On this week's episode of Additive Insight, Hubs VP and CEO Alex Cappy sits down to talk to TCT Magazine's Senior Content Producer Sam Davies.
Hubs is an online manufacturing platform that was founded in 2013 and boasts a range of services that span 3D printing, CNC machining, injection moulding and sheet metal fabrication services. Through its global manufacturing network of suppliers, it has long been an advocate for decentralised manufacturing, and as it has matured as a company, has placed a significant focus on quality assurance across that base of partners.
As our latest Executive Interview guest, Cappy answers questions on the growth of Hubs’ manufacturing network, what’s changed since the acquisition by Protolabs, and where the opportunities lie for 3D printing when it comes to supply chain.
On the biggest changes to the Hubs business since the Protolabs acquisition, Cappy told TCT: "The biggest change has been in how we manage quality much more proactively. So, we work with the suppliers on their internal processes, how they do QC, how they, even, set up the machines at times. So, we engage in a bit of process engineering, even before that, is the way that we select our manufacturing partners (MP). So, we do have MPs that will come to us but we also do outreach and go to them, especially if we're looking for like, 'I need to fill this one gap in the portfolio,' that's more likely that we've gone to a factory, but we onboard in a really rigorous way, where we are looking at how they do things, we're inspecting the facility, we're meeting the team to make sure that it's going to be a good partnership.
"And the audit that we do is really quite thorough. When we onboard them, we engage in a lot of education, about not only how to work with us effectively, and how to serve our customers effectively, but education on the quality standards that we set. And so this is one of the big unlocks in a global network to be able to source a part anywhere and have it turn up the exact same."
Learn more about 3D printing with DuraForm PAx Black and DuraForm PAx Natural (SLS) from our episode sponsor 3D Systems.
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