惠普回归传统优势豪赌3D打印

对于惠普而言，2015年可谓忙碌的一年。截止11月份，它还是一家具有传奇色彩的硅谷计算机公司。现在，惠普已一分为二：销售数据中心，商业计算设备与服务的惠普企业（Hewlett-Packard Enterprise），以及销售打印机和个人电脑的惠普公司（HP Inc. ）。

由梅格•惠特曼领导的惠普企业的未来前景，吸引了许多人的注意，外界普遍认为惠普企业更有野心。但最近，由戴恩•维斯勒领导的惠普公司却频频传出大动作。其中之一便是惠普的传统优势所在：打印业务。这一次，惠普公司的重点是3D打印。

增材制造，也就是我们常说的3D打印，是指使用塑料、树脂或粉末金属，逐层组合出物品的过程。3D打印行业发展迅速，通过缩短产品开发生命周期，降低装配线成本，这种技术有可能颠覆制造流程。正是出于这些原因，《财富》美国500强的许多公司，如福特和通用电气等，均在各自的3D打印部门投入数百万美元。

然而，今天的大型3D打印机运行速度缓慢，价格昂贵，难以使用。福特增材制造研究团队负责人艾伦•李表示：“我们一直在努力研究如何突破原型设计，其中一个巨大的挑战依旧是速度。”

下面我们来看看惠普的3D打印。这个新部门计划在2016年启动3D打印机产品线，并且保证，惠普将生产比Stratasys和3D Systems等市场领导者更好的产品。惠普3D打印部门总裁史蒂芬•尼格罗称：“3D打印机所激起的热情是确实存在的。但还有大量问题亟待解决。”

惠普3D打印机采用了一种名为Multi Jet Fusion的工艺。这项技术使用热喷墨阵列和化学制剂，可制造更可靠、更精确的零件。惠普打印机可以使用各种材料制造出不同颜色的物品，更为关键的是，其速度要比市面上的商业3D打印机快10倍。

因此，惠普的3D打印业务有巨大的机遇。《沃勒斯报告》预测，到2020年，3D打印产品与服务的全球市场将从2015年的55亿美元，增长到212亿美元。不过，惠普的当务之急是停止亏损：第四季度，惠普的打印业务收入下降14%，2016年的收益预期为每股1.59美元至1.69美元，低于此前的预测。

惠普面临的挑战可谓异常严峻。但尼格罗却对公司未来充满信心：“我们将成为3D打印领域的领导者。”尼格罗于1982年加入惠普，参与开发了第一款彩色喷墨打印机。（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

审校：任文科

It has been a busy year for Hewlett-Packard. What was once a single, storied Silicon Valley computing company is, as of November, now two: Hewlett-Packard Enterprise HPE -1.81% , which sells gear and services for data centers and commercial computing, and HP Inc. HPQ 0.33% , which sells printers and personal computers.

There has been much focus on the future of HP Enterprise, led by Meg Whitman and considered the more ambitious of the pair. But big bets are happening at Dion Weisler–led HP Inc.  One of them is on a historic Hewlett-Packard strength: printing. Only this time, it’s in three dimensions.

Additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, is the process by which objects are assembled layer by layer out of plastic, resin, or powdered metal. It’s a fast-growing industry that has the potential to upend the manufacturing process by shortening the product-development life cycle and cutting costs on the assembly line. Fortune500 companies like Ford F -1.06% and General Electric GE -0.59% have invested millions of dollars in their own 3D-printing divisions for these reasons.

But today’s large 3D printers are slow, expensive, and difficult to use. “We have been trying to understand how we can move beyond prototyping,” says Ellen Lee, leader of Ford’s additive manufacturing research team. “One of the big challenges that remains is speed.”

Enter HP 3D Printing. The new division plans to launch a line of 3D printers in 2016 that promises to top competing machines from market leaders like Stratasys and 3D Systems. “All of the excitement about the market is real,” says Stephen Nigro, president of HP 3D Printing. “But there are a lot of problems to overcome.”

HP’s 3D printers use what the company calls a Multi Jet Fusion process. The technology uses a thermal inkjet array and chemical agents to produce what it says are more reliable and precise parts. Objects can be made from a variety of materials in an array of colors and, crucially, at speeds 10 times faster than what’s available from today’s commercial 3D printers.

The opportunity is huge. The global market for 3D-printing products and services will grow from $5.5 billion this year to $21.2 billion in 2020, predicts the Wohlers Report. But first HP must stop bleeding: Fourth-quarter printing revenue fell 14%, and its 2016 earnings forecast, at $1.59 to $1.69 per share, missed estimates.

It’s an uphill climb. But Nigro, who started at HP in 1982 as part of the team that developed the first color inkjet printer, is optimistic: “We plan to be the leader in 3D printing.”