It’s often at a trade show where industry challenges and opportunities present themselves.
How often have you heard of a manufacturer, with permission to buy, not know where to start? Hundreds of vendors, a bustling exhibition hall, and only a few days to take it all in. This overwhelming experience is often the tricky start to an additive manufacturing (AM) success story.
When Dan Kehr visited RAPID + TCT around five years ago, he was no less overwhelmed, but he wasn’t surveying the room as a buyer. He was instead focused on how the hundreds of exhibitors were selling to the thousands of visitors.
Not how they marketed themselves, nor how they pitched their products, nor even how they turned leads into sales. He was wondering on what terms these machines were purchased.
The most common answer when he engaged exhibitors in conversation was that a purchase order of, say $300,000, $500,000, or upwards of $1 million would be cut, and if the buyer didn’t have the budget for that, it was tough luck.
“That’s where I identified a real opportunity,” Kehr told TCT, “for, not just a transactional focus from a financial provider, but a true vendor focus where it’s a go-to-market strategy that’s a differentiator out there, and allows for more people to adopt the technology, to get into technology refresh cycles as these manufacturers come out with new, better, improved products.”
Kehr speaks to TCT in July 2025 as Senior Director of Business Development within GreatAmerica Financial Services - a role he was appointed to in February. He has been trusted to stand up a division dedicated to the additive manufacturing space that is an intermediary between buyers and sellers of AM technology.
Kehr wants GreatAmerica to achieve what other financial services companies have not: to fundamentally transform the way business is conducted in the additive manufacturing industry.
“You’ve seen other financial services institutions dip their toes in and then jump out,” Kehr said. “And I think it’s mainly because people don’t understand the industry. They think they understand it when they go in, and then it’s an entirely different thing than what they expected. It’s a matter of rolling up your sleeves and understanding the challenges the industry has faced and addressing those.”
Below, in a conversation edited for brevity and clarity, Kehr [DK] outlines how GreatAmerica is aiming to address those challenges.
TCT: First, could you outline GreatAmerica's vision as it relates to industries like the additive manufacturing sector?
DK: GreatAmerica has always believed in strategic growth, not just growth for the sake of growth. Additive manufacturing is an industry that is adjacent to many industries that we already service and feel that we can make a real impact in helping facilitate growth.
TCT: You came into the organisation earlier this year, but for how long and to what extent has GreatAmerica been engaged with the additive manufacturing space?
DK: GreatAmerica already had decades of experience in the construction, healthcare and automotive industries. It’s through working in those spaces that they became aware of additive and sought to expand into that market. That’s when I came into the picture a year ago. GreatAmerica was looking to find someone experienced in the additive space to help grow a dedicated Additive Manufacturing team. Working for other equipment finance companies, I can appreciate their approach and dedication to the additive industry.
TCT: In terms of developing relationships with clients and industry stakeholders, how much progress has been made so far?
DK: We have already onboarded and worked with some the largest manufacturers and resellers in the industry. Our goal is to make the technology accessible to end users and help our vendors transform their go to market strategy.
TCT: You say that people and organisations new to the additive manufacturing sector are surprised by what they find when they enter the space. So, what do people expect when they come into the AM industry?
DK: I think a lot of people expect additive to replace subtractive. I think that's a common misconception – it's one or the other, and it's not necessarily the case. They also expect that there has been, amongst these people selling the technology, a well-defined go-to-market strategy, which I'm not saying there isn't, but I think it could always improve.
There are a lot of very technical folks out there. I think the industry is flooded with some of the best minds I’ve ever worked with. How can you educate and empower the technical buyer (user) to sell the ROI upstream to the financial buyer? How do you ensure they’re successful from then on, to hopefully buy more? Or at least refresh as you come out with new products and technologies? That’s one of the challenges.
Financing and payment solutions have been an afterthought in the additive manufacturing space.
TCT: How is GreatAmerica Financial Services addressing that?
