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3D Printing Service SWOT Analysis


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3D Printing Service SWOT Analysis

Strengths

One of the strengths, at the moment, is that there are not many 3D printing services in operation at this time. This is still a nascent industry, and the number of market suppliers has not yet caught onto the demand for 3D printing services. This industry is expected to grow tremendously over the next five to ten years as more people turn to 3D printing to develop unique products.

Additionally, prototyping using 3D printing technology has become very popular among engineering firms. As such, one of the greatest strengths of this business is that a well run business can rapidly expand within this market.

The margins generated from 3D printing services are extremely high, and these businesses - once the begin to generate revenues - reach profitability very quickly.

Weaknesses

It is expected that more companies will enter the market with 3D printing services, which is one of the weaknesses for this business. Additionally, the technology that is used by 3D printing services is expensive and rapidly changing. As such, the business will need to continually expand and improve its inventory of 3D printing equipment.

Opportunities

The primary opportunity that 3D printing services has is that they can easily acquire additional and larger scale equipment in order to accommodate specialized printing orders. Another opportunity for these businesses is that they can easily acquire other 3D printing services that are in operation.

Additionally, the 3D printing service could expand by offering a number of prepackaged designs that third parties can use. This will substantially increase the amount of printing completed by the business.

Finally, the Company can expand by heavily reinvesting into marketing campaigns (especially on the internet) that will drastically expand the number of people visiting the 3D printing services' website. This is one of the foremost ways that these types of companies expand over a three to five year period. However, a rapid expansion of the marketing campaigns for these businesses can impact the profit and loss statement.

Threats

As stated above, the primary threat faced by the business is that 3D printing equipment is continually changing. Additionally, the costs related to small equipment is plummeting. This may be a threat for 3D printing services that operate on a small scale basis. However, for companies that specialize in printing large scale 3D models, this risk is minimal as people are going to continue to outsource large scale printing. The costs related to large scale printing are expected to remain very high for the foreseeable future.

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Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution SWOT Analysis & Matrix

Definition of SWOT Analysis

What is SWOT Analysis & Matrix? How you can use SWOT Analysis for Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

At EMBA PRO , we specialize at analyzing & providing comprehensive, corporate SWOT Analysis of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution case study. Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution "referred as 3d Printing in this analysis " is a Harvard Business Review (HBR) case study used for MBA & EMBA programs. It is written by Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein and deals with topics in areas such as Leadership & Managing People Manufacturing, Technology

SWOT Analysis stands for – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that 3d Printing encounters both internally and in macro environment that it operates in. Strengths and Weaknesses are often restricted to company’s internal - resources, skills and limitations.

Opportunities and Threats are factors that are analyzed in view of the prevalent market forces and other factors such as political, economic , legal & environmental, technological, and social, health & safety.

According to global executive survey done by Harvard Business Review & Brightline Initiative – Only 20% of the strategic targets set by organizations are realized. Rest 80% of the strategic targets are not achieved because of incomprehensive planning, limited resource allocation, and poor execution.

The successful organizations such as 3d Printing are the one who able to predict market trends better than others, provide resources to develop products and services to leverage those trends, able to counter competitors’ threats, and meet customers’ expected value proposition.


Case Description of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution Case Study

