Sure, we have a 3D printer ... but we're not using it much yet

Pella has been using 3D printing for 14 years to make prototypes, but only recently started using the technology to make parts for its windows and doors.

The company still doesn't make too many pieces that way, though. While the technology and materials have improved, the costs haven’t hit their sweet spot yet, said Kevin Gaul, the Iowa-based company's engineering manager. 

“Materials can still be a little bit of a bear, either from capability or cost,” he said. “If we’re going to use hundreds of thousands of these parts a year, it doesn’t make sense to 3D print.”

Experts say many companies that invested in 3D printing are hitting road blocks with their machines, ranging from cost issues to lack of digital manufacturing expertise.

“People are interested enough to buy it or invest in the technology, but there’s this lag in how they can actually use it effectively or match their expectations,” said Mike Vasquez, founder of Chicago-based digital manufacturing consulting company 3Degrees.

With promises that 3D printing could help people eat healthier or create body parts, expectations have risen pretty high in the past couple of years.

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Many companies got caught up in that hype before they figured out the right ways to incorporate the technology, Vasquez said. They may lack the know-how to use it, and with some companies, it might not make good business sense.

Three of every four companies that are using 3D printing don’t think they’re using the technology to its full potential, according to a survey 3Degrees released earlier this month. 

Fifty-four companies from around the country responded to 3Degrees' survey, 38 of which use 3D printing technology. Only half of those 38 said they had moved past prototyping to experiment with end products.

Even if a company has a perfect execution plan and expertise to back it up, it takes time to implement, to train engineers how to think differently about design.

“There’s going to be a little push back,” Vasquez said. “It’s going to take some time to mature.”

Society as a whole needs to change the way it thinks before that can happen, said Julie Friedman Steele ⇒, founder of the 3D Printer Experience in River North.

Those using 3D printers need to start thinking more like creators than consumers, she said.

"Makers and hackers tend to utilize it pretty easily, because they think pretty differently about what they want to do," she said. "It's just about how you think about manufacturing and the products that you use."

She’s seen many companies that jumped into the 3D printing fray without realizing what it takes to maintain the machines, and investing in the wrong kind of technology.

Even schools, which have been populating labs with the machines and adding them to curriculum, are underutilizing 3D printers, Steele said.

Some companies outsource 3D printing needs.

Urban Architecture Studio, which works out of WeWork in River North, has 3D Printer Experience create some of its models, mainly because they don’t have space or the capacity to maintain a machine of the necessary caliber, said architectural designer Daniel Caven.

Gaul, from Pella, said his company intentionally hasn’t reached full capacity with their 3D printers. They buy machines that are more advanced than they need, hoping to grow into the printers' capabilities. Pella also experiments with 3D printing technology before making the investment.

“We really try to learn before we buy,” Gaul said. “When we bring it in house, we know the technology and what the applications are going to be, so we can make good use of the technology once we make that investment.”