If you’re big into 3D printing news, this may seem like pretty big 3D printing news: Type A Machines, producers of the Series 1 3D Printer, has just announced that they and eleven other companies have joined forces to create the largest cluster of 3D printing businesses under one roof, the Bay Area Advanced Manufacturing (BAAM) hub.
BAAM notes that there are more than 200 startups in the 3D printing industry, but that there is little cooperation. The organization, located at a former auto plant turned tech and art space in San Leandro, California, is meant to be a pipeline that connects community members to these various resources so that they can go from prototype to product quickly and affordably, while also reducing manufacturing waste and creating new, skilled manufacturing jobs in the United States.
Up until now, prototyping and manufacturing in low volumes of less than 10,000 or creating customized products has been quite expensive, but 3D printing gives individuals and business owners the ability to do just that. Type A uses the example of San Leandro-based Copper Harbor, Inc., a small chemical company, to illustrate the benefits of 3D printing and BAAM. Dan Walters, owner of Copper Harbor, was hoping to create a single-use packaging for the firm’s two-part adhesive. Unfortunately, traditional prototyping in the US and, then, mass production in China would have required a minimum order larger than the company needed and an estimated $50,000, not to mention the time it would take for all of this to occur. Instead, Walters turned to local 3D printing providers, using a Type A Machines Series 1 3D printer and Mind 2 Matter, a 3D printing service bureau and BAAM member, to create a prototype and key component for their packaging. The total price was only $5,000 and Copper Harbor was able to avoid waste and retain a major customer.
At the official launch of BAAM, Type A CEO Espen Siversten spoke, saying that BAAM will “make it faster, cheaper, and easier to produce goods here in America than overseas”. He continued, “BAAM is dedicated to developing new manufacturing jobs as well as new manufacturing technologies. We are honored that Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congressman Steny Hoyer could be present the day BAAM was launched officially.” Congressperson Lee added, “In the areas of advanced manufacturing, 3D printing, and regional economic growth, the East Bay continues to lead the way. Today’s announcement of the formation of the Bay Area Advanced Manufacturing is another great example of that leadership and investment in business-to-business opportunities that create good-paying manufacturing jobs here in the East Bay.”
Though Sivertsen boasts the manufacturing and reshoring benefits of BAAM, this development also marks an important development in the way people in industrialized nations work and produce in the larger economic and social system. BAAM is an example of how a network of 3D printing related businesses can integrate with the community to provide solutions to local problems, while acting as a stronger force in the larger economy. Small businesses may seem powerless against global multinationals, serving a worldwide customer base, but it’s not always necessary for them to compete in the global marketplace, if they have customers at home. With the power of distributed manufacturing and 3D printing, individuals and businesses will no longer have to rely on large companies to produce their goods and can, instead, look within their own neighborhood. As Type A is aware, this reduces the pollution caused by shipping goods overseas and material waste caused by creating a large inventory of items, because goods can now be 3D printed on-demand and only when needed.
Such umbrella organizations are an inevitable part of our global society. With so many people on the planet, it is increasingly necessary to create organizations to represent groups of people at all levels and, thanks to the Internet and social media, it is now possible to do so. As a result, we’re beginning to switch from a hierarchical model for structuring society to a web model, where people are increasingly frustrated with control from the top down and are, instead, asserting their own needs and ability to meet those needs outward. But, in order to enhance the democratizing effect of the web and these umbrella organizations, companies like Type A Machines will also need to embrace their so-called competitors, other small 3D printer manufacturers.
In one of my first articles for 3DPI, I wrote about NAMII, now America Makes, the US’s national 3D printing organization. Due to the high membership fees, the members of the organization’s leading members consist of mostly big name companies, like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman, alongside 3D printing’s largest manufacturers, 3D Systems and Stratasys. To compete with such groups, I suggested the formation of BAAM-like organizations, filled with smaller 3D printer manufacturers, to join America Makes and help participate in the organization’s planning process. This would, however, require Type A Machines to work alongside their competitors to ensure that federal taxpayer dollars aren’t only benefiting the world’s biggest corporations.
For now, in the BAAM members list below, you’ll see a number of different 3D printing businesses, but I hope that this list grows and that, in other parts of the world, similar small organizations form so that the underdogs can develop enough clout to bring humanity to a more sustainable, equitable form of living. Here are the 12 members of BAAM, as listed by BAAM:
Type A Machines, which produces the award-winning Series 1 3D Printer.
Mind 2 Matter, a full-service 3D printing service bureau.
SoundFit, developer of 3D scanning technology including the SugarCube scanner.
MadeSolid, which offers amazing 3D print filament and materials.
Falcon Imaging, a full service maker of standard ABS and PLA 3D printer filament.
HoneyPoint 3D, which offers dedicated 3D printing and 3D scanning retail stores.
PhaseSpace, which develops 3D optical motion capture systems.
Cad Crowd, which offers freelance 3D design, 3D modeling, and CAD drafting.
Pinshape, an online marketplace that helps designers share and sell 3D models.
OmNom,an “all in one” plastic 3D printed parts recycler/filament maker.
Fleet edu, a business structure originally funded by the City of San Leandro that fulfills the critical gaps of education in STEAM curriculum, project-based learning, and Common Core.
Dreamforge, which develops 3D printing software.
If you’re in the Bay Area and interested in joining BAAM, you can apply here.
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