A visit to Shapeways in LIC

Image source: Forbes – this cool looking octopus is made of metal, proving that Shapeways can produce products made from materials other than plastic

Forbes made a trip to Shapeways, the 3D printing factory in Long Island City, which happens to be the largest consumer-focused 3D printing factory in the world. They were impressed, making the comparison to Santa’s Workshop (’tis the season). They also observed nine industrial-sized 3D printers doing their thing – turning plans into objects – and were told that 50 more will be installed in 2013.

Shapeways produced 1 million objects in 2012, which is the same number that they made in all the years prior. It helps that consumers and retailers can get in on the action, too, without ponying up the cash for their own 3D printer – they can upload their designs, get their printed by Shapeways, and then have the product shipped back to them.

Nice to hear Duann Scott, designer evangelist at Shapeways, talk about the reasons to open the factory in Queens (as opposed to, say, China) – that the “brains and customers” are here:

“This is where the people are. There’s no benefit in being further away from where the customers and where the brains are who are using this, because it’s machines running. A machine running in China costs the same, more or less, as a machine in New York. The real estate may be a little more expensive here, the staffing costs are slightly higher, but really – we want quality.”

Definitely check out the slideshow and video – they are very cool, and the video in particular explains a lot about their printing process, and there’s more in there about why they’ve decided to work here in NY as opposed to overseas.

Inside The World’s Biggest Consumer 3D Printing Factory (Video) [Forbes]
Ribbon cutting for Shapeways, a 3-D printer in LIC, and factory of the future [QNYC]
Four signs that LIC is becoming a center for tech in NYC [QNYC]