April 2013, Leuven (Belgium). Sitting behind his desk at the Headquarters of Materialise, the company he founded and still led as CEO, Wilfried Vancraen reminisced about the exciting last few years. It had taken 20 years to lead the company from pioneer in 3D printing technology to the ultimate industry accolade, the receipt in 2011 of the RTAM Industry Achievement Award for the extensive contributions the firm had made to additive manufacturing. Revenues reached the $90 million mark in 2013, with 1,000+ employees. The company was broadly diversified, catering to different markets in both B2B and B2C sectors and was a clear market leader in applications such as software for additive manufacturing and biomedical engineering, as well as in biomedical 3D printing activities. But the competitive landscape was evolving quickly. Many new service bureaus were opening up. Hype about 3D printing was growing in the media. The barriers to entry (technological and financial) were, but becoming steeper in machine and material manufacturing. Vertical integration was starting to appear with big 3D printing machine manufacturers starting to acquire service providers, software developers and material manufacturers. It was a bit early to judge the effectiveness and long-term effects of this emerging trend. Further consolidation was clearly in sight. For Materialise, the options were numerous. It could become the consolidator, acquiring and merging into other players. But with its unique portfolio of competencies and activities, it could as easily become a seller in the process. It could also continue to grow independently. There was also the issue of whether it should seek further financing from the public in an IPO. Being an established prized player in the industry opened up many opportunities...


Case Authors : Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein

Topic : Leadership & Managing People

Related Areas : Manufacturing, Technology

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What are the Four Elements of SWOT Analysis? How to use them for Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution case study?

The four key elements of SWOT analysis are - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. 3d Printing can use strengths to create niche positioning in the market, can strive to reduce & remove weaknesses so that it can better compete with competitors, look out to leverage opportunities provided by industry structure, regulations and other development in external environment, and finally make provisions and develop strategies to mitigate threats that can undermine the business model of 3d Printing.

Opportunities Threats
Strengths
 Strength Opportunities (SO) Strategies

Using 3d Printing strengths to consolidate and expand the market position.

Strength Threats (ST) Strategies

3d Printing can use two approaches - building on present strengths, or analyze the trend and build processes to two pronged market penetration approach.

Weaknesses
 Weakness Opportunities (WO) Strategies

Building strategies based on consumer oriented product development and marketing approach.

Weaknesses Threats (WT) Strategies

3d Printing should just get out of these business areas and focus on strength and threats box , or on weakness and opportunities box.

For more detailed SWOT Matrix strategy please go through the detailed analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in next section.


What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis

Strengths - Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Strengths are the 3d Printing capabilities and resources that it can leverage to build a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. Strengths come from positive aspects of five key resources & capabilities - physical resources such as land, building, past experiences and successes, activities & processes, financial resources, and human resources .

- Diverse Product Portfolio of 3d Printing – The products and brand portfolio of 3d Printing is enabling it to target various segments in the domestic market at the same time. This has enabled 3d Printing to build diverse revenue source and profit mix.

- Intellectual Property Rights – 3d Printing has garnered a wide array of patents and copyrights through innovation and buying those rights from the creators. This can help 3d Printing in thwarting the challenges of competitors in various industries Manufacturing, Technology.

- Strong relationship with existing suppliers – As an incumbent in the industry, 3d Printing has strong relationship with its suppliers and other members of the supply chain. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein , the organization can increase products and services by leveraging the skills of its suppliers and supply chain partners.

- Superior product and services quality can help 3d Printing to further increase its market share as the current customer are extremely loyal to it. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein in Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution study – there are enough evidences that with such a high quality of products and services, 3d Printing can compete with other global players in international market.

- Strong Brand Equity and Brand Awareness – 3d Printing has some of the most recognized brands in the domestic market it operates in. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein , brand recognition plays a significant role in attracting new customers looking for solutions in Manufacturing, Technology adjacent industries.

- Successful Go To Market Track Record – 3d Printing has a highly successful track record of both launching new products in the domestic market but also catering to the various market based on the insights from local consumers. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein , 3d Printing has tested various concepts in different markets and come up with successful Leadership & Managing People solutions.

- Robust Domestic Market that 3d Printing Operates in - The domestic market in which 3d Printing is operating is both a source of strength and roadblock to the growth and innovation of the company. Based on details provided in the Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution case study – 3d Printing can easily grow in its domestic market without much innovation but will require further investment into research and development to enter international market. The temptation so far for the managers at 3d Printing is to focus on the domestic market only.

What are Weakness in SWOT Analysis

Weakness- Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Weaknesses are the areas, capabilities or skills in which 3d Printing lacks. It limits the ability of the firm to build a sustainable competitive advantage. Weaknesses come from lack or absence of five key resources & capabilities - past experiences and successes, activities & processes, human resources, physical resources such as land, building, and financial resources .

- Project Management is too focused on internal delivery rather than considering all the interests of external stakeholders. This approach can lead to poor public relation and customer backlash.

- Track record on environment consideration is not very encouraging – 3d Printing track record on environmental issues is not very encouraging. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein , this can lead to consumer backlash as customers are now considering environmental protections as integral to part of doing business.

- Low Return on Investment – Even though 3d Printing is having a stable balance sheet, one metrics that needs reflection is “Return on Invested Capital”. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein in areas Manufacturing, Technology that 3d Printing operates in the most reliable measure of profitability is Return on Invested Capital rather than one favored by financial analysts such as – Return on Equity & Return on Assets.

- 3d Printing business model can be easily replicated even with the number of patents and copyrights the company possess. The intellectual property rights are very difficult to implement in the industry that 3d Printing operates in. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein , Intellectual Property Rights are effective in thwarting same size competition but it is difficult to stop start ups disrupting markets at various other levels.

- Inventory Management – Based on the details provided in the Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution case study, we can conclude that 3d Printing is not efficiently managing the inventory and cash cycle. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein , there is huge scope of improvement in inventory management.

- Customer Dissatisfaction – Even though the demand for products have not gone down but there is a simmering sense of dissatisfaction among the customers of 3d Printing . It is reflected on the reviews on various on-line platforms. 3d Printing should focus on areas where it can improve the customer purchase and post purchase experience.

What are Opportunities in SWOT Analysis

Opportunities- Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Opportunities are macro environment factors and developments that 3d Printing can leverage either to consolidate existing market position or use them for further expansion. Opportunities can emerge from various factors such as - technological innovations, economic growth, political developments & policy changes, increase in consumer disposable income, and changes in consumer preferences .

- Lucrative Opportunities in International Markets – Globalization has led to opportunities in the international market. 3d Printing is in prime position to tap on those opportunities and grow the market share. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein , growth in international market can also help 3d Printing to diversify the risk as it will be less dependent on the domestic market for revenue.

- Growing Market Size and Evolving Preferences of Consumers – Over the last decade and half the market size has grown at brisk pace. The influx of new customers has also led to evolution of consumer preferences and tastes. This presents 3d Printing two big challenges – how to maintain loyal customers and how to cater to the new customers. 3d Printing has tried to diversify first using different brands and then by adding various features based on customer preferences.

- E-Commerce and Social Media Oriented Business Models – E-commerce business model can help 3d Printing to tie up with local suppliers and logistics provider in international market. Social media growth can help 3d Printing to reduce the cost of entering new market and reaching to customers at a significantly lower marketing budget. It can also lead to crowd sourcing various services and consumer oriented marketing based on the data and purchase behavior.

- Increase in Consumer Disposable Income – 3d Printing can use the increasing disposable income to build a new business model where customers start paying progressively for using its products. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution case study, 3d Printing can use this trend to expand in adjacent areas Manufacturing, Technology.

- Reducing Cost of Market Entry and Marketing into International Markets – According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein, globalization along with boom in digital marketing and social media has considerably reduced the risks of market entry and marketing in international market.

- Access to International Talent in Global Market – One of the challenges 3d Printing facing right now is limited access to high level talent market because of limited budget. Expansion into international market can help 3d Printing to tap into international talent market. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein , it can also help in bringing the talent into domestic market and expanding into new areas Manufacturing, Technology.

What are Threats in SWOT Analysis

Threats- Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Threats are macro environment factors and developments that can derail business model of 3d Printing. Threats can emerge from various factors such as - increase in consumer disposable income, economic growth, technological innovations, changes in consumer preferences, and political developments & policy changes .

