A Good Result - Desktop Factory and 3D Systems

I've watched the Desktop Factory story unfold over the last few years with great interest and a degree of hope. Cathy Lewis and the team there have worked hard to deliver a breakthrough technology in terms of price. Success of a sub $5,000 machine would be good for the industry particularly as Desktop did a great job getting coverage outside engineering media in mainstream outlets - helping to expose the technology to a much wider audience.

Then the recession arrived and the requirements of investors have subsequently become harder and harder to satisfy, so much so that Desktop Factory had to rethink how they could move forward. Too much time and effort had gone into the technology to walk away, all they needed was an investor or buyer who "got" additive manufacturing.

Enter 3D Systems (full press release here)....The reality is that Desktop Factory needed a believer, not a venture capitalist looking to make a fast (or even slow!) buck - and in 3D Systems and Abe Reichental they have found not only a believer but the company that started it all in the first place...and one with the infrastructure and capability to deliver to market what Desktop Factory started working towards.

I think the news is a good thing, sure there will be those out there that think it would be better for the industry if some other company had got their hands on the technology but it's worth reflecting on this to finish with.

Yes the V-Flash did take a little longer to get to market than everyone, including 3D Systems, expected. However breakthrough technologies are never easy to get to market particularly when you are striving to control the market price of the machine.

The key point here is that 3D delivered it to market successfully and that is why this deal is a good one. Because now the Desktop Factory machine WILL be launched commercially, it WILL work and it WILL have the back up of an organisation that has already done it time and time again over the last twenty or so years...and that all means that more people will have a 3D printer in their price range than before and that can only be good for all.