Services

product. The idea is to charge only for produced parts, but offer a range of ancillary services to establish long term relationships with clients, show and share the company’s expertise to build trust, and eventually push sales.

5.1 Additive Manufacturing Education

Although additive manufacturing is becoming very popular in recent years, a huge gap is observable between, on the one hand the knowledge in the industry, especially regarding small and medium sized enterprises, and on the other, what this disruptive technology is capable of.

In order to sell 3magination’s main service, the production of small series and prototypes, an education initiative is necessary. As a result, clients would better understand the potential of additive manufacturing for their business. This can happen on many different levels, depending on the respective industry.

On the lowest step, SMEs could increase their performance through cost reduction by accelerating the business cycle. This is an implication of reduced time to market and improved product quality. Furthermore, additive manufacturing is also delivering value by producing lower-cost tooling and other fixtures used for production.

The next level not only involves speed but also cost savings arising out of supply chain improvements. Additive manufacturing is able to significantly reduce required inventory and therefore reduces working capital requirements.

The third level takes full advantage of this new technology, exploiting the complexity for free phenomenon, already described in the introductory chapter.

Last but not least, putting all advantages of additive manufacturing togther, mass customization of products becomes an available option even for smaller companies.

Obviously this is not adaptable for all products in all industries, but for mass customization.

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One approach could also be to have the same inner life of a product and only adopt the shell to customers’ desires.

Key to this would be 3maginations sales force, which together with all resources within the company, would be able to put together a customized presentation that could work as a basis for subsequent purchase orders.

5.2 Design Consultancy

One of the key differentiators of 3magination is its knowledge in designing with CAD software.

In order to offer this service, a lot of emphasis has to be put on getting the right talents on board.

The primary goal is to position 3magination as a manufacturing solution, not only in production, but also in planning and design.

The basic service of the CAD designer is obviously to transform the digital file provided by clients to make it printable in such a way that the result has the best quality and is matching or overachieving clients’ expectations in terms of functionality or surface haptic. This is not to be underestimated, since the way the parts are built (i.e.: vertically, horizontally) can make a huge difference when it comes to the respective hardness.

The real added value for clients is the full consultancy of product development. For instance, how to change the way products were produced until now in order to save material costs, labor costs, and time to market. If products used to be assembled from many smaller parts but could be manufactured in one single step and even be alternated among different characteristics, 3magination’s clients could not only save money but be more innovative, eventually offering products that are closer to the end-consumers desires.

There are some academics that have started to develop methodologies for additive manufacturing CAD designers in order to be able to fully exploit all potentials, i.e. Ponche et al., 2012.

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Since additive manufacturing on the one hand does not offer such a large variety of processable materials than traditional manufacturing does, but on the other, compulsory materials were developed that are not possibly manufactured otherwise, 3magination’s clients need to be trained in this respect as well. The consulting experts in the company are the operations manager and the R&D engineer, who both have a broad knowledge about pros and cons on all existing materials. Whether the client demands a lightweight but strong polymer for the automotive industry or biocompatible titanium is required for an implant for the medical sector, the goal is to position 3magination as one of the most competent service provider in the 3D printing field.

5.4 Small Series Production and Prototyping

Producing parts and products with additive manufacturing is obviously the main service 3magination offers and the only service 3magination charges money for. All ancillary services only aim to build trust, show competency, and get orders into the pipeline. Furthermore, it obliges all employees to stay ahead of the curve regarding knowledge, mostly through workshops and training sessions.

3magination’s target markets are described in chapter 2 of this paper. Overall, the company is supplying clients in three different categories: prototyping, small series production, and mold or inserts for production. Market studies demonstrated that the demand for prototyping is still larger than small series production. However, the predictions imply that in terms of volume, real part production will take over in the near future. As a result, the company wants to establish itself as an expert in both small series production in metals and polymers as well as prototypes in polymers. Furthermore, 3magination will employ printers with larger building sizes compared to the competition regardless of the material, and is therefore not only able to produce larger parts, but also more smaller parts at the same time. Thus, the company is exploiting the small possibilities of potential economies of scale in additive manufacturing and giving back this advantage to the client by being able to produce cheaper and faster than the market.

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The idea is that 3magination delivers clients’ request in the shortest possible time after they have been consulted regarding design and materials in various ways. Production is another core competency of 3magination where all employees work together for the goal to overachieve clients’ expectations and make them returning customers. 3magination is not focusing on quick money due to one time orders, but is interested in long term relationships with its clients, eventually becoming part of their regular supply chain.

5.5 SWOT Analysis

5.5.1 Strengths

 Platform of solutions and not one service or product.

 Very strong technical expertise.

 World class CAD-design capabilities.

 Process innovation culture due to investment in R&D.

 Providing multi-sectorial applications due to different AM technologies.

 Basically all available metals and polymers are offered.

 Very flexible regarding production schedule due to large printers.

 Continuous training of key personnel.

 Strong sales force with technical know-how.

 Close relationship with system manufacturer EOS.

5.5.2 Weaknesses

 New entrants starts at a disadvantage compared to established companies.

 Only few 3D printers at the beginning.

 Lack of strong investors at the beginning.

 Lack of classical economies of scale (partly offset due to printers with large building size).

 Limited choice of materials compared to traditional manufacturing.

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5.5.3 Opportunities

 Very strong industry growth rate. (cf. Wohlers Associates Inc., 2014)

 The German speaking market is already ahead regarding knowledge of AM technology, thus clients have less education needs.

 The market will demand even more 3D printed parts when further developed.

 Continuous R&D will enable new applications in different fields and industries.

 Consumer led design and mass customization trends.

 Possibilities to manufacture new products.

 Easy to extend services Europe wide.

 No manufacturing standards yet.

5.5.4 Threats

 Strong global competition, with two global players.

 Dependent on the economic cycle.

 Current supply chain is not yet fully engaged.

 Austrian location could become more expensive.

 Forecasted market increase does not materialize.

 Forecasted cost reductions of systems and materials is not as strong does not materialize.

 3D printers become too cheap.

 Low barrier of entry for new players.

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3magination is going to work closely with a marketing agency, due to the nature of the B2B business and the lack of resources at the beginning of the start-up. In the first three years, a marketing budget of EUR 100,000, growing with inflation is being budgeted. This should mainly cover the following marketing channels:

 Corporate identity development

 Webpage design

 Marketing support for sales force (i.e.: brochures, print examples,..)

 Advertising in relevant journals (i.e. Industriemagazin,..)

 Trade fair appearance (Industrial Processing in Nederland; FBM – Zuliefermesse Maschinenbau in Germany; Intertech Dornbirn in Austria, Jenaer Industrietage in Germany,etc)

 Editing of PR texts

The managing director will coordinate those marketing activities. A very strong emphasis will be put on public relations, since appearance in medias enforces trust to clients and can be useful in the sales process.

6.1.2 Price

As mentioned in chapter 5: the only service 3magination is going to charge for is the actual production of parts and products. In the rare event that clients would like to have a closer partnership and require more of 3magination’s CAD designer resources, a fair agreement needs to be put in place

Overall, 3magination’s price will be in line with competition and calculated with an algorithm that involves of a mix of different features: