Materialise has been ahead of the 3D printing game for over two decades. Openly admitting that whilst not everyone may have heard of this fundamental industry name, there is a good chance that the work Materialise does will have had an impact on someone’s life at some point, perhaps without evening realising it.
CEO Wilfried Vancraen spoke at TCT Show + Personalize 2014 Conference last month about how the company’s philosophy was inspired by a book called ‘Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies’ written by James Collins and Jerry Porras. After a chance reading 10 years after it was released, Vancraen noticed the parallels between the companies in the book and what Materialise was doing on a daily basis.
As a global company, Materialise has positioned itself in many areas of the additive manufacturing industry. Whereas now there are a lot of companies coming to the floor with a great machine, there are not a great deal stepping up with worthwhile applications or the ecosystem that needs to be in place in order to be successful.
For Materialise, their passion is leading the way in the medical sector with industrial applications changing the game in medical 3D imaging and fully functional examples such as 3D printed insoles that world record holder Paula Radcliffe recently sported to compete in the Worcester City 10k race.
Materialise is also adding value in the software area with its Magics suite constantly improving and a new venture in developing build processors for various 3D printer manufacturers. At EuroMold this week, Materialise demonstrated two build processors for SLM Solutions and Concept Laser to improve communication between software and printer and promises there are more to come.
In his conference talk at TCT Show, Vancraen spoke about how companies need to add value to their outputs if they are going to further this burgeoning and vast industry. Materialise continues to do just that, evaluating and asking "what can we do better?" putting the company right on par with those visionary companies it was first inspired by.
If you missed the TCT Show + Personalize 2014 conference, catch up on all of the inspiring talks including Vacraen's here.
