Stratasys Reliability Gains Driven by Customer Collaboration Signal Shift in Industrial 3D Printing Adoption

Event summary

  • Stratasys reported a 22% year-over-year increase in reliability for its F900 industrial printer.
  • The improvements were developed in conjunction with Stratasys’s Customer Advisory Board (CAB), comprised of leaders from aerospace, defense, and automotive.
  • The CAB has formalized three strategic pillars: 'Prove It,' 'Scale It,' and 'Lead It,' focused on data validation, workflow integration, and industry adoption.
  • Stratasys’s Vice President of Industrial Business, Foster Ferguson, emphasized the CAB’s role in shaping the company’s priorities.
  • The initiative aims to address production-scale challenges and expand the use of additive manufacturing for end-use parts and tooling.

The big picture

Stratasys’s reliance on a Customer Advisory Board to drive manufacturing improvements signals a broader shift in the industrial 3D printing sector towards collaborative product development and a focus on operational realities. This approach, while potentially costly, addresses a critical barrier to wider adoption – the perceived unreliability and scalability of additive manufacturing for high-volume production. The composition of the CAB, including major players like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, underscores the strategic importance of this initiative for the entire aerospace and defense supply chain.

What we're watching

Execution Risk
The success of Stratasys’s three strategic pillars will depend on the CAB’s continued engagement and the company’s ability to translate their input into tangible improvements across its product line.
Competitive Landscape
Whether Stratasys can maintain its lead in industrial 3D printing reliability will hinge on how quickly competitors respond with similar customer-driven development programs.
Adoption Rate
The pace at which the F900’s improved reliability translates into broader adoption of additive manufacturing within the aerospace, automotive, and defense sectors will be a key indicator of Stratasys’s long-term growth potential.

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