3D打印工厂Shapeways实地探秘

    比如一台3D打印机打印出来的圣诞树首先是从底部开始打印，然后从下往上一层层地添枝加叶——不管每一层有多复杂都不要紧。由于一棵树的结构很复杂，因此如果以传统工艺生产圣诞树的话，就得分别为树干、树枝和每一片树叶都设计模具，然后把它们组装起来。

    Shapeways公司的营销总监卡琳•卡米表示，有了3D打印技术后，“没有任何复杂性可言。”

    Shapeways工厂所用的打印机是由一家名叫EOS的公司生产的。这些打印机的大小跟一台大型冰箱差不多，上面有一扇窗户用于查看里面的情况。笔者进入车间参观时，看到了打印机里的好几个正在生产的物品，不过由于是半成品，因此很难看出它们是什么东西。

    打印机旁边有一台磨石机，大小跟一个圆餐桌差不多，用来打磨刚打印好的物体的粗糙边缘。这台机器开机后，噪音大得让人想从房间里逃出去。

    最后是用来捡选产品的箱子。这个地方看起来相对冷清些，工厂里的其它地方也一样，看来深冬季节的确不是个性化产品的销售旺季。

    Shapeways公司CEO彼得•魏玛肖森表示，2009年发布的Shapeways市场有点像苹果的应用商店，因为二者都促进了创新精神和创业精神。魏玛肖森称，去年，他的公司售出了120万件产品，他预计今年这个数额将增长3倍。（但他拒绝透露营业收入。）

    虽然3D打印的概念时下被炒得火热，但是只要看看普通美国人的家里和办公室里就能知道，这项工艺技术还没有走进千家万户。但是美国的许多大制造商都已经用上了这项技术，比如通用汽车（General Motors）和福特汽车公司（Ford）都使用了这项技术以加快设计流程和样机制造流程。

    3D打印掀起的个性化制造浪潮让很多人兴奋不已。有些热心于这项技术的预言家认为，3D打印技术甚至可能会让全球供应链颠倒过来，甚至有可能导致地缘政治重新洗牌。另外它也可能让医疗设备出现革命性的变革，等等。

    这项技术也吸了不少企业的兴趣。去年Strasys公司收购了MakerBot公司，后者主要生产一款价格相对便宜的台式3D打印机。这笔交易最后的价值可能会超过6亿美元。虽然Makerbot打印机理论上看有可能最终成为一款家用产品，但Shapeways公司走的是一条分散创意、集中生产的路子。Shapeways目前要做的是弄明白怎样把那些独特而漂亮的产品卖给那些并不热衷于3D打印技术的消费者。

    For example, an artificial tree printed in 3-D would begin at the bottom and add parts of the trunk, branches, and leaves with each successive layer -- regardless of the complexity of each horizontal. Since the structure of a tree is so complex, an artificial tree produced with standard manufacturing technology might involve the creation of separate molds for the trunk, branches, and each individual leaf, and then require assembly.

    With 3-D printing there's "no cost of complexity," Carine Carmy, Shapeways' marketing director says.

    The printers at Shapeways' factory are produced by a company called EOS. The machines are the size of large refrigerators with a window on the front to peer inside. When the author glanced in during a tour of the space, he saw several items under construction -- though it was difficult to make out just what they might be.

    Beyond the printers is a rock tumbler the size of a round dinner table, used to smooth out the rough edges of a newly printed item. When it is turned on, the machine is so loud that you can't stand to be in the room with it.

    At the end of the line, there are bins for sorting. Like the rest of the factory it seemed relatively quiet during a recent visit, suggesting that mid-winter isn't the high season for individualized products.

    Shapeways chief executive Peter Weijmarshausen says the Shapeways marketplace, which launched in 2009, is like Apple's App Store in that both facilitate creative entrepreneurship. Weijmarshausen says his company sold 1.2 million pieces last year, and he expects volume to triple this year. (He declined to comment on revenue.)

    Despite the hype around 3-D printing, you need only look around the American home or office to see that this industrial process has not yet insinuated itself in daily life. But it's already in use by major U.S. manufacturers: General Motors and Ford, for example, both use the technology to speed up the design and prototyping process.

    The prospect of individualized manufacturing has lots of people excited. Some of the more feverish prognosticators say it could upend the global supply chain and reshuffle the geopolitics. It could revolutionize medical devices, and much else.

    And so the technology has attracted business interest. Last year Stratsys acquired MakerBot, which manufactures a relatively affordable desktop 3-D printer, in a deal that could ultimately be worth more than $600 million. While MakerBots could theoretically become household items, Shapeways is instead charting a path of decentralized creativity but centralized manufacturing. Shapeways must now figure out how to sell unique and beautiful items to consumers who don't fetishize the process of 3-D printing.