DK: My primary goal is to see this industry successful with more end users adopting the technology but not adopting it in the wrong way. Our offerings provide a path to adopting new technologies today and in the future. It’s not a one-time purchase, it a plan to adopt and leverage additive technologies for the future.
What we’ve created are a suite of financial products that allow for vendors to reconsider alternative approaches to accruing equipment, either through CapEx or OpEx. Instead of having everyone dry up CapEx, which is a very limited pool of money that they use for other technology, we can think about this a different way where folks can still have flexibility as their business needs change.
TCT: So, your primary contact point is with suppliers of 3D printing systems?
DK: Correct, which is a little bit different to how this industry has approached it in the past. I think financing and payment solutions have been an afterthought in this space. Financing isn’t for companies that “can’t buy”, it’s for companies of all sizes and for all applications. It creates multiple purchase options by aligning the purchase with the business needs.
I think, for me, I would deem my real customers the vendors, the manufacturers, resellers of the technology, but their customers are also my customers. It’s a proactive and dedicated channel focus.
TCT: Would you consider existing vendor approaches prohibitive to the adoption of AM technology?
DK: I think the terms that they offer often can be. Most folks require a sizeable down payment, followed by another large lump sum, and that’s even before the unit is shipped. You’re talking hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars. People must allocate that in the budget every year. The sales cycles as a whole for this industry are lengthy. You have to wait for the next budget cycle to even start before considering making that purchase. Where I would love to see a change is more people providing a payment solution as an offering upfront. By offering a payment solution upfront, a more informed buyer has the ability to leverage different budget types, protect cash flow, and better align the technology to their long term goals. So, that's where I want to see the industry start to shift. Right now, the biggest objection to adoption in the industry is cost, and we want to create solutions to overcome that.
TCT: What do you think is the motivation behind requiring 50%, in some examples, of the cost of a machine to be paid upfront?
DK: I think it’s cash flow, revenue recognition, lead time and having to build the equipment. I think their terms are their terms for a reason.
The nice thing about working with someone like us is that we pay vendors as if it’s a cash sale. We’re functioning as the buyer in that scenario, so we’ll follow their cash terms, whatever they may be, but the end-user customer doesn’t feel that burden. They don’t start paying for the equipment until it’s there. We’re happy because we’re entering into an agreement with an end customer and helping drive sales for a vendor. The vendor’s happy because they’re getting paid as if it’s a cash deal. And the customer is happy because they have a payment solution that fits within their business needs.
Customers have had a bit of a negative connotation to the word 'finance'. My goal is to help drive adoption of additive manufacturing technologies with easy purchasing options.
TCT: What is the extent of your capacity to support vendors and users of AM technology?
DK: I would say this industry does, around $21 billion annually. To say 10% of that, even 5%, is leased or financed via a third party is an understatement. It could get to a space where that shifts to 25%, even 50%, and long-term, the sky is the limit. GreatAmerica is excited to support the additive manufacturing market and its exciting mix of manufacturers, resellers, associations, and end-users.
TCT: Does the additive manufacturing industry need more organisations offering these kinds of services?
DK: My position has always been that it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. The way this industry is built, it’s very custom, it’s very unique, and therefore we need to have unique products to service it and there should be multiple players. Healthy competition is always good. I have not seen anyone yet, other than GreatAmerica, make a full commitment to this space. It’s either been looked at as a transactional, one-off approach, or folks have gotten in and then gotten back out because nobody’s taken the time to understand the industry itself, or the technology and how it can be used to drive overall manufacturing.
Having a lot of players who make a full commitment to the space would be very, very helpful for everyone. Historically, due to the lack of commitment and presence, customers have had a bit of a negative connotation to the word finance. My goal is to help drive adoption of additive manufacturing technologies with easy purchasing options.
GreatAmerica is the largest, family-owned national commercial equipment finance company in the United States. A $3.3+ billion company with life-to-date finance originations of $18 billion, GreatAmerica was established in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1992. Dedicated to helping manufacturers, distributors, resellers, and franchisees be more successful and keep their customers for a lifetime, GreatAmerica offers innovative, complementary services in addition to financing.
