Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on solutions for the logistics sector. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 4 promising Additive Manufacturing startups.
Heat Map: 4 Top Additive Manufacturing
For our 4 top picks, we used a data-driven startup scouting approach to identify the most relevant solutions globally. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 4 interesting examples out of 68 relevant solutions. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different.
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SpareParts 3D – On-Demand Spare Parts 3D Printing
The unavailability of spare-parts increases the downtime in production and causes unexpected delays for manufacturers. Companies usually store spare parts physically at the warehouse but that increases their inventory maintenance costs. One solution is opting to use 3D printing techniques that keep seldom-used replacement parts in a digital format only and prints them on-demand.
Singapore-based startup SpareParts 3D supports manufacturers to increase the availability of their spare parts by producing them on-demand using additive manufacturing. They also provide an online software platform called DigiPart to digitize the spare-parts inventory of the customer. They partner with other 3D printer manufacturers and also use their own 3D printers to optimize the supply chain.
Identify3D – Data & Information Security
One of the pressing issues of additive manufacturing is the data integrity of the digital supply chain. The solutions for secured and direct streaming of encrypted printing data to remote 3D printers to maintain accountability and authenticity throughout the digital supply chain is of utmost importance.
The US-based startup Identify3D provides software tools for data security and intellectual property protection in all phases of the digital supply chain. Their software is integrated with blockchain technology to enable tracking of when, where and by whom a part has been printed in order to detect unauthorized usage. Identify3D software tools allow control of the intellectual property so as to monetize on all products printed from a virtual 3D model.
Kijenzi – Decentralized Additive Manufacturing
Traditionally, the manufacturing of products is done far away from the customer. Companies spend large amounts on logistics for supplying the products to consumer locations. 3D printing enables decentralized production close to or directly at the point of sale, saving transportation costs and driving down overall logistics expenses.
Kenyan startup Kijenzi allows for the manufacturing to be done at remote locations that are closer to the end customer thus reducing lead times and enabling access to critical healthcare products. Kijenzi offers custom-designed spare-parts apart from customers being able to select their required spare-parts from a catalog. They significantly reduce transportation time and cost by manufacturing the products in their facilities closer to end customers.
Fast Radius – Time-Sensitive Production & Shipment
Logistics services provided at specific warehouses located strategically next to shipment hubs reduce lead times and speed up the time-sensitive shipment of critical parts. These warehouses, when leveraged with additive manufacturing technology, provide end-of-runway services including critical parts distribution for time-sensitive requirements in addition to the traditional warehousing services.
The US-based startup Fast Radius provides on-demand additive manufacturing services to customers. Fast Radius has partnered with UPS to strategically establish its 3D printing factory just minutes from the global air cargo hub. Using this end of runway service model, critical parts are printed and delivered immediately, significantly reducing lead times and improving customer experience.
What About The Other 64 Additive Manufacturing Startups?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence for your Proof of Concept (PoC), partnership, or investment targets. The 4 additive manufacturing solutions showcased above are promising examples out of 68 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria and collaboration strategy, get in touch.