- Increasing costs component for working in developed market because of environmental regulations – 3d Printing has to deal with these costs as governments are trying to levy higher environmental taxes to promote cleaner options. For 3d Printing it may result into higher logistics costs and higher packaging costs.

- Increasing bargaining power of buyers – Over the years the bargaining power of customers of 3d Printing has increased significantly that is putting downward pressure on prices. The company can pursue horizontal integration to consolidate and bring efficiencies but I believe it will be a short term relief. According to Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein , 3d Printing needs fundamental changes to business model rather than cosmetic changes.

- Credit Binge post 2008 Recession – Easy access to credit can be over any time, so 3d Printing should focus on reducing its dependence on debt to expand. The party has lasted for more than a decade and rollback from Fed can result in huge interest costs for 3d Printing.

- US China Trade Relations – 3d Printing has focused on China for its next phase of growth. But there is growing tension between US China trade relations and it can lead to protectionism, more friction into international trade, rising costs both in terms of labor cost and cost of doing business.

- Threats of New Entrants because of Reducing Costs and Increasing Efficiencies – As 3d Printing can leverage low cost of reaching customers using social media and e-commerce, so can the competitors – both local and international competitors.

- Growing Protectionism - 3d Printing should hedge the risk against growing protectionism ranging from – storing data into international market to diversifying risk by operating into countries at different economic cycle.

5C Marketing Analysis of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

4P Marketing Analysis of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Porter Five Forces Analysis and Solution of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Porter Value Chain Analysis and Solution of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Case Memo & Recommendation Memo of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Blue Ocean Analysis and Solution of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Marketing Strategy and Analysis Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

VRIO /VRIN Analysis & Solution of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

PESTEL / STEP / PEST Analysis of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

Case Study Solution of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution

SWOT Analysis and Solution of Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution
References & Further Readings

Benoit Leleux, Mazen Zein (2018), "Materialise: Supporting the 3D Printing Revolution Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.

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Ph.D., Associate Professor Kasatkin D.A.
e-mail: [email protected]

2. System Development Planning

• Business strategy can be defined through
different processes known as
strategic planning, business modeling, business process reengineering,
strategic linking,
information resource management and etc. We do not
aim to explain the differences between the
named approaches. Suffice it to say that all these approaches
are related to the study of fundamental business processes in an organization, the purpose of which is
to determine the long-term vision of the business
with the subsequent assignment of priorities to
various business problems that can be
resolved using information technology
(IT).

3. Ways to plan systems

• There are many ways to plan systems development.
One of the traditional approaches is called SWOT
(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats - strong
sides, weaknesses, opportunities,
threats).
• Another popular strategy is based on the VCM
(Value Chain Model). More than
modern variants of approaches to developing business strategies
are known as BPR (Business Process Reengineering -
business process reengineering). The information required
for the operation of an organization is also evaluated using so-called
design templates
• for ISA (Information System Architecture -
architecture).0025 information systems). Similar design templates
can be obtained by analogy from descriptive diagrams that have proven successful
in disciplines other than IT
(for example, in the construction industry).

4. Effective or productive???

• All approaches to system development planning
have one common denominator
—they are
focused on efficiency (doing the
right thing) rather than productivity (doing the
right thing). Most rational
solving the wrong problem is very expensive
BUSINESS!

