Digital Metal announced a partnership with Etteplan to expand their metal 3D printing business.
Sweden-based Digital Metal is one of the most interesting players in the metal 3D printing market. They produce a unique binder jetting solution that is capable of 3D printing incredibly tiny metal parts with exceptional detail.
We’ve covered them previously many times, but it is always astonishing to see the parts they can produce, such as this light-weighted nut and bolt. Try making that on any other metal 3D printer and you’ll understand their unique capabilities.
Now the company announced a partnership with Etteplan for business development.
Etteplan is a Finnish engineering company that has a global staff of over 3500 engineering specialists. Their tag line is:
“We are here to listen to your needs and solve your challenges with smart people, technology and multidisciplinary thinking.”
And that is precisely what Digital Metal is after in this arrangement. While Digital Metal has had their equipment available for several years, they are no doubt looking for expansion of sales. After handling the most obvious clients, it rapidly becomes more difficult to recruit customers.
This is because they may be unaware of the possibilities of 3D printing, have out-of-date understandings or are simply unsure of the risks and financial value of doing so.
Those companies may indeed become great customers, but they require considerable education and comfort to gain the confidence to make the leap into a new form of manufacturing — for them.
Across the globe there are countless manufacturers producing and using small metal parts of the type that could be 3D printed by Digital Metal equipment. However, it is quite likely most of them have never heard of Digital Metal, or even considered the use of additive processes in their operations.
Some larger 3D printer manufacturers attempt to perform this type of consultative work on their own by establishing divisions dedicated to specific vertical industries, for example. However, that’s a big pill to swallow for a smaller organization such as Digital Metal.
In this case, the company has wisely chosen to partner with an organization that is skilled in this form of educational relationship, and also has a global reach. Etteplan can easily reach many more customers than can Digital Metal on their own. They have the ability to understand customer needs and intelligently translate them into comprehensible form for the prospect.
Should Digital Metal identify a prospect that requires convincing, they are now able to call in Etteplan experts to assist in that work.
Alternatively, it may be that Etteplan’s own customers may be directed towards Digital Metal, should the circumstances point toward an additive solution.
Either way, the winner here is certainly Digital Metal, who are now set to expand their sales in a dramatic manner.
Via Digital Metal and Etteplan
