Struggling to Profit Despite a 20 Billion Yuan Outlook: EASYMFG Breaks Through the Industrialization Dilemma in 3D Printing

　　After five years of entrepreneurship in the 3D printing industry, Cai Daosheng, founder of EASYMFG reflects pragmatically on the future of 3D printing, emphasizing the centrality of technology over any business model.

　　Founder of EASYMFG, Cai Daosheng (left), and Hu Tou Finance (right)

　　As a core member of the Rapid Manufacturing Center at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Cai Daosheng founded EASYMFG in 2013, leveraging years of technical expertise. EASYMFG is currently the only company in China to commercialize inkjet metal 3D printing and full-color 3D printing, as well as the only one supporting color slicing of 3MF files, while also possessing various traditional industrial-grade 3D printing technologies such as SLS, SLA, and SLM.

　　In 2015, EASYMFG was recognized by industry media as the most innovative 3D printing company and one of the top ten most influential 3D printing industrial enterprises. In September of this year, it received a 5 million RMB angel investment from Dianliang Capital.

　　Driving the Third Industrial Revolution

　　According to Cai Daosheng, 3D printing technology was initially a rapid prototyping technology, primarily used for producing product prototypes quickly during the early stages of research and design. However, he sees 3D printing as a rapid manufacturing technology that builds objects layer by layer based on digital model files, using adhesive materials such as powdered plastics or metals.

　　He regards 3D printing technology as a driving force behind the Third Industrial Revolution. Unlike conventional printers, 3D printing is a form of additive manufacturing technology. Born in 1986, this technology initially used techniques such as photopolymerization and laminated paper to achieve rapid prototyping.

　　Currently, the technology has been applied in various fields such as jewelry, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering and construction, automotive, aerospace, dentistry and medical industries, education, geographic information systems, civil engineering, and many others.

　　Although most of the domestic 3D printing equipment and materials companies are not yet complete, 95% of the companies in China's 3D printing industry are engaged in equipment and materials manufacturing.

　　Since 2011, China's 3D printing has entered a period of rapid development. In recent years, the scale of China's 3D printing has almost doubled every year, riding the wave of rapid global development in 3D printing and the government's high attention to this industry. Moreover, the output value of 3D printing almost doubles every year, far ahead of other countries in the world.

　　Pioneering Binder Jetting 3D Printing Technology

　　According to Cai Daosheng, EASYMFG primarily focuses on industrial-grade equipment. Its current products are divided into three categories: metal printers, sand printers, and color printers.

　　The characteristics of inkjet metal 3D printers are fast printing speed, tens of times faster than SLM metal 3D printing; low cost, less than one-tenth of SLM metal 3D printing; and large-size printing capabilities. It can be applied to various molds, various metal parts, aerospace, and medical fields, among many others.

　　The full-color 3D printer is currently the only full-color adhesive inkjet 3D printer in China, with a price only 1/5 to 1/10 of similar foreign products. Currently, the materials are mainly gypsum, and high-precision elastic materials will be used in the future. It is mainly used in 3D portraits, architectural models, geographic sand tables, industrial design, and maker education, among other fields.

　　The sand casting 3D printer is one of the earliest related products in China, with a price 1/5 to 1/10 of similar foreign products. It pioneered vector data transmission, directly manufacturing sand molds, reducing the mold opening process, and has low original sand printing costs.

　　"Our partners are industry leaders, and we only focus on cooperation with four or five companies. These industry leaders aim to change the industry status quo through technology," Cai Daosheng said.

　　It is known that compared to traditional production methods, 3D printing technology has many advantages: it does not require production lines, reduces production processes, reduces material waste; it can manufacture special-shaped items that are difficult to achieve with traditional methods, and it is cheaper and faster to produce individual items, allowing for rapid modification and immediate printing of new samples.

　　Scenario-Based Application is Key

　　Currently, EASYMFG has reached cooperation with a shoe factory to produce shoe sole molds using 3D printing technology. In addition, EASYMFG is also expanding into other application scenarios, such as the funeral industry.

　　"In the United States, 3D companies such as HP, GE, DM, and Germany's voxeljet have basically not entered the stage of commercial sales; while in China, EASYMFG has been rooted for five years and has formed a certain technological barrier," said Cai Daosheng. He mentioned that the industrialization level of China's 3D printing industry is not very high, overall in the primary stage of industrialization of new technologies, manifested in low industrial scale, incomplete technological innovation system, imperfect industrial policy system, high costs, and limited application scope.

　　Through the bustling scene, Cai Daosheng is clear that it is necessary to deeply consider the direction of this technology.

　　When technology develops to a certain stage, the cost of 3D printing will decrease, and the scope of application will also become broader," he stated. "The market space for 3D printing in China has a certain gap compared to foreign countries. Overseas research institutes and universities mainly focus on theoretical research, while industrial trends are led by enterprises. In China, most of the 3D technology and research are led by national research institutes.

　　Cai Daosheng's words are not groundless. It is well known that there is a peculiar phenomenon in the domestic 3D printing circle, where everyone is focused on surviving by selling equipment, without carefully considering the equipment market that has not yet entered the industrialization stage. On the other hand, many of the market demands for 3D printing equipment are artificially created rather than genuine 'pseudo-demands.'

　　Fortunately, with the development of the market, the government has begun to increase its support for 3D printing, and the demand for application-level markets is gradually becoming prominent.

　　Data shows that in December 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued guidelines for the implementation of medium-sized innovation in manufacturing. In September 2017, 22 directions were determined, with 3D printing and additive manufacturing among them. In October 2017, the 'High-End Intelligent Remanufacturing Action Plan (2018-2020)' was released, which identified 3D printing as a key direction. In December, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and other twelve departments issued the 'Additive Manufacturing Industry Development Action Plan (2017-2020)', mentioning that the industry should maintain a high-speed development, with an annual growth rate of over 30%, and the sales revenue of the additive manufacturing industry should exceed 20 billion yuan by 2020.

　　In terms of research institutions and enterprises, there is also great enthusiasm for the development of 3D printing technology. For example, Tsinghua University, Beihang University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and other universities have achieved some research results through cooperation with enterprises, and some of these results have been successfully industrialized.

　　In response to the prospects of 3D printing technology application, Cai Daosheng said, 'As a startup company, EASYMFG only needs to make its products good enough, without worrying about the market and sales. The next focus is to continue to excel in research and gradually implement application scenarios.

　　This article is reproduced from Tiger Investment Finance.