5. SWOT approach

7. Rules for conducting a SWOT analysis


Specify the scope of the SWOT analysis as much as possible. When conducting a business-wide analysis
, the results are likely to be too generalized and
useless for practical application. Focusing the SWOT analysis on position
of the company in the context of a specific market/segment will provide much more useful for practical purposes.0025 application results.
Be correct when classifying a factor as a strength/weakness or
opportunity/threat. Strengths and weaknesses are internal features of the company. Opportunities
and threats describe the situation on the market and are not subject to the direct influence of management.
SWOT analysis should show the real position and prospects of the company in the market, and not
their internal perception, therefore, strengths and weaknesses can be considered as such only
if they (or their result) are perceived in this way by external
customers and partners. They must correspond to the objectively existing differences between the company's
products and competitors. It is necessary to rank strengths and weaknesses in accordance with their importance (weight) for buyers and only the most important ones should be included in the SWOT analysis.
The quality of a SWOT analysis directly depends on objectivity and the use of
versatile information. You can not entrust its conduct to one person, because the information will be distorted
by his subjective perception. When conducting a SWOT analysis,
point of view of all functional divisions of the company. In addition, all identified factors
must be confirmed by objective facts and research results.
Lengthy and ambiguous language should be avoided. The more specific the
wording, the clearer will be the impact of this factor on the company's business now and in the future,
the more practical the results of the SWOT analysis will be.

8. Limitations of SWOT analysis

• SWOT analysis is only a tool for structuring existing
information, he does not give clear and well-formulated
recommendations, specific answers. It only helps to visualize
the main factors, as well as to estimate in the first
approximation the mathematical expectation of certain events.
Formulating recommendations based on this information is the work of an analyst
.
• Simplicity of SWOT-analysis is misleading, its results strongly depend on
the completeness and quality of the initial information. SWOT analysis requires either experts with a very deep understanding
the current state and development trends of the market, or very
a lot of work to collect and analyze primary information
to achieve this understanding.
Errors made during the formation of the table (inclusion of unnecessary factors or loss of
important ones, incorrect assessment of weight coefficients and mutual influence
) cannot be detected in the process of further analysis
(except for very obvious ones) - they will lead to incorrect conclusions and
erroneous strategic solutions. In addition, interpretation
of the resulting model, and consequently, the quality of the conclusions and recommendations
strongly depend on the qualifications of the experts conducting the SWOT
analysis.

10. History of SWOT analysis

11. approach VCM

12. approach BPR

Business Process Reengineering

13. approach ISA

14. Systems decisions


Strategic
Strategies, under
supporting
long-term goals
organizations
tactical
strategies supporting
short-term
objectives and allocation
resource allocation
operational
typical applications
IS
typical
market and sales analysis5;
Data mining;
development planning
knowledge management
goods handling; performance evaluation

Budget analysis; pro
Data Warehouse;
stock prediction
data analysis; elek
salary; planning
throne tables
reserves; customer service

General support
Payroll;
Databases; about
daily billing worker; purchases; transaction processing;
personnel information and
accounting
generators
production
applications
Table 1. 1. Support for various levels of decision-making by IS and IT

English Russian Rules

3D printing in the plastics industry

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We use modern technologies in our company, so the idea of ​​using 3D printing came naturally. It allows us to speed up the prototyping process, especially for our customers in the automotive industry.

Dobrochna Kochańska, Commercial Director of Geo Globe Polska

Rapid Prototyping Using 3D Printing

Geo Globe Polska uses 3D printers to prototype shipping containers used on production lines. The time it takes to create a prototype plays a key role in order fulfillment for the end user.

The company has set itself the goal of reducing the process of making prototype molds, which usually requires a significant amount of time. In addition, it consists of many stages. The production of the first model is the basis for serial production, so every change in the prototype, made using traditional machines, extends the lead time.

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Part of a shipping container during a 3D printing process using a 3DGence INDUSTRY F340 printer

Checking the design and manufacturing quality of the prototype

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Using 3D printers, we can check the design and accuracy of the prototype, as well as eliminate possible errors that may lead to the need to create a different, more expensive form of the prototype.

The use of the 3DGence INDUSTRY F340 printer allowed us to reduce the project lead time and minimize costs.

Zbigniew Chrobok, Process Engineer


3D-printed part of a prototype made of ABS material (red) used to test the technology of shipping container

Reduced time to introduce a new production line

Printed shipping container prototypes are also being used to speed up the programming of industrial robots installed on production lines.

Learn more