3D Systems Corp. Message Board
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Competition
This industry is intensely competitive. The original company is 3D Systems which went public on the
Vancouver exchange in 1986. There is an interesting story about raising capital in their history.
Comments by SSYS cheerleaders on Silicon Investor claim an advantage for SSYS because they had a
smaller, less expensive machine, although it lacked the precision of the 3D equipment, and the plastic they
used produced more flexible models than that used by 3D.
3D brought a desk top model to market that sells at a price close to the SSYS product ($21,000?) and on
December 10 introduced a new plastic medium which appears to be more malleable.
Does anyone have a good estimate of the impact of these innovations on the competitive structure of this
market?-
My interest started with the Jan 12 Fortune article by Gene
Bylinsky, "Industry's Amazing Instant Prototypes". There are
several companies mentioned in the article and there are several
companies mentioned in 3D System's own literature. Each of these
seem to have a niche. Some are developing the machines, or the
molding material, the conversion from CAD to a 3 dimentional
file, and finally, producing the prototype. I did get the
impression that not any one technique addressed all needs.
3D Systems seems to be involved in all aspects. But who exactly
is a direct competitor? A competitor in all areas that 3D
Systems competes? Is the competition in creating the machines
or in providing the service using a machine?
Is the market rapid prototyping by stereolithography? Who is
in the game?- 2 Replies to kaler
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The players in this (US)industry are as follows. 3D Systems, Inc.,TDSC
Helisys, Inc. HELI, Stratasys, Inc. SSYS and DTM,Corp. DTMC, ZCorp, Inc. Each have their strengths in specific areas. Not one company answers all the market needs. -
Here's a web site that may help you learn more about this technology and business. It has links to all the companies plus may other resources.
http://stress.mech.utah.edu/home/novac/rapid.html
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Here's a link to an article on rapid prototyping in the Jan 12th issue of FORTUNE magazine.
http://pathfinder.com/fortune/1998/980112/imt.html
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