manufacturing, which we believe is a lot more efficient as it removes a lot of waste from transportation, inventory and overproduction and you can increase the utilization of manufacturing equipment around the globe.” Since its founding in 2013, the company is said to have facilitated production of over 7 million custom parts and products through its instant quoting platform with industrial manufacturing
028 / www.tctmagazine.com / VOL 7 ISSUE 3
platform can accelerate the future of decentralized manufacturing.” services in over 20 countries. Last year, the company continued its expansion with the opening of its third location in Europe following the setup of a regional HQ in Chicago and investment from Future Shape led by leading tech inventor Tony Fadell in 2019. Then, in January, the company entered into a new phase, spurred on by an acquisition by digital manufacturing leader Protolabs for a closing consideration of 280 million USD and shedding the ‘3D’ from its brand to become simply, Hubs. “We collaborate where we see opportunities to learn from each other,” de Zwart said of the acquisition. “As Hubs, we bring a lot of experience with the online marketplace concept working with outside manufacturing partners. Protolabs has a huge amount of manufacturing knowledge that we didn't have, we never [did] any of
the manufacturing ourselves, we were really focused on building the platform and then relied on our partners for manufacturing. We as a team are learning a lot in that area as well and that allows us to make our platform better for our customers and manufacturing partners. […] I truly believe that one plus one can become three here.” The combination of Protolabs’ established manufacturing capacity and Hubs’ platform experience will, according to Protolabs President and CEO Rob Bodor, allow the two to "fulfil nearly every custom manufacturing need across the product lifecycle." This ability to offer different manufacturing processes is something Hubs has been building on since it first turned its attention from desktop printer owners and consumers to a more industrialfocused approach, and now sees the network providing not only 